Do certifications matter?

[BlueKrystal22]

Hello. To start, I should tell you a story about when my six year old computer got sick and screamed at me if I tried to turn the power on. This happened about two months ago. It was in the middle of defrag and went blue. The only thing that it would do when I turned it back on was give me the solid beep... So naturally, against my boyfriends solid advice that I take it in, I took it apart.

Using masking tape to mark what plugs into what, I unplugged everything I could think of. My boyfriend was scared to come near the kitchen, where internal cards, cable, and my mind lay skattered. I even detatched the motherboard from the box. Still a solid beep with only the motherboard attatched. So I put it all back together, tried hopelessly one last time for power and and low and behold - the dreaded solid beep.

Convinced that my motherboard was blown, I figured out what kind it was and called to see if maybe I could just replace it by itself. No recommendations to do this, of course. Nevertheless, even if I wanted to anyway, it would be impossible to find. So I'm on the phone with the last guy in town and he says, did you disconnect the memory chip? And I say, I took the whole damn thing apart... um, except the memory chip. Of course, that worked and my computer and I are now very happy with each other.

So, I've been working in computers for a few years now, and I have no certifications. After tearing my computer apart and putting it back together, I realized that I couldn't really tell you the names of everything. And even though I knew something needed to be disconnected to reset itself, I didn't know what specifically.

My question is, do certifications matter? I was laid off along with half of the company in August. (For those who stayed, their pay was cut in half.) This is the second time I've been laid off from computers (the other one went completely out of business). Although I've been lucky enough to have side projects since then, I'm uncertain what to do for more stability. I'd like to continue to work for myself if I can make it happen. So do I need to prove what I know? And do I even know enough? And if that's a yes and a no, will certification really help me or are there other things I should be focusing on?

This is really meant for opening discussion... I'm curious to see what you guys think.

Thank You!

[Blakhart]

While I am not qualified to make any assertion as to your question, this story is cool.

[juppy]

That's kind of a "depends on who you ask" question. To me, yes they do help. I view certifications in the same category as a high school or college diploma. It's more or less proof that you actually did take a test and passed, therefore you apparently know something about the field you are applying to work in. And they will help you in your knowledge. You say you can't tell the names of everything inside the computer? Studying to pass the tests for certifications will help with that too. Something such as the A+ certification is a good overall place to start and if you go through the whole book, I can guarantee you'll know more than you did when you started. Just my opinion though. Others will probably differ.

[DFastLane]

Well, I just cleaned up after a "certified" guy who told one person her hard drive was dead and unrecoverable because of a bad boot.ini file and told another gal her computer was fried and her programs and data lost because of a bad motherboard.

Be sure you know the material behind the certifications.

[LawyerRon]

The cert is probably helpful in getting your first job, but after that, your reputation and experience will speak for you.

[mikeheitz]

BK22, Welcome!

Let me add my $.02... I've been in IT for nearly a decade. I do have a couple certs. But I've seen both sides of the story... I've worked with un-certified guys I wouldn't trade for anything. And I've seen certified guys I couldn't get rid of quickly enough to suit me.

NEVER (and I'm being as honest as I can) assume that a cert is as good as experience. Granted, there are a lot of "hiring managers" out there that won't even look at you without a cert, but fortunately there are many like my boss and myself that hire the person, not the paper.

If you've got a couple years onthe books, then a cert is a way to take your applied knowledge and turn it into something more. The problem is, anyone can read the MCSE books or the A+ books and find a way to pass the test. The problem with these folks (and there are a TON of them) is that they have no practical knowledge of how to do a damn thing. (pardon my French). I've seen plenty of these guys and gals, and can't stand working with them.

Here's a story to drive my point home...

I have a client who was having network and PC trouble. Their "PC guys" at the time told them that they had a virus and that it "physically damaged" the motherboard and that they could sell them a new PC if they wanted. Well, they wer suspicious. I came in (I was a friend of a friend at the time) looked at everytyhing, and here's what I found. They did have a virus, but the virus that can cause physical damage is far and few between. Within the first hour I had cleaned all the PC's, re-installed Win98 on the machine that was "dead" and gotten on the phone with their "PC guys" to tell them they no longer were welcome here. As soon as I started questioning the tactics and behavior of the technician that worked on the machines he spews out 3 or 4 certs that he had received and thought that made him qualified.

My point is, my company was searching for a PC tech... couldn't afford much. Found a guy who was a recording studio editor who wanted a change of career. He had ZERO experience, but seemed to be very sharp and had a great personality. We hired him, and haven't regretted it for a moment as he has been an outstanding addition to our staff. That was over 2 years ago. He's since started working on his certs, but even without them I'd recommend him to anyone.

OK, I've said enough... writers cramp is kicking in...

[TimPoet]

To advance your career, esp. in a corporate world, certs will definitely help. If you have your foot in the door in the IT world, certs will widen them for you.
Good luck to you and me! Cuz I'm going for one.

[mbossman2]

Certs can serve you well in certain situations:

Primarily they can help you standard out from a crowd. If I am making a hiring decision and it comes down to 2 equally qualified candidates and one of them holds a certification in the area I am looking, then I would pick that person. The reason for that is the I know that an independant agency has certified that this person has the base line knowledge in the area covered and more importantly, the person has shown the drive and initiative (2 very important characteristics in an employee) to go out of their way to take and pass a certification that will help make them a better employee.

A certification, however, is not a substitute for real life experience, but it is a good starting foundation from which you can build.

[Reedimus]

IMHO... Customers don't care if you have a certification, so why should you? There's a lot you need to know to run your own computer business, so I believe that time spent getting a certification is time that could have been spent learning something that will help your business succeed. If you are serious about starting your own business, I'd recommend visiting these two links.

http://www.fonerbooks.com/compbiz.htm

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/computerbusiness/

If you are not too serious about running your own computer business, then some certifications might help get a few jobs.

[mbossman2]

Originally posted by Reedimus IMHO... Customers don't care if you have a certification, so why should you? There's a lot you need to know to run your own computer business, so I believe that time spent getting a certification is time that could have been spent learning something that will help your business succeed.

I would agree with that statement for a small shop servicing the lower end of the SMB marketspace, but if you are looking to grow and service larger accounts (especially in the networking field), having the requisite certified folks on staff is a requirement, especially if you are aiming at larger accounts and more complex product (see Cisco and Extreme programs, IBM's program etc) sets and growing the services (the most profitable) side of your business.

Having been heavily engaged in the reseller side of the IT business for over 7 years, the resellers that i have seen survive and prosper in today's highly competitive IT marketplace are the ones who actively seek out the services, installation and maintenence business of the mid-market business space (200+ seats) who find it less expensive to outsource their IT support (especially in the networking and server markets) than it is to higher, train and retain qualified people.

of course, this is my 2 cents.