Friday Discussion - Can you be over qualified in IT?

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If you look at the length of time that I have been in IT (16 months) now and the qualifications I have (see signature) you would definitely put me in the category of being over qualified.

However, I have always used certifications as a means to learn a new skill set before implementing them in a real world environment. I know this is against what most people advise here, but it is how it happened for me.

I passed my qualifications, to enhance my skills and for pay rises. It just so happened when I got my MCSE I went into 3rd Line support.

The thing that most people tend to forgot that an MCSE is about installation and configuration of environments. However, most of us spend our time troubleshooting and patching as the existing infrastructure already exists.

I use the knowledge I have obtained from the MCSE to allow me to do my job more effectively. Just the other day I was doing some work for a very large client in relation to some work they wished to be carried out and the most effective way was to block some GPO’s. Not the most sexy fix, but it was quick and what they wanted.

In relation to the CCNA which I’m currently studying for, I had never touched a Cisco Switch/Router/PIX/ASA when I had passed my CCENT. Why did I want to pass this? Well it has greatly enhanced my understanding of networks and has allowed me to troubleshoot across a variety of vendors more effectively. Since passing the CCENT, my employer has let me on a few PIX’s and I have configured an ACL and also a DHCPD scope on a PIX.

When I have passed the CCNA, will I be using these skills daily, yes. Not on Cisco stuff as unless a client wants a change, they just work. It will be on troubleshooting routing issues, ACL’s for Drayteks, Sonicwalls etc.

To sum up, by the end of this year, if all goes to plan I will add the CCNA and CCA (Citrix Certified Administrator) to my arsenal. So that would make the count in 19 months:

CCA, CCENT, CCNA, ITILv3 Foundation, MCP, MCDST, MCTS, MCSA, MCSA:M, MCSE

Almost forgot, I might have gotten the Server+ as well (find out in November) and maybe couple more MCTS for Windows 7, but I’m not studying for those, just going to sit the exam and see what happens.

So, am I overqualified as of right now, without a doubt.

However, I have just started to get involved with project work now. Which means I will be using alot more of my MCSE skills, for example next weekend, I'm helping to migrate a customer from SBS 2003 to SBS 2008.

 

Interesting as I was discussing this very topic with some other BCS Members after a meeting last night.

I think overall "it depends" by which I mean that circumstances play a part. If you are quite far along in your career (i.e. in a senior role such as Director level) and the certs have been gained over time then I would say "no". If you're younger and keen to show an all round aptitude then again I'd say "no".

If you're job-hunting then regardless of the stage of your career I'm back to "it depends / yes" as it is down to how it is interpreted by a recruiter and potential employer.

If it sounds like I'm sitting on the fence then that's probably true as I don't think there really is a hard and fast answer to this.

 

Overqualified no.
Overcertified yes.

 

My feelings exactly.

Edit: On that basis, I am going for "Yes"

 

yup thats how I feel to.

 

Yeah, overcertified and overqualified are two very different things.

Contrary to what craigie said (I have always used certifications as a means to learn a new skill set before implementing them in a real world environment.), I personally use the application for some time before I attempt the exam itself. Even if it means running the app in a production environment.

I've been using Hyper-V since last year, and passed the exam in the past 30 days.
I've been using Office Communications Server for a few years now, but I'm giving the exam a go next monday.
I studied Server 2008 in beta and RC's but passed the exams less then a year ago. etc... etc...

For me, I don't really see the point of attending a beta exam if you haven't used the app or OS AT ALL previously. Sure it's nice to get a free exam, and even nicer if by some fluke you pass, but I feel more comfortable at least placing a few months into it before I have a go.

Now, I'm not saying craigie's guilty of this, he's probably got months or years of lab experience behind him, and only once he's passed the exam, does he feel comfortable in using these apps in production.

Anyway... am I overcertified? Maybe a little. I do have +10 years of IT experience, and most of my certification circles around the core Microsoft technologies (client OS, server OS, Exchange, and soon OCS I hope). But on the other hand, I also have CIW certification which quite honestly, I can't say that I'm maintaining in any decent degreeas I rarely do web development, and my last 5 years have required no knowledge of this.

If I were to do a CCNA, it wouldn't make me a Cisco guy, simply because I'm so much Microsoft oriented. But what I DO hope a CCNA or Network+ would bring me, is a much deeper knowledge of networking per se.

Thus, would I be overcertified if I had a CCNA, even though I wouldn't work with Cisco routers in the future, at all? Maybe not if you consider it like I would, a complementary certification to better help me understand how the upper layers of the OSI model (my Microsoft knowledge) works with the lower layers (the Cisco stuff), etc (oversimplyfying things of course).

 

This.

That said, you CAN be overqualified for certain IT jobs. For example, I'm probably WAY overqualified to be a help desk tech.

 

Your probably overqualified for everything other than working in the training sector.

MCSE+I, MCSE: Security, MCSE: Messaging, MCDST, MCDBA, MCTS, OCP, CCNP, CCDP, CCNA Security, CCNA Voice, CNE, SCSA, Security+, Linux+, Server+, Network+, A+

I don't even know what some of those are.

 

Actually, you'd be surprised... although there are some really good people in training, there are a lot who aren't qualified to do anything BUT teach... and too often they're not even qualified enough to do that!

In truth, I'm qualified enough to be a senior network admin or a security admin. But I'm more of a jack-of-all-trades... I'm probably NOT qualified enough to be a SAN administrator, an Oracle admin, or a senior network architect (though I could eventually do so).

Also, keep in mind that "certified" doesn't mean "qualified"... two different things.

Which acronyms do you not recognize?

 

OCP, CNE and SCSA

 

OCP - Oracle Certified Professional
CNE - Certified NetWare Engineer
SCSA - Sun Certified System Administrator