What Certifications do not need to be Re-Certified

Discussion in 'Other IT certifications' started by Xinapse, Jan 15, 2011.

  1. Xinapse

    Xinapse Bit Poster

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    Im 18 at the moment and hopefully going to Uni at the end of the year, so the reality that these certifications will come into use for an employer wont be apparent for at least 3-4 years, but i really wanna get some certs under my belt so what Certs do not need to be recertified? I heard the Comptia ones have a 'lifetime' use.

    Thanks
     
  2. JSH333

    JSH333 Byte Poster

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    Unfortunatly the popular CompTIA certs, (A+, Network+ and Security+) are no longer life-time, but expire after 3 years unless renewed.

    A good one would be the MCDST, as that I understand is life time but will not be avaliable after June.
    Perhaps worth getting that one in?

    It's worth mentioning that the A+ and Network+ in particular are recomended starting certs as they lay a good basic understanding before any later certs.

    Tricky situation really, but I'd recomend the MCDST, A+ and N+ in that order perhaps? You can always take the comptia exams again in a few years if you're having problems getting a job?
     
    Certifications: A+, Network+, Security+, MCP, MCDST
    WIP: MCSA
  3. Apoc220

    Apoc220 Byte Poster

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    It's a tricky situation, because it will not benefit you to get these certifications unless you're actually going to support the product in the near future. I say this because the majority of what you learn will be lost because it isn't in practice. Are you going to be going to uni for computer science or IT in general? If so you'll most likely get classes reinforcing the materials in the A+ and N+, so I would personally try those if you REALLY wanted to get into the cert game. MCDST is retiring soon so now would be the time to get it if you wanted to get it under your belt. The only issue is that you wouldn't likely be supporting it anytime soon so it's value would be questionable. The point I'm getting at is that while these certs do help you in learning things that will help you in the real world, you don't do yourself service if you complete it now and don't actually support the product until 3-4 years down the track. Ultimately it's your decision, but just make sure that you aren't getting these certs just to get them out of the way. That isn't the point.

    EDIT: I forgot to mention that if you do take A+ and Net+ you will just need to take security+ when it comes time to renew. They have it setup that once you take the next exam up you will get recertified in the one's below. So N+ recertifies A+, and Sec+ recertifies A+/N+. But again, an A+ or N+ taken now might not be as valuable four years from now depending on what new technologies are used by then.
     
    Last edited: Jan 15, 2011
    Certifications: MCDST
    WIP: 70-680
  4. Shinigami

    Shinigami Megabyte Poster

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    If you can pull in an MCDST in less than 6 months, it might be worth a shot. But the number of XP installations in 3-4 years time will have diminished as support for the product will have ended and 7 has been selling at a rather rapid pace (nearly twice as many copies sold in the same amount of time as with XP)...

    Granted, XP will be around for longer than this at some places, and by passing the MCDST, you can also look at upgrade exams to 7 for an easier path to an MCITP thanks to the experience you gained from doing the MCDST.
     
    Certifications: MCSE, MCITP, MCDST, MOS, CIW, Comptia
    WIP: Win7/Lync2010/MCM
  5. karan1337

    karan1337 Byte Poster

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    Good advice from Shinigami.
     
    Certifications: MCP, MCDST, MCTS, Brainbench: XP and Vista [Master]
    WIP: Bachelors:Computer Science
  6. michael78

    michael78 Terabyte Poster

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    Agreed MCDST is a good cert for now but 3-4 years down the line whilst it will still be used I think it's worth will be minimal.
     
    Certifications: A+ | Network+ | Security+ | MCP | MCDST | MCTS: Hyper-V | MCTS: AD | MCTS: Exchange 2007 | MCTS: Windows 7 | MCSA: 2003 | ITIL Foundation v3 | CCA: Xenapp 5.0 | MCITP: Enterprise Desktop Administrator on Windows 7 | MCITP: Enterprise Desktop Support Technician on Windows 7
    WIP: Online SAN Overview, VCP in December 2011
  7. JonnyMX

    JonnyMX Petabyte Poster

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    It's the wrong question to be asking really.

    A lot of people try to make decisions on certification for the wrong reasons, such as 'which one will get me employed quickest' or 'which one will earn me the most money'.

    You need to think about what you're comfortable working with, what technologies you have experience with, what you're interested in and what you can see yourself working with in the future.

    If I told you that database certs never expire, would that tempt you to take them if you really wanted to work in networking?

    You then have to consider the value in the future of a cert that never expires. It's all very well being an MCDBA on SQL 2000 for the rest of your life - but will it really be any use on your CV when everyone else is on SQL 2020?
     
    Certifications: MCT, MCTS, i-Net+, CIW CI, Prince2, MSP, MCSD
  8. BosonMichael
    Honorary Member Highly Decorated Member Award 500 Likes Award

    BosonMichael Yottabyte Poster

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    Only to the stragglers who need to update their old SQL 2000 installs to SQL 2020. And I guarantee they will be out there! You might scoff... but just look at all the companies still using NT and 2000!
     
    Certifications: CISSP, MCSE+I, MCSE: Security, MCSE: Messaging, MCDST, MCDBA, MCTS, OCP, CCNP, CCDP, CCNA Security, CCNA Voice, CNE, SCSA, Security+, Linux+, Server+, Network+, A+
    WIP: Just about everything!
  9. danielno8

    danielno8 Gigabyte Poster

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    Yep, but which employer would you rather appeal to? And who are there likely to be more of?
     
    Certifications: CCENT, CCNA
    WIP: CCNP
  10. Theprof

    Theprof Petabyte Poster

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    I can say from my personal experience, I got my A+ during school and that helped a lot in understanding the fundamentals... I waited till I had about 12 months experience before pursuing anything else.
     
    Certifications: A+ | CCA | CCAA | Network+ | MCDST | MCSA | MCP (270, 271, 272, 290, 291) | MCTS (70-662, 70-663) | MCITP:EMA | VCA-DCV/Cloud/WM | VTSP | VCP5-DT | VCP5-DCV
    WIP: VCAP5-DCA/DCD | EMCCA
  11. BosonMichael
    Honorary Member Highly Decorated Member Award 500 Likes Award

    BosonMichael Yottabyte Poster

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    Any employer who would hire me. Thus, with a broader skillset, I would have more opportunities available.

    Doesn't matter; I can support both. I never said you should learn one to the exclusion of the other...
     
    Certifications: CISSP, MCSE+I, MCSE: Security, MCSE: Messaging, MCDST, MCDBA, MCTS, OCP, CCNP, CCDP, CCNA Security, CCNA Voice, CNE, SCSA, Security+, Linux+, Server+, Network+, A+
    WIP: Just about everything!
  12. invierno

    invierno Nibble Poster

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    I for one disagree with this from this perspective: on the one hand, these CompTIA certs were introduced to the OP as entry level certs yet you are saying that unless you already have something in hand to be working on the technologies then certification is not the appropriate route. Quite to the contrary, these certs (along with the MCSA I earned before my first IT job which caused some hand-wringing on these boards) opened the doors for me to work in IT the first place; my boss explicitly said that he didn't consider my resume before I got certified because I had to show I knew something (I was an internal transfer and had applied about 3 times before I got it). It is essentially being argued here that there is no such thing as an entry-level cert in sense of it helping you get your foot in the door, and I know I'm not the only out there who got in by using certifications to do exactly that. And yes, my MCSA was what put me over the top; my hiring manager told me so.
     
    Certifications: See Signature
    WIP: Java, Linux
  13. danielno8

    danielno8 Gigabyte Poster

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    You're fighting a losing battle here mate.
     
    Last edited: Jan 17, 2011
    Certifications: CCENT, CCNA
    WIP: CCNP
  14. Apoc220

    Apoc220 Byte Poster

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    If you will read my post over you will see that I was not telling the OP that he should not get the certs at all. But rather, the point I was saying was that some of the certs might not do him good right now since he is about to go to uni and it might be a while until he gets to actually support these products. I did mention that if he really wanted to get certs he had the A+ and N+ as options now as he could take sec+ later and keep those active.


    The point I was making (or trying to anyway) was that it wouldn't benefit him to get the cert and not do actual work with the materials unless he was going to provide support in the near future. If the message got mixed up in my original posting then take this as my clarification. I never tried to say that, and I don't recall anyone saying anything about there not being such thing as entry level certs. The OP came with the question about certs that don't expire, and I for one tried to tell him/her that getting a cert just because it doesn't expire isn't the ideal route just to get it out of the way. Ultimately it will be his decision, but I can only lend on my personal experience and say that he would be doing himself a disservice to get into certs that he will not support with reinforcement anytime soon. Take it as a grain of salt if you like.
     
    Certifications: MCDST
    WIP: 70-680
  15. Andy_Walton

    Andy_Walton New Member

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    I went to univeristy at a similar age with a CCNA under my belt, quite by accident!..

    My 6th form college was one of the first UK Regional Cisco Academys and so I was offered the opportunity to supplement my A' levels with this qualification FOC.

    My degree was in Computer & Network Engineering so arguably the "theory" related matter served me incredibly well throughout my university days, unfortunately though, a fair bit of the vendor specific stuff was dead in the water by the time I had graduated! So I had to re-certify in order to bring myself "up-to date".

    Interestingly, a lot of Universities seem to be incorporating some of the more mainstream vendor certifications into the degree courses these days; my younger brother graduated from a degree with similar discipline to mine last year with several MCP's and his CCENT qualification.

    The best advice I can give, would be to perhaps consider a degree with a gap-year (usually in year 3 making your course 4 years in total) that way you can get yourself into a real working environment, perhaps pick some qualifications and even the prospect of employment after your 4th year!

    Andy
     
    Last edited: Jan 23, 2011
    Certifications: MCSA:Messaging, CCNA, CCA, VCP4, ITILv3
    WIP: CCNP Voice
  16. bazzawood30

    bazzawood30 Byte Poster

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    Consider this

    Do A+ now, go to uni, in your summer hols do N+ this will renew your A+, and you can count them towards microsoft certs. The following summer do S+ this will renew A+ & N+ then when you finish uni you will have a degree and 3 certs with just over 2 years of life left in them
     
    Certifications: ECDL,A+,N+,CCENT,CCNA,MCP,MCDST

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