Hurry if you’re considering a CompTIA certification
February 1, 2010
Securitymonkey posted an interesting piece on CompTIA’s supposedly “lifetime” certifications. The short of it is that people who have their CompTIA certification prior to January, 2011 will be grandfathered in with a lifetime certification. Anyone who gets their certification after that will be required to renew every three years.
While I’m not going to argue about the usefulness of a 3+ year old certification, particularly for something like Network+ or Security+, if you’ve been looking to get certified from CompTIA and have been putting it off, make sure this is the year you go out and do it.
Posted in General
Email me
content rss
February 1st, 2010 at 8:21 pm
I am not sure what the value of the CompTIA certificates are any more.
Yes, I understand the need to have a bar to judge an applicant for a position, but if the interview team can’t resolve proficiency of candidate during the interview, then passing a standardised test will not show the skills required for the position.
When I took my test, I had already been working in the IT field for 3 years, and the test (or lack of certificate) didn’t hinder me in finding employment.
My two cents
February 1st, 2010 at 8:27 pm
Hey John,
I don’t think you’re wrong, especially for experienced admins. For someone without any experience outside of a lab environment, I think that it establishes a baseline assumed knowledge. Of course, if the candidate doesn’t live up to those assumptions during the interview, then no one would blame you if didn’t hire them (and maybe mocked them a bit during the interview
)
February 2nd, 2010 at 7:25 am
While I agree with that statement, there are more relevant Certificates that apply to the scope of the assignment; MS and Cisco Certification programs come to mind.
Some of the best IT people I’ve worked with don’t have Certifications, but have revelant experience, which to me beats the Cert Mill grads.
February 2nd, 2010 at 7:30 am
I have to admit, I have one cert… A+ from 2000.
I don’t ever plan on renewing it, because if I didn’t know what I was doing, I wouldn’t have a job!
February 2nd, 2010 at 9:32 am
I believe the A+ is just a good way to show employers on your resume that you must have some type of knowledge up front regarding computers. Mostly for just entry level IT jobs to help through the initial resume search.
After that though I’ve found the A+ to be pretty low on the totem pole. Depending on the job type your CCNA’s or MCSA’s or whatever def. hold a lot more weight.
But as stated above, I believe and agree that no certification makes up for raw experience. It still suprises me to this day how many companies have people hiring IT staff that have no idea about IT. They are just given a checklist of things to look for and if you don’t meet those then….
February 2nd, 2010 at 9:54 am
My junior admin has an A+, I think? Anyway, he asked about it. I told him that I considered it just a sign that he was unlikely to blow up a computer. It hasn’t come up since.
February 2nd, 2010 at 10:41 am
I have never been a huge fan of Certifications. This stems from the fact that I have met an over abundance of certified people that I would not rate at an acceptable knowledge level. For example the RHCE who told someone that it was “impossible” to migrate a nonraid / to raid1 or raid5. (all you do is set the md device up with a missing member, rsync over, reboot off md device, add original drive to md)
People say certifications can help break into the field. I wont disagree that certifications can help, but I will say I don’t believe its the certification itself that helped. It is something even if very weak to show a level of familiarity. For example if I were choosing between two candidates, one with no experience and no certifications (no indication they really have any familiarity other than answering an ad in the paper), and one with no experience and a certification I am more likely to be interested in the candidate with the certification. At least it shows me he has some level of understanding even if it isn’t good. Now the non certification guy could easily win me over if he described to me some cool lab environment he has setup in his basement.
I guess what I am getting at here is, don’t shy away from a certification, it is not likely to hurt your chances of getting a job. But rather than seek certifications seek opportunities to use your skills in practical situations. Go to the boys and girls club and volunteer to be their admin/computer guy, the same for a local church or community center. There are tons of little organizations that do things from helping kids to helping people buy their own home (not Realtors). Guess what. 99% of those people use a computer or local network in some way. Or they have a website, or some crufty database just name your poison. Try to apply your skills with people who are doing work that benefits the community. The other great thing about these people is they talk. Boy do they talk. If you take care of them and fix their problems you will have no shortage of compliments and things to put on your resume. And I consider that much more valuable than some random certification that is the equivalent of 6 months experience.
February 2nd, 2010 at 3:33 pm
@Matt:
I learned how fix computers by blowing them up!
Seriously, finding the root cause of an issue is one of the best learning tools that can be had….especially if you were the cause.
I have been fortunate to work in a break/fix environment, and those skills helped make me the tech that I am.
@Nick:
Gaining experience from volunteering your services can be the most rewarding in terms of informal training, and experience.
February 2nd, 2010 at 5:18 pm
@Nick: I def. agree with the volunteering….it’s something I really need to be getting in to more.
February 10th, 2010 at 10:23 am
I’ve got an A+ and an N+, which I got at the very beginning of my career. There a useful starting point for newcomers to the industry, especially for people who want to get into the industry straight out of school, with out college. I know a number of colleges who are offering this to students instead of more academic qualifications and it would be useful to show employers when your trying to get on the bottom rung of the ladder.
February 13th, 2010 at 1:11 pm
It was already the beginning of June when on his return journey he
zanaflex