·
What is Certification?
o Certification
means you are qualified for a job that works with what the certification is
about. This statement is highly debatable but that is what certification
companies stress. The Point I want to say is Certifications can be great tools
if you use them correctly. Certifications don’t mean you are guaranteed a job,
but mean that you dedicated enough to that direction in the IT field that you
want to be recognized of those skills. Certification is not enough…but certs are
sure a great step in showing your employer you want the job.
·
Why should I certify?
o Put
aside the question, “Do certifications really get you a better job”. If all it
does is keep you up to date than $400 a cert is not a bad investment when it is
to teach you more about your field. The IT field and any technology field for
that matter is always changing…and you must change with it.
o Certifications
allow you to see what is out there and where things are heading. Change is
everything. If you aren’t changing with the field you get left behind and put
in a corner with no way up. You will eventually lose your job…or at the very
least you’ll lose your sanity. No one can work in an environment that doesn’t
provide a success and advancement of some kind for very long. Without change
you will be stuck with dead end jobs living paycheck to paycheck. Sure its one
thing to provide for your family…but providing amazing things for your family
comes only when you are happy doing your job and working towards the next
advancement. If you aren’t progressing, you aren’t happy and I can say for sure
your family won’t be happy.
o Certifications
keep you relevant in the field. ‘Nough said. Yes certifications do mostly just
skim the top of the topic…but normally that is all you really need to pass the
HR tests and get the job. Then in the job your get to learn their proprietary
nitty-gritty. You see even if two companies require you to be CCNA certified,
they both have their own reasons and networks that require only in depth parts
of your certification. To know the in depth stuff of their own proprietary
solutions means you have worked with them before. If any employer ever asks for
that in depth knowledge for an interview than they need your help fast because
they don’t know what they really need. You should turn in your resume and ask for
an interview. Show them you have what they need and help them understand that
you can learn and understand what is solely for their purposes.
o Certifications
get you past the HR departments. It’s sad but people without certs and tons of
experience are overlooked by people with current certifications. Yes we can
complain and say that’s not fair…or just get the certification that would take
less than a week for someone already working in the field for 5 years and
usually only spend about $150 bucks to write for the test. The interesting
factor is HR wants people that are dedicated. If you want to show your
dedication a CURRENT certification shows that. Take advantage of being on both
sides and having experience and the certification.
o The
point is to prepare as much as you can for when the opportunity arises you have
the ability and expertise to take advantage. And after you take advantage of
the opportunity…you know what people will say to you when you land that big job
afterwards? “Man, you got lucky”. Funny thing is…you created your own luck by
preparation. Would you chance your dream job when it comes along on the global
definition of luck? I wouldn’t. I would create my own luck by preparing and
dedicating the effort to make it happen. The fact remains that when you prepare
and do things for a change you attract the change to occur. You may never
happen upon the dream job unless you prepare yourself and practically throw
yourself into the direct line of fire. The hard thing about this point is not
knowing when the next dream opportunity will happen. Learn to go from cert to
cert as a success from success. Don’t just be waiting to feel success only after
you can land a dream job or dream advance.
o Learn
from certs outside of your direction in IT. Go into programming. Go into
networking. Learn to run a LAMP server. Learn PHP. Learn about security. Learn Mobile apps. The more background you know of each direction
in IT the better you are with your own direction. You may even find a different
direction to be refreshing. You may even want to go in that other direction.
You will never know until you dive into the direction for a while.
o About
dedication: don’t be like the boy that dips his toe into the water and then
comes home saying he went swimming. If you are going to learn something, learn
in depth knowledge about the subject. Get a surface knowledge of things and
then dive right into the topics of that direction that interest you. By diving
into the places that interest you the parts that don’t seem quite interesting
will become appealing.
·
When should I start to Certify?
o You
should start to get certified today no matter your current situation. Is it going to be tough giving up time? Yes.
Worth it? Yes.
o When
you are in high school go to the technology center for half a day and take the
certification tests. It’s a great way to get out of dreary High school and into
a environment where learning is fun and not considered a chore by your peers.
If a tech center isn’t available I am sure there is some class that can get you
involved. If all else fails in High school…give up just 1 hour of video games
and take certification courses in that small hour.
o Get
your certification during college. I am currently taking 12 credit hours in
College, work full time, and get a certification a semester. Tough? Yes. The
more certifications you have the more enticing you look to potential
employers…not just because of the certs on your resume but the confidence you
will have knowing you have what they need.
o Get
certified even if you are in the field and working there for years. Just the
feeling of accomplishment will get you feeling better and open you eyes to the
things you don’t know currently. Remember: Also go into certifications that are
not in your direction…these will be the most satisfying to earn.
o The
point is to start now…where every you are in your life. If you want to be in
any computer field you got to earn it.
o *Note:
I have heard from many it is hard to get into the industry with no previous
experience. All these people that I hear complain I ask them a simple question:
what have you done in your personal life to get real world experience? Most of
them say nothing. Some say, “Well I know how to setup my wireless router!”.
That may be a good start…but not enough. If Cisco is your thing work with GNS3
and cisco packet tracer to build enterprise level networks on your home PC. I
just can’t get why I hear people complain about something they have control
over…they just don’t go after it for themselves first. You can get real world
experience by simply doing things for yourself. Taking from Brian Tracey again:
You are your own CEO. If you want some real world experience then work for
yourself. Make a mobile app for yourself.
Build a network for yourself. There are so many real life labs out there
on the web for entry level certifications that all you have to do is search and
go employee yourself. I am positive someone will hire you over a person with
experience when you walk into the interview, looked over what they have and say
to them, “I have made a very similar network in the lab that works flawlessly.”
The confidence you have will be your sale point.
·
How can I certify?
o Invest
cash in yourself. Something I take out of Brian Tracey’s books: invest 3% of
total income into yourself and your learning. For a $50,000 salary that is
$1,500 or $125 a month. This can easily pay for 3 or 4 certs a year. If you
want to become something like VMware certified it requires a class. Some other
certs require a class as well. Classes are around $2,000 to $4,000 and usually
require you to travel and spend 4 to 5 days learning. If you want those then
you will have to commit a bit more of your salary and save for a year…or go
into debt and pay it off in a year…which ever you prefer. $3,000 is a small risk with huge payoffs.
Putting off that fishing boat one year for a certification course could mean a
yacht the next.
o Invest
time in yourself. If you really want to do something than wake up early and do
it. It is amazing how much can be accomplished with that 1 hr of waking up
earlier. There will be fewer distractions, less phone calls and less demand for
your time in the morning hours. This means more concentration on the task at
hand. One hour a day for 6 days a week turns out to be a 3 credit course every
quarter. Getting a new certification every quarter isn’t hard when you have the
morning hours to get done. If you want to take this to the extreme and get it
done far faster than a semester than wake up at 4AM and go to bed at 9PM. 8 hrs
of sleep is great plus you have a full 4 hours before you go into work at 9AM
(add an hour for getting ready and eating). You could get part time hours by
just going to sleep at 9PM…for most of us that is 2 hours difference is all.
Think of putting part time hours into a certification…you won’t regret it and
would be done in weeks.
o Certifications
are not hard to earn. They are simple courses that mostly can be done in a
couple weeks. They usually cover broad topics and skim the surface on each
topic. If they take longer it means they are worth more value to you and
require you to be working in the field for a while. The certifications that
take longer than a couple weeks are usually earned by those that have gotten
the easier, faster certifications first and then got into a job the requires
them to gain that longer, harder to earn certification.
·
Where can I certify?
o Most
certifications can be earned from your house. All you have to do is get to a
testing center to write the exam (write for exam means take the test…I have no
idea who came up of that term) Certifications can mostly be studied all from
your home PC.
o Another
part of “where” is where can you get certification study material? That is
easy. Google search is a great friend. Learn how to use it and find what you
are looking for fast and you will have any answer you need.
o Most
certifications have many books on Amazon. Find the best rated book, make sure
it is the current test (because the tests change every couple years) and buy
it. They are always less than 100 bucks.
o Most
certifications have web pages that are free dedicated to the exam. Take Cisco
for example. 9tut.com has great tutorials and questions. Be very careful
learning from these webpages however. They could be great in passing the
exam…but all they do is cover the topics of the exam and never get into the in
depth knowledge that you need to pass the tests given during an interview. If you
are going to learn something learn it well.
o There
are websites and torrents out there that can be downloaded that have study
materials and actual exam questions. Some websites even have the full test
bank. Although these are great in passing the exam with high scores this type
of studying is horrible for everyone. This is why so many people say that being
certified doesn’t mean you know your stuff…it just means you know how to take a
test. If you choose to use these testbanks then I sure hope you learn the real
in depth, soul feeling experience of each direction. Learning those things
means progression. Things like money never make happiness. Do things make life
easier? YES…but is easier happiness? NO. Get that in your head before you go
off in search of riches.
·
Which certifications are right for me?
o This
is a tough question. On one hand people say to go get many certifications in
all different areas. On the other hand people say get into a direction you love
and get the highest degree of certification available. This is how I put it:
o If
you are starting in the field get the certification that seems most
enticing. Gain that certification and if
it was easy go for the second level of that certification. As you gain more and
more levels of certification start expanding into other directions. Just as you
went through college or high school you had to take classes that didn’t seem
very relevant to your direction. This is a good thing. I repeat myself: The
more you know about other directions the better you know your own direction. By
understanding the dynamics of a database, you can better understand how to
network your DB server.
o Here
is a list of types of Certifications (I will not go into much detail…just
enough to get you interested J ) :
§
Comptia: Comptia doesn’t rely on vendors
specific knowledge. This is good and bad. You get the general overview of the
direction, but nothing in dept. Comptia Certifications are great for entry
level people looking for a quick easy paced certification that gets them rolling.
Some of the highlighted certs in Comptia are A+, Network+, Secruity+ and their
new Healthcare+ that they promoting heavily right now.
§
Cisco: The big networking certifications. The
beginning cert is called CCNA which almost everyone in IT earns sometime in
their career. CCNA is still a very hard test and requires you to know some very
specific things about networking and how Cisco makes it easier. CCNP are for
people really wanting a cisco networking job at enterprises. Their highest,
CCIE is something not very many achieve. I would suggest getting CCIE only if
your employer requires it and is willing to put you through the course.
§
Microsoft: They are a big supplier of
certifications. You can get the silly ones that I myself wouldn’t pay for with
my own money such as Windows 7 MCT. The ones that give you the best bang for
the buck are their MCSA and MCSE certifications. They cover all the aspects of
Microsoft Servers and anyone that works with Microsoft products always want to
get. All their other certifications are there for employers to put their
employees through.
§
Apple: I have never really seen these certs used
unless you work for apple. They can be obtained outside of their company
however.
§
PMI: PMI is all about project management. This is
a very lofty certification that requires bachelors degree and at least 3 years
experience in project management just to qualify for the test.
§
CISSP: The big Security Certification. This cert also requires a minimum of 5 years
in the field. You can however take the test and then have 6 years to earn the
experience and become fully certified. I would have to say taking the test and
passing it is enough for employers to take a risk and hire you…this Cert is
that powerful.
§
VMWare: The virtual empire certificate. This is
another very costly certification but is mostly straight forward. You must take
a class to be admitted to an exam. The classes are 5 days and most likely not
in your area so traveling expenses and taking time off work are a must.
§
CSIM: This is the highest earning most sought
after IT Security Certificate. There is no required experience. Just study and
take the pass or fail exam. Very prestigious award.
§
CHFI: this is the Ethical Hacking Forensics
Investigator Cert. This is a great one to get into a job with the feds or
police department and go help solve crimes. Some get it just to have a side job
along with their main job of teaching.
§
CIW: Certified Internet Web Development. This is
all about internet servers and web pages security, design, development, and
foundational. They take certifications
from Comptia and apply it to some pre-requirements of their certifications.
o I
have named the main ones here. There are plenty of more to keep you going a
life time.
·
Suggestion: continue to get new ones and renew
the old ones relevant to your direction currently. Never let one expire…you
usually have to take it all over again.
·
My largest Suggestion of this entire article:
this is worthy of an entirely separate article which I will be writing on soon.
Invest in your Soft skills learning courses. Soft skills can be learned and are
not given at birth. You soft skills are probably the best money makers of all
certifications. If you cannot sale yourself you cannot sale your talents. Take course
to better your presentation, talking, networking, sales (you are all sales
managers…more about this in another article), and every aspect in life.
o The
best way I have been able to build my soft skills is by book on “Tape”…or CD or
Ipod or whatever. Listening to books on tape while driving to and fro from work
and other locations can turn your boring driving time into full 3 semester
classes. If you drive the average hours a year as everyone else (more than 1500
hours) than you can read over 50 books a year…that is 50 times more books than
the average person reads a year…yep the average person reads less than a book a
year.
·
What I want to
see different in IT cets and what
I want ot see more of (conclusion)
o I
want to see a way that makes certifications more reliable to the employer. Some
kind of check list to make sure the client didn’t cheat on the exam by
testbanks. Maybe some kind of separate way to verify someone can really do what
the certification says they can do that isn’t directed by the certification companies…I
smell a start up coming.
o I
also want to see more certifications about management. Management is what is
taking over IT in the small business world…which is our world in the US . Be a
manager in a small business means you not only manage people, but computers as
well. Get into upper management in a small business and you end up being titled
“tech support” along side.
