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I also live in Australia and agree that jobs in IT are pretty easy to get if you are already employed in the field, but it is very hard to get a start. I used to work in a small computer repair shop, and when we advertised for two trainee positions we had over a hundred applicants. This was in a fairly small city in Tasmania (the smallest state). This is for bugger all pay while you do the traineeship, and then for minimum wage once you've done the training. People were falling over themselves to apply, because there are so few jobs vacancies offering a start.

I would also add that the situation in Australia is similar to what abasi_obori described - certs can help, but you have to have a degree first.

I just think things have matured from what they used to be. Back in the day a computer degree meant a lot. Now it is a minimum requirement to get an interview for most jobs, but doesn't have any particular meaning above that. Once yuo've got the interview, it's your experience, your personality and at a distant third your certs that will determine if you get the job or not.

Certs have similarly matured. Again, you used to be able to get a good job on the back of an MCSE. But there's a lifecycle certs have gone through that is basically described in the article. It used to be that a person would play with the technology and learn it well. Then a certification would come out, so they would take the test to get a piece of paper confirming their aptitude in that technology. At this point in the life cycle, pretty much everyone who has the cert is good at what they do, so the cert is well-respected. Because the cert is well-respected, people want to get it. At this point things change from "I'm good at the technology so I may as well get a certificate to prove it" to "I want the certification - what's the easiest way I can get it". At this stage people start memorising past exam answers, going to bootcamps etc and they learn exactly enough to pass the exam. Clearly they will know more than someone who hasn't done this research, but they are a long way off the knowledge and experience of the guy that got the cert earlier. Once a cert reaches this stage, it's starts to become less meaningful. Where as employers could just about hire someone on the strength of the cert back in the early stages of the life cycle, at this later stage it becomes more of a "nice to have" at this stage.

This is true of all certs, not just CCIE. It's also true of a university degree. There were a lot of people in my year that memorised the curriculum. They often got great results, but were near-unemployable. I used to watch some of them in the labs. They would do things like click "File - Save As - OK, then click OK again to confirm overwriting the file" instead of simply pressing ctrl+s.

Here's what I think this means for employees:
1) Get a relevent uni degree. Without it there are heaps of jobs you won't even be considered for.
2) Get knowledge and experience however you can, but be smart about it. Make sure it all looks good on a resume. For me, I spent a lot of time writing programs out-of-hours that helped with my old job. I also wrote their customer- and job-tracking software. These both look great on my resume because they show a) that I can write software b) that I am willing to do extra work c) that I spot improvements that can be made, and I make them happen.
3) I see certs as being very similar to point 2 above. They never hurt (unless you have far too many), but be smart about them. If you have a cert but there's nothing to show any experience with the technology on your resume, I will assume you went through a bootcamp to get the piece of paper. On the other hand if you have a cert, and have some work experience (even unpaid), or have a statement on your cover letter showing that you spent $3000 setting up a home lab and you've done x, y and z with your home lab (where x, y, and z are all relevant things that you don't have to do to get the cert) then that will show an interest and commitment to that area. I will be more likely to think you will have good skills and knowledge in this case.


My advice to suthross - if it's one or the other, get the diploma. Then spend a little time getting some experience. If you love networking, you will happily spend time out-of-hours doing work in this field. If you can't find any paid work, find a favourite charity or do some work for a friends business unpaid. It's a good way to get experience because you can make mistakes. People expect less if they aren't paying you, and charities and mates businesses probably don't have systems as critical as a business that will pay you a $70k salary.

I can see plenty of things you can do for free or very cheap. Install a really old PC with a Linux distro like ZeroShell (all the skills you learn will very closely transferable to enterprise gear), or implement one of the free VoIP softwares out there (many of them that make software for large businesses give away the software for up to five users). You can also pick up older gear really cheap on ebay, then play with it at home. I've bought a 24-port managed Cisco switch for $1.27! It's ridiculous! I can't buy a can of coke for that!

If you do some of the above and combine it with a cert of diploma, any decent employer will see that you are motivated, hard-working and genuinely love the area of networking. That will put you head and shoulders above most.

I think that last paragraph is the core problem with certs and the like - too many people that don't love the technology are getting them and believing that is a ticket to a high-paying job. With any IT job you have to be learning constantly, and to do that you've got to love it.