This is a subject I have touched on in the past. I went to a company a couple of weeks back who had an issue with a Small Business Server 2008 installation. Upon entering the building and starting work I was then asked by the owner if I was qualified to work on his server. To this I answered yes I am qualified and experienced with Small Business Server 2008 which seemed to satisfy him. This is not the first time I have been asked this (maybe it is just my face!!).
Now I am a very firm believer in if you call yourself a professional you should be qualified and experienced and not one or the other. I used to work in construction as a site engineer (and later as a site manager) where qualifications are considered essential to get your foot on the ladder. This is not the case with IT until you start going higher up the food chain. If you look at all the job adverts for intermediate and above positions they usually specify that you must have CCNA, MCITP etc to go along with 3-5 years experience.
But what about all these certified ‘engineers’ who have little to no experience? I would agree that there are a lot of people in the industry who go out and get certified as much as possible in the belief that if they hold a piece of paper from Microsoft, Cisco etc then they should receive a pay rise or more senior position. The problem is when they come to actually do the work they become unstuck and show how little they actually know. This in turn reflects badly on the other certified people as everyone then gets tarred with the same brush – “you are all paper engineers”.
As I learn a new technology, whether it be Windows Server 2012 or Virtualization I consciously make the decision that I will get certified in it for the simple reason of I am learning the material as a matter of course (I don’t believe in taking an exam until you know the software first) so why not. Some people will always disagree with this approach but then if we all agree on everything the world would be a much more boring place!!
What do you think – Qualified or Experienced?
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After working as a systems administrator for 10 years I do not have a single certification. I would say that for contract / consultancy work then certifications are important, but for employee level work this is not really the case.
However, this can change if you are an employee at a consultancy firm, or even a hosting firm.
They do look good on the CV, however I would take knowledge / experience over certification every day
[This is not the case with IT until you start going higher up the food chain. If you look at all the job adverts for intermediate and above positions they usually specify that you must have CCNA, MCITP etc to go along with 3-5 years experience]
In my opinion, employers have it backwards. I cannot count the number of helpdesk or desktop support positions I’ve seen requiring a CS degree and having A+ listed as a plus, not a requirement. If you cannot get an entry level job with an entry level certification, I don’t see the point of the certification. If you have the experience, the cert is supposed to be a validation; however if you can’t seem to get the experience the cert is supposed to show that you are qualified to perform at a certain level.
Hi,
I agree that certification is not show the expertise level, it only show or reflect that he have an idea on this subject. I also strongly believe that we first learn the subject than after do the certification. I worked 5 years in Red hat Linux after that I did the certification. Same I did in AIX certification also. After working 2 yrs. I did certification on AIX.
I have other question similar to that. Why companies required the degree certificate for there employees? Especially when they have more than 7 yrs. experience?