Importance of certifications

Oh man! Ad-blocking software has been detected! :'(

This website is run by the community, for the community... and it needs advertisements in order to keep running. Blocking our ads means your killing our stats!
Please disable your ad-block, or become a premium member to hide all advertisements and this notice.

Certs are important in their own way, but I know alot of people (inc myself) who shyed away from them due to things like paper mcses etc.

I've only started doing my certs due to the fact that it will compliment my experience and make me look different to other competitors.

I'm always dubious about IT staff that have lots of certs and no experience.

 

Oh man! Ad-blocking software has been detected! :'(

This website is run by the community, for the community... and it needs advertisements in order to keep running. Blocking our ads means your killing our stats!
Please disable your ad-block, or become a premium member to hide all advertisements and this notice.

I think its all about building a complete package and getting your foot in the door.

I know i have a lot of certs and i do think if you have too many it isnt necessarily a good thing.... however if two people apply for a job and one has certs and the other doesn't, it may well give you an edge.

As long as you get the interview you can then impress them with your personality, knowledge, attitude and experience.... but if you cant get an interview? Then its gonna be tough.

I havent got a degree (i could have with 2 A's, 1 B and 1 C at A Level) so i'm made up for that with experience, certifications, college courses and making the right career moves.

More strings in the bow and all that.

I'm lucky and have an employer who is willing to send me on courses, but i did all of my CompTIA, CIW and MCSE certs through home study, so it can be done. Eventually!!

 

Can you tell me where these entry-level jobs are then. It's not that i dont agree with you....it just that, all the entry-level jobs or should i say..."junior" positions, i have came across are well above my skill level. They want knowlege of flash, dreamweaver,illustrator, xhtml, javascript and css. I have been job searching for nearly six months and have never came across a vacancy where an employer is asking for an enthusastic, willing, self taught individual, with some basic knowledge of web design???
Perhaps i am looking at the wrong web sites????

 

Like I keep pointing out you are entering a competative market. The webs been alive and well for some time now, the initial 'skills gap' that may have allowed people to join the industry without many skills probably no longer exists.

Real web sites for corporations can be quite complex, knowledge of simple HTML alone is not enough in many cases.

I would say that :- "Dreamweaver, XHTML, JavaScript and CSS" are now core skills expected by most web developer positions.

I would say flash and illustrator are nice to haves for most web developer positions.

Its a competative world you will often be expected to perform many roles in a company and therefore companies will sometimes expect incredible skill sets. Sometimes its worth applying anyway as they might keep your CV on file.

Arguing about the definition of an 'entry level job' does nobody any good ! If in doubt apply anyway the recruiters can always reject your application.

 

Perhaps. Keep in mind that EVERYONE looks at online job search sites (as well as newspapers). Thus, you're competing with MANY other people, and quite a few of them will have experience.

Not sure if I've said this in this particular post... but if you're only looking at job search sites and newspapers, you're missing out on all the "hidden jobs". Those are jobs that are not posted (or not yet posted) that other techs know about. If you don't know a bunch of techs in your area, get out there and meet them - several IT professional organizations exist. Networking (with people, not with wires) is often the most overlooked skill an IT professional can have.

Most Web designers I know started out on their own, doing jobs for a few people, until they built up their customer base enough to do it full time, or until they got enough experience using those technologies (Flash, Dreamweaver, etc.) to get a job at a Web design shop. Expecting to go into a place and have them teach you from ground level is probably unrealistic.

 

Yep, i'll say thats good advice! Cheers people!!