I just learned that I'll be working on average 25 hours per week instead of 40 hours for the next four months unless I get a second job. With a good amount of time on my hands, I was thinking it might be a good time to get certified for the few useful technical skills I've nursed throughout my undergraduate years.

I've got some (self-taught) experience with CAD and network repair. I figure I might be able to pass the A+ cert with little study. I also figure CCNP training and cert would be good with what Ive done in the past. I dont know what kind of cert/training I should look for with CAD software.

Anyone have any advice on these certs? Are they worth getting? Other certs that you think would be right for me? Recommend a training center?

9/13/2005 4:24:14 PM

certs are garbage and any company that places disqualifying emphasis on them is garbage.

9/13/2005 6:52:32 PM

work experience=the wins

9/13/2005 7:00:27 PM

I think certs get a bad name because too many people get a cert and decide they want to jump into a position and command salary of someone who has been in the industry for years and years. But i'm not totally down on certs, if someone is trying to break into a new area and decides to study up and get a cert then I think it shows initiative.

I'm hiring for an entry level Oracle position right now. One of the candidates asked if having certs would help. I told them yes in their case it would _help_ because they had lots of industry experience but outdated experience relating to the specifics of the position.

But people need to bring more to the table than just a cert. We're looking for someone who is interested in the type of stuff we do here. Just having the cert doesn't mean jack to us. Show us you can apply what you learned, are excited about what you do, and can get things done and you're golden.

9/13/2005 7:13:24 PM

nothing terribly wrong with certs, shows an individual is constantly learning and challenging themselves. my big gripe is that the questions on cert exams are not always technically correct or clear. i also think there is no substitute for real work experience.

9/13/2005 7:40:28 PM

certification is a good thing, but the training is usually overpriced

two people have roughly equal experience and one is certified. Which resume is HR going to toss?

I have an SCJP certification and I don't do any Java work. It probably still helped me land this job.

9/13/2005 9:07:01 PM

certs are good. But yeah, they dont replace a relative and well-planned work experience.

However, as an IT recruiter that places people at microsoft, progress energy, netapp, saic, and csc -- I can assure you that they can only help

MCP, MCSE, CCIE, and CCNA/CCNP are all good ones. A+/net ones are more common. But by all means get some down. The neat thing is you never really HAVE to state that they are expired, it's more a trial by fire type token to enhance what you already have.

9/13/2005 9:14:30 PM

Some applications make you mark how many hours/week you worked at each job you list as previous experience.

9/13/2005 9:46:33 PM

Honestly I don't have a singificant amount of actual work experience in the tech field. What I do have is a lot of personal experience with PCs and networks that I would like to legitimatize so I can put it on my resume.

Thanks for the advice. Can anyone recommend a place where I can take classes that prepare me specifically for these exams?

9/13/2005 10:24:13 PM

community college

9/13/2005 10:25:32 PM

After about an hour of searching I found a local place that doesnt operate on "semester time". Saw that it would cost $2k for the classes tho. Dang

Im goign to head over to borders and pick up the study guide and wing it.

9/14/2005 12:49:19 AM

wing it for the CCNP.??? good luck with that. I got mine about a year ago while I was working at Cisco and had access to training labs and such. Even with that, it still took a while to pass all four tests during those 7 months while working full time. But, I will say that that was a quick time compared to the others working with me, so unless you have specific experience working with many types of cisco equipment, then dont expect to just jump into the test and be very successful.

9/14/2005 8:39:52 AM