Importance of certifications

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Apologies if this has been covered before, but I was wondering how important certifications are in advancing your career?

As a non-IT guy, I would have thought that experience is by far the most important factor for any prospective employer, and that has been backed up by everything I've seen and read so far.

But certs seem to be important too. A lot of you experienced guys on this site seem to have a few of them - how important have they been in your careers? Can you get where you need to go without them if you have enough hands-on experience? Are they absolutely necessary, or is it just that they will get you there years faster?

Really, when you boil it all down, I am asking how much respect employers give to certifications. For those with experience, how different would you look in the eyes of employers with your experience and certs, compared with roughly the same experience but no certs?

I assume that the level of respect will depend on the certification we are talking about - I am thinking mainly of Microsoft (eg. MCSE, MCSA), Cisco (eg. CCNA, CCNP) and entry-level (eg. A+) certs here.

Any thoughts / comments / links would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

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As an employer, certs are one of the first things I glance at on a CV before I throw it in the bin.

That doesn't mean that I make a decision based purely on this information, but it gives me the ability to benchmark a person to an extent.

No certs - usually means no IT experience and may indicate that they haven't done their homework on the industry.

Too many certs - braindumper? Especially if it isn't linked to an IT career. Why is someone with an MCSE, CCNP applying for a junior IT role? What's wrong with them?

Dodgy mixture of certs - MCSE + MCSD. What are you? Engineer or developer?


In short, certs can impress if you can back them up with actual ability, but beware of overdoing it. A cert isn't a passport for a job and I'm more likely to bin someone for being overqualified that for being at the bottom and moving in the right direction.

But then, I'm a b@stard.

 

Maybe some mcse, working in a small company, would not mind
start from junior sysadm in a big company.
Or maybe that happens just in Italy.
Or maybe that is just my own case. I am studying hard for my mcse, and i am learning a lot of course.
The project would be to leave my small it company and have a try in a big one. Even if i have to start from scratch.
Nico

 

Experience is what matters, once you get past HR and actually get a technical interview. To get to that point, though, you have to impress people with communications and english degrees who get confused if you don't send them a Word doc -- I used to send my resume attached as an HTML doc thinking that should be even easier, as only a web browser is required and most email clients will display it in-line... every single recruiter replied asking for it in Word format instead.

Anyways, it's kind of like having a Ph.D after your name: you could still be full of cr@p but at least someone will listen to you. Without certs or an advanced degree you could discover a unified theory that explains everything and nobody would notice.

 

Three-legged structure with experience being the lead leg:

Experience
Education
Certifications

Despite what the certification vendors tell you, certs exist only to verify that you already have the skills to do the job.

 

Makes me wonder sometimes, I left school at 16, don't actually have any real "IT" qualifications, yet I have worked in IT for nearly 10 years (scary i know)

So unless i've been really lucky, im still working in IT.

I've seen plenty of CV's and people with a lot of experience/qualifications, however come the interview, all of a sudden they cant even add a workstation to a domain...

my 2p

Andy

 

I'd say then madman, that your experience is the key factor that keeps you in the field. It's called "the school of hard knocks".

 

I've got the worst luck in the world. But I think determination plays a big role too: if you're just in it for the money go for a law or business degree instead.

 

For me it is experience, adaptability and enthusiasm.

As someone who has never been a strong advocate of certificates (mainly because I have seen those who have them and are not worth the air they breath, and those that don't who just walk on water!) I look for the possibilities that candidates show.

Admittedly it is slightly different in an Edu environment that in other areas as the pay is naff ... and certification comes under general education for me.

It is worth pointing out that I only have C&G level 2 in PC Maintenance and Repair ... and now't else ... in spite of doing a number of MS courses ... I just can't be bothered to do the exam. I have learnt what I needed and moved on.

I really should book the exam for close after the course to force me to take it.

 

All very commendable qualities.
Whatever you choose to do, if you have those you're in with a fighting chance.

 

But can I also quote David Brent here:

'Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.'

 

Sincerely hope I won't have to...

Very good advice there though!

 

Yep, it's as simple as this.

Certification and education are certainly important... but they're mainly to fulfill employer requirements and/or to help differentiate yourself from your competition. Every edge helps.

Certification alone won't enable you to get a job. Education alone won't enable you to get a job. Experience, however, will always be a primary factor for getting a job.

 

Its not just about proving what you already know from experience.

Yes you need some industry experience but it is posible to switch tracks. Previous generations had many different diverse careers and they didn't let it bother them so much. So I think some of the narrow mindedness and pigeon holeing really isn't that helpful.

New technologies/markets are continually being created, frequently 'nobody' has significant experience of these markets outside of a few niche companies and institutions.

A few years back the cert industry was very small, also look at mobile phones, the internet and Cisco. At these times you could of quite easy switched with a good pitch.

Look at XML, SOA, .NET and the new Dynamics stuff, when this stuff is released only a few individuals were/will be experts. If you have only a small amount of experience that is relevant you can break into these positions or markets.

If you are trying to break into an overcrowed market then of course you will find it difficult to a) find a place and b) profit from it.

Its more important than ever to realise that knowledge of tech alone is often not enough.

 

Absolutely.

One of the many benefits of certifications is constant learning, and being recognized by standards -- many IT pros I know have essentially 'stopped' learning, because their job is done challenging them and they maintain a nice living. Similarly, some refute the legitimacy of certifications as an entity that couldn't possibility test what they know, so they choose to ignore it.

In the U.S., this happened years ago in the automotive world. Now, without certifications, some manufacturers won't pay for warranty claims if the tech is not certified in that area. Now, the IT system is structured differently, but something similar is happening now, and will continue in the future. Currently, in a competitive job market, most HR people trash resumes without the proper acronyms. Not because it reflects ability, but just because, if the candidates are closely matched, it's better to go for the person that has certifications. We had old-school techs in the shop that laughed at certs, and then found themselves in a job market that required them, or they'd have drastically reduced their chances of employment.

In automotive, the days of rogue cowboy mechanics are growing slimmer every day, and other industries are following suit. In IT, coupled with experience (and education), it shows you to be well-rounded, learning, and adapting. Why not give yourself the best chances for success?

 

One of the problems I find with certification in the education circuits is that the benefits are often hard to prove to those that sign the cheques.

Considering how much the books cost, then the courses followed by the exams ... now, you try explaining to a teacher that you have booked a single course for the same cost as the whole allocation of training to their department.

Support teams have trouble justifying money on training sometimes, but I will say that you would never get the chance to get bored looking after IT in schools. Too much change and too many challenges for that.

 

Yep... which is why most companies will pay for books and practice exams and exam fees, but not training courses.

 

I must admit that i am finding it bloody hard to get that entry level job. I have applied for well over a dozen jobs in the last month and the companies who do reply, all say the same thing. " i am sorry Mr pearce, but you dont have enough experience and skill set".
But i have only got one cert and sod all to show for it! which i am certain with the certifications ( or career path) that i am taking, i can change all that. I am doing web design ( CIW) and what i have already been told or should i say....advice been given.....about web design, is that i can show....well....the world what experience i have got by building web sites. I could have a dozen web design certs, but i if i didn't have the evidence (web sites) to back them up, then i would probally be in jonny's bin.
My point is....if you have certs in an industry you can't show what you know...say....MCSE, then certs are very important, but if you are like me and only have the basic foundations certificate of web design, but have three shite hot designed web sites, then i am sure jonny will give me an interview????

 

If they're saying you don't have enough experience, then you're not applying for entry-level jobs. Entry-level jobs, by definition, don't require experience because they are jobs in which you ENTER the career field. If you're ENTERING the career field, you don't have any experience, right? Thus, if a job requires experience... it's not entry-level.

In Web design, certifications aren't as necessary as they are in technical support. As you state, you can build a portfolio of your work. As your experience grows, your sites will naturally be better. Certifications can give you an edge... but only against people with similar experience levels. Certification isn't a magic key that will get you a job... and this is coming from someone who sells certification training products for a living!!