Re-certification - Yes or No

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Whilst I am a big fan of certifications (I post here after all), I am starting to find myself at the cusp of trying to decide if I actually need any additional certifications.

I am now a 'technical' manager, I have staff who do the day to day work and fix the things I used to fix, I don't tend to find myself having the time to be technically hands on (so much so that having moved house last November I still don't have my VMware lab up and running as it's still in boxes in my garage).

My boss asked me a year ago if I was doing any technical work (because he didn't want me involved in the minutia of day to day work) and I just laughed at him and asked when I was expected to do said technical work (I already do on average 10 hour days).

The thing is tho that I worked hard for my certifications, my VCAP was a couple of months of really hard study and I have until June to renew my VCP certification or have to start a fresh with certification after that date and this is where I am starting to wonder if re-certifying is really needed at the stage I am at now (to give you an idea, I manage a large team of storage and virtualisation engineers with a title of Senior Manager, I am pushing for Directorship this year (my VP having already assumed I was a Director already) so that means even more hands off and more steering towards strategy etc.

It would be lovely to stay certified, it would be greater still to get my RHCSA but I really struggle finding the time (throw in the Personal Trainer Certification I have paid for and that's really limiting my time).

Thoughts? Suggestions?

 

Re-certification is a complete waste of time and money in my book.
The only justification might be if your job required it, which it doesn't.

Life is short, spend your time and money doing what interests you most.

 

Simon is still umming and ahhing on that decision, the sad thing is that it's 8am on my birthday and one of the first things I do is come and check CertForums

 

I would say keep them current you never know what is round the corner and you already did the hard part of getting them.

I avoid certifications that require re-certification like SANS courses and stick to the ones that require CPE's which is the majority luckily.

 

The issue I have is that whilst it would be nice to keep current I really am hands off these days, if I was going to get more training it would have to be for something like Storage or Containers etc.

I will see how the next month or so goes (I am US bound next week so may take some training material with me).

 

As hard as it is to see stuff lapse, for me certifications are a means to an end. I want the knowledge, & vicariously I want the knowledge to help me acquire more money & a better life. If certifications no longer service either of those needs to a great enough degree, then I don't see the point in doing them.

Obviously, it's a personal decision, but that's just my input on the matter.

 

Oh I get it, over the years I have spent £10000's on certification, to keep current was key for me as an engineer, as a manager it's not so key, especially as I have a team of enthusiastic engineers who work for me and keep me honest.

Moving upwards in the management track I understand the requirement of having technically aware managers (which I am thankful that I am) but I have to keep in mind that I am no longer hands on and that's why I am questioning the need to continue keeping technical certifications updated.