Ask Slashdot: Best Certifications To Get? 444
Hardhead_7 writes "Our recent discussion about how much your degree is worth got me thinking. I've been working in the IT field for several years now, but I don't have anything to my name other than an A+ certificate and vendor specific training (e.g., Dell certified). Now I'm looking to move up in the IT field, and I want some stuff on my resume to demonstrate to future employers that I know what I'm doing, enough that I can get in the door for an interview. So my question to Slashdot is this: What certifications are the most valuable and sought-after? What will impress potential employers and be most likely to help land a decent job for someone who doesn't have a degree, but knows how to troubleshoot and can do a bit of programming if needed?"
HR filter: he's sunk (Score:4, Interesting)
HR expects a Bachelor's degree even for the office help, admin assistant, secretary, etc. It's the new high school diploma, since high school diplomas have been rendered useless by local control and selfishness. (a town has an incentive to pass every student in the local school system)
His only hope is to avoid HR.
Re:who certifies the certifiers? (Score:4, Interesting)
The question stands: If a cert or a degree doesn't matter for who you hire, how do you filter your resumes to know who to interview? That's where both work. They don't get you a job, they get you an interview.
Last time we were hiring for a programmer (large international company), we had so few applicants that it simply wasn't worth it for HR to "filter" them in any way before handing them on to me. I set up interviews for each applicant and then asked them a bunch of questions. At no point did their certifications come in to question.
And no, I didn't ask the typical "university knowledge" questions such as "which of these is likely to be the best sorting method for this set of data?" and other such bollocks; instead my questions were things more relevant to real world programming like, "Right, you've just written some really cruddy code as a proof-of-concept and Marketing want to start selling it next week as a real product, what do we do?" and "How long do you think it'd take you to clone the Windows Calculator in a language and environment of your choice?".
To note, when we hire a programmer, we don't just look for drones that can churn out code exactly to a perfectly written spec written by someone that probably could've done the code themselves; instead we look for someone that can interpret badly written fuzzy marketing speak and then use creativity and imagination to meet what Marketing have asked for in the most elegant, flexible and maintainable way. So far, my little team is doing a great job and I'm pretty proud of them.
Final side note: Yes, I say "my team" and I am indeed in charge there, but I'm a developer myself - not a manager... we have a manager (that sits in another office several hundred KM away) to look after paperwork, budgets and so on - I just look after "who's doing what" and passing the paperwork over to the manager (who tends to just approve anything I send his way, which I'm also very thankful for).
Re:Vodka! (Score:1, Interesting)
I'd say ask around your local area. No point in getting a plate full of certifications if they mean nothing to the employers in your area.
No point in getting a plate full of references if they mean nothing to employers in your area, either.
I think most Employers weigh both certifications and references, with slightly more weight towards references. As an IT employee, good professional references can be tough to get in many situations -- harder than it can be to get a cert. You would need to actually collaborate with people in the IT field outside your organization to get the very best references.
Some random user you helped reset their password one day is probably not going to be looked on as having a credible opinion about you as a system administrator on technical merits.
So load down the plate with neither just references nor just certs. For maximum versatility, have a wealth of both, but probably look for references first, constantly.
Re:Certifications don't impress... (Score:4, Interesting)
You're looking at a software engineer job there, not an IT job (e.g. Network admin).
Certs are useless if you're an engineer, but useful if you're in IT.
Certified incompetent... (Score:5, Interesting)
What "best" means for certification would depend on your objectives, I suppose.
Here's a nonobvious alternative: get yourself certified as "not mentally competent". This may not be as difficult as you think, although canceling the certification later could be quite a challenge...
If you're certified incompetent in a civilized country, a bureaucrat will be appointed to look after your finances (at no charge to you), ensure you get every bit of welfare you might be entitled to, and defend you at public expense against fraud or serious rip-off attempts. You can still work, if you want, without greatly reducing your welfare entitlement (amazing what a certificate can do). However, you now have a license to kill/maim/etc. without fear of punishment since you are not responsible for your actions. Some places don't even remove passports or driving licenses from such people.
Frighteningly, I knew one such person in Canada. A sociopathic, psychopathic, manic-depressive, evil genius, and unrestrained by the legal impediments which would limit a sane person's actions. Acts of violence repeatedly went unpunished by the criminal system, and attempts for redress were rejected by the civil courts. The legal system was trumped by the certificate of incompetence.
Re:Certifications don't impress... (Score:4, Interesting)
I am a senior software engineer with 23 years of professional experience. I've built web sites and web applications for Fortune 500 companies and major nonprofits and for the air force and joint chiefs of staff, and my past clients included all but one of the top 50 largest financial institutions in the country.
When I'm looking for work, the #1 thing that generates the most calls about my resume (by a long shot) is the one product certification I have, which is (and all of this is indicated plainly on my resume) something like six major versions behind on the software I was certified in, was 11 years ago, and I've never done a complete installation of the product. Even knowing that fact, people are desperate to get me to do work for that product because I was certified in it and hardly anyone is.
So, while smart companies look for experience and a track record of successful projects, it remains true that if you get the *right* certification, it will still get you more work anyway.