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Which IT Certifications Do You Have?
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Which IT Certifications Do You Have?

raindog308raindog308 Administrator, Veteran

Had a chat with a young college graduate recently who asked if certs were valuable. My answer was "it depends". They don't hurt, but any manager would rather hire someone with experience who wasn't certified vs. someone who was. But if you want to demonstrate you have basic knowledge or are switching/entering fields, they can make sense. Sometimes they're a nice add-on...for example, if you're a Linux guy and you get a CCNA or CCNP.

OTOH, I got three Oracle certs and later found the exact questions and answers online (dumps). As in, "here's a .PDF with the entire question bank and correct answer indicated". Literally, a child could memorize the answers, go take the exams, and be certified. And I've interviewed more than one person who has a cert that didn't really know much about the technology they were allegedly certified in.

There are a few out there that require actual hands-on demonstration of skill, where they put you in a lab and say "fix it". RedHat's RHCE, Oracle Certified Master (for DBAs), and Cisco CCIE all do this. Not surprisingly, these are the most valuable certs.

My perception is that they're more common on the admin side as opposed to the development side, though there are some dev certs as well.

So...which certs do you have? Any you're studying for? And why?

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Comments

  • CalmDownCalmDown Member
    edited July 2021

    Gold Certified Ruby Programmer. Needed to get an ISO standard for the company.

  • ArirangArirang Member
    edited July 2021

    I recently got CKA. Will earn CKAD and CKS without a specific reason. I just like to collect IT certificates.

  • raindog308raindog308 Administrator, Veteran

    @CalmDown said: Gold Certified Ruby Programmer. Needed to get an ISO standard for the company.

    Really?!? Which ISO?

  • Zero. Pointless. I much rather just prove my skills in a practical example.

  • @raindog308 said:

    @CalmDown said: Gold Certified Ruby Programmer. Needed to get an ISO standard for the company.

    Really?!? Which ISO?

    Can't remember now and off from the work, i will ask tomorrow and let you know :)

  • Have none, been doing quite well for myself without them.

  • NeoonNeoon Community Contributor, Veteran

    None.

  • Have few free certifications from cPanel that was quite easy to earn. I will only trust practical examples as I have seen people with Cisco and Microsoft certifications that were related to networking and the guy can't even setup a basic nameserver.

  • Bachelor Cert count? :)
    CS is my second degree, and I guess it is the best cert I can get for switching fields. Apart of that, I don't have any certificates in IT, but am considering taking them. Too much planning, too little time.
    Instead, I have some cert in accounting.

  • Does Pornhub Amateur Verified count?

  • RadiRadi Host Rep, Veteran

    I got a CS degree and HE.net's sage thingy. :smile:

  • raindog308raindog308 Administrator, Veteran

    @SirFoxy said: Does Pornhub Amateur Verified count?

    Only if you put it on your resume.

  • AlwaysSkintAlwaysSkint Member
    edited July 2021

    [Once again @raindog308 branches out from another thread. :p ]

    Zero certifications. The major one I had is lapsed/irrelevant and was an exercise in memory recall much more than anything else. IIRC, you needed at least an 80% correct score to pass. :o
    My MSc IT (Systems Integration) lasts a lifetime but isn't a patch (poor pun) on hands-on experience. The Uni. taught some pretty crap stuff too - absolute paths in programming, as being the worst example. Ultimately, another memory recall exercise (excluding the dissertation).

  • jarjar Patron Provider, Top Host, Veteran

    I got my skills on the streets... and from L2 admins at HostGator.

  • aiden1aiden1 Member

    @jar said: I got my skills on the streets... and from L2 admins at HostGator.

    I thought EIG contracted out all of their staff offshore?

  • FranciscoFrancisco Top Host, Host Rep, Veteran

    certified Crane Operator.

    Francisco

  • raindog308raindog308 Administrator, Veteran

    @AlwaysSkint said: The major one I had is lapsed/irrelevant and was an exercise in memory recall much more than anything else. IIRC, you needed at least an 80% correct score to pass.

    Yeah, I loved the apparent scenario most IT certs assume: you're alone on a desert island without any reference material or Internet, and you have to administer a Linux server/Cisco switch/Oracle DB/Microsoft Domain Controller/etc.

    For about half of the cert questions I was asked, the real answer was "I know what the command and major options are, but I would look up the exact syntax in the manual because it's silly to memorize that kind of thing".

  • aiden1aiden1 Member

    @raindog308 said: For about half of the cert questions I was asked, the real answer was "I know what the command and major options are, but I would look up the exact syntax in the manual because it's silly to memorize that kind of thing".

    software engineer interviews assume you are stuck on an island, no internet, no computer, and you have to hand compile assembly out of seashells to escape the island by building a raft made out of sorted data structures

    Thanked by 1yoursunny
  • AlwaysSkintAlwaysSkint Member
    edited July 2021

    @raindog308 said: For about half of the cert questions I was asked, the real answer was "I know what the command and major options are, but I would look up the exact syntax in the manual because it's silly to memorize that kind of thing".

    Precisely.
    I did memorise all the commands and nuances of MS DOS 3.3 but that was the last time I done that sort of thing. ;)

  • jarjar Patron Provider, Top Host, Veteran
    edited July 2021

    @aiden1 said: I thought EIG contracted out all of their staff offshore?

    Diya started doing more and more work while I was there, but for most of my time there HG was still the company that Brent left it. EIG took a very long time to eat HG, much longer than other brands. When I got there we still had a badass in-house cook.

    The migration to Provo wasn't forced by EIG, it was a lifeline to keep the company afloat. Though many think that's when the EIG takeover began, that was actually an agreement and the reason for the acquisition. SoftLayer + Wordpress was going to do the company in, renting out 2GB memory boxes for prices many years old, and refusing to offer newer hardware for anything near what they were offering newer customers. (ex. while 2GB memory might have been $200/m many years ago and not today, the customer with 2GB memory @ $200/m isn't getting 4GB memory for any less than $400/m, that kind of thing)

  • @raindog308 said: Only if you put it on your resume.

    This would surprise you?

  • @SirFoxy said:
    Does Pornhub Amateur Verified count?

    If you print it and hang it on the wall, it counts.

  • @raindog308 said:

    @AlwaysSkint said: The major one I had is lapsed/irrelevant and was an exercise in memory recall much more than anything else. IIRC, you needed at least an 80% correct score to pass.

    Yeah, I loved the apparent scenario most IT certs assume: you're alone on a desert island without any reference material or Internet, and you have to administer a Linux server/Cisco switch/Oracle DB/Microsoft Domain Controller/etc.

    For about half of the cert questions I was asked, the real answer was "I know what the command and major options are, but I would look up the exact syntax in the manual because it's silly to memorize that kind of thing".

    Better hope you don't have a Linux legend that can actually do all the shit in vi on a keyboard. You'd look pretty Mickey Mouse to them. The more commands you can memorize, the faster the developer.

    Experience and muscle memory makes a person more efficient and useful than someone lacking the experience and needs to always look things up. You're given a standard test but seem to not be able to answer at or above average of expected.

    Of course context matters and if the problem is common scenario or not. A command used 250 times a year is different than 2 times a year.

  • jsgjsg Member, Resident Benchmarker
    edited July 2021

    I wrote the (IT) Diploma (nowadays ~ MSc) thesis for a friend as well as the code required (C) and also lectured post grad engineers for a while, which was so un-funny that I went into the business world and from then on rejected all requests from unis.

    But the thing I'm really proud of is that I earned a "Microsoft Word" beginners badge. Try to trump that!

    Re the value of degrees I tend to agree with those who value experience over a sheet of paper but for some type of work I've come to value (or even expect) a candidate having some formal math education. Need not be a PhD but at least a solid STEM foundation with a solid portion of math.

    Thanked by 1AlwaysSkint
  • aiden1aiden1 Member

    @jar said: The migration to Provo wasn't forced by EIG, it was a lifeline to keep the company afloat. Though many think that's when the EIG takeover began, that was actually an agreement and the reason for the acquisition.

    I used theplanet and everyone's internet back in the day to host some sites (well before I was 18.. but not a troublesome customer). Somehow during the softlayer and UK2/10TB days, the prices started getting utterly insane, like $300-400 for an already outdated dual core xeon.

    I would have expected HG to be one of the larger customers and have gotten a good deal out of it.. I routinely asked softlayer sales "hey, uk2 can do 10tb in dallas, why do i only get 1tb for twice the cost?" and they're like "ok, then buy from 10tb instead of directly"

    Thanked by 1jar
  • jmgcaguiclajmgcaguicla Member
    edited July 2021

    @SirFoxy said:
    Does Pornhub Amateur Verified count?

    Do amateurs get the blue verified check mark right next to their name? otherwise it doesn't

    Edit: nvm, I guess that's what the "Verified" is for

  • aiden1aiden1 Member

    @jmgcaguicla said: Edit: nvm, I guess that's what the "Verified" is for

    You can no longer upload any content at all to ph without verification, which sucks.

  • WebProjectWebProject Host Rep, Veteran

    @Francisco said: certified Crane Operator.

    haha, my license expired over 15 years ago :smiley: required to re-license every two years.

    I do have diploma in software development, CompTIA and 100% agree with above that all certification is pointless as majority of skills learned by daily job.

  • raindog308raindog308 Administrator, Veteran

    @TimboJones said:
    Better hope you don't have a Linux legend that can actually do all the shit in vi on a keyboard. You'd look pretty Mickey Mouse to them. The more commands you can memorize, the faster the developer.

    I am a legend already in vi. But editing and shell is something I use every day, versus changing some parameter you set once and forget. That's what I object to.

    Experience and muscle memory makes a person more efficient and useful than someone lacking the experience and needs to always look things up.

    Your overall point is valid - a good sysadmin/dba/network tech/etc will know a lot of this stuff from memory - but the overall scenario is very artificial. The only real test is to have a group of experts set up a scenario and a time limit and watch you go through it in a controlled manner. IIRC, manuals ARE available for the top-tier Oracle and Cisco certs (where you have to actually do stuff, not just do multiple choice) but not at the lower ones.

    Thanked by 1TimboJones
  • raindog308raindog308 Administrator, Veteran

    @jsg said: But the thing I'm really proud of is that I earned a "Microsoft Word" beginners badge. Try to trump that!

    Wow. My entire mental image of you is blown.

    A colleague at work has his Apple ][ specialist certification from 1984-ish hanging in his cube. If we ever have an Apple ][ question, he's the one we'll immediately turn to.

    @jsg said: I've come to value (or even expect) a candidate having some formal math education.

    Yes. Learning the syntax, tools, etc. is the easiest part of any computer-related work. IIRC Djikstra recommended that anyone studied computation shouldn't be allowed to use a computer until the third year of the program.

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