Are certifications destroying the world?

Don't listen to them.

I am getting my BA in networking, AND getting CERTS WHILE I am working in the field getting experience.

The biggest problem I see it people make the mistake of letting some outside influence decide if you like your job or not.

If you enjoy what you do, where you do it is worth so much more than to have that huge check and HATE getting up every morning and having to go the THAT place again.

Ignore any fool that says your not making enough unless they are willing to pay you more.

are your best bets for that sort of thing. I'm a software developer, so I just use the network and then blame the admin when it doesn't work. LOL
Not true actually I go ask them if they can see what I'm doing wrong and all of a sudden it starts working by the time I get back to my desk.

My network admin stopped with VMS 6.* and NT4, back in 99

The MCSE route (if you want to go that far - you can judge for yourself what you think you should know). Sybex books are the best publications for MS, Comptia, and junior to intermediate Cisco certs.

For general networking technologies, both the Network+ and CCNA combined are well worth the effort in pursuing. Now... when you think CCNA, you think switch and router configuration right? Well... half right... half of the CCNA exam is devoted to some very important networking fundamentals. Working through this text with a solid simulator, like the Boson Netsim, will definitely help you fully grasp the concepts involved.

The A+ cert is almost a necessity. Work towards this one to fill in the holes in your knowledge. The cert is always a bit outdated, so in real life, you will need to keep up on products, technologies, and trends out of personal interest.

For your Microsoft studies, I recommend going through the MCSA texts in order to grasp 2k, but then tackle the 03 for your actual certification in the end. You might not deem the certification necessary, but it will be very valuable in it's pursuit. Work with the OS while you are going through the text - this is vital - do not think that you will remember anything unless you do it hands-on.

Sybex publications have a way of laying out the information at a very "reader friendly" pace, with the occassional blip of humour.

Have fun... if you wish to pursue certification, these are my entry level suggestions.

I own the company and we are a small custom software firm, only 10 employees, but we are very big on customer service. Most of my colleagues here are people I knew from other jobs and admired for their customer service philosophy and work ethics.

There is definitely no room for egos here if we want to stay afloat, the customer is king. I wear many hats, CIO, partner, LAN admin, web programmer, accountant, janitor, etc.

But I worked at a large state university which shall remain nameless for 6 years before leaving to start my company and boy there was a big problem with egos there. In fact one of my good friends is still there as a mid level IT manager, we had lunch a couple months back and were talking about a fellow who was a friend of ours, he was the head network and system admin of an engineering department and he just lost sight of what his job really was. He got in this mode that it was HIS network and the employees he was supposed to be serving were only going to be allowed on HIS network under HIS conditions. He forceably switched everyone to Linux, even the little old lady secretaries who had a hard enough time just trying to do their jobs with Windows - bless their hearts.

Anyhow, he got away with this for a short while, then a new Dean came aboard. The Dean wanted Windows, the wayward IT guy said no way. The Dean put egomaniac in his place and ordered him to put at least all the secretaries back on Windows immediately and then anyone else in the department who preferred Windows. The guy gave the Dean a bunch of condescending crap and the Dean told him -you're outta here, don't let the door hit your butt on the way out.

My friend and I thought our wayward friend of ours was a good case study of how not to be as an IT person. He totally lost sight of what his mission was supposed to be - to serve his clients. Unfortunately he doesn't see what he did wrong either, in fact at the moment he is not talking to either of us because we aren't "on his side".

So true. It's amazing how many people can't/won't see the bigger picture though. Even when I was just an entry level peon I always held to the notion that I was there to serve the company and that I was a representative of the company and it was my job to represent the company well to others both inside and outside the company.

At the risk of sounding egotistical, here's my story: See, when I was nearly done with my BS in Telecommunications with not quite a minor in business I decided I wanted to be in law enforcement like my father. Well I had wanted to be in law enforcement for some time but my mother had huge objections, especially with me being her only biological child. But there came a point where I finally felt I should pursue my own career objectives, not hers. I didn't even know much about computers when I graduated from college other than how to write papers on Macs and Windows 2 & 3. Oh and how to run Mambasa and Porno-Writer on the Mac, LOL. Anyhow, upon graduation and while waiting for local police candidate testing I took a job through a temp agency where the only requirements were to have a BS/BA in anything and familiarity with Windows. It turned out to be a jr. level Windows programming job at an educational software company. Scary minimum job requirements I know, but this was the very early 90s too. It was there that I found I had a knack for computer science and that I really liked programming. I quickly became the head jr. programmer and was offered a nice salaried permanent job which was way better than I would make as a cop. It wasn't just because I had a natural talent that I excelled, it was because of my work ethic, I took great pride in doing the very best job I could, still do, and I was eager to learn whatever anyone would teach me. I wanted to be a good representative of the company, so whomever I came in contact with would be left with a better impression of the company than they'd had before coming in contact with me. I was always looking for ways to do my job more efficiently. When the IT guys couldn't get around to fix my computer problems or network connection problems for 3 days, I figured out how to tech support myself. Pretty soon my co-workers were asking me to troubleshoot their problems too. The IT guys were actually grateful for the help, it got the bigwhigs off their backs about the programmers having down time and possibly missing deadlines. I never missed a deadline either. Sometimes I had to work 2-3 days straight through to make the deadline but I always made them, and with the fewest bugs to boot. Because I took pride in my work and worked hard to do things right the first time. The IT guys gave me more and more permissions to help them out, soon I was helping with the Netware servers (yeah, I worked a lot of overtime). When there was downtime between my projects, either because I'd beat the deadline by a week or so or because the planning process was a little off and the next project wasn't quite ready for me yet, I'd work with the IT guys or in QA, wherever I could help out. I was willing to do and learn anything. It served me well too. I survived several layoffs, a couple of them were massive, even though I was one of the least senior employees by a long shot. And it wasn't just because the others made more money either, there were people who made less than me who got let go. They gave me a leave of absence to go to MCSE training for 6 weeks after I'd been there for 3 years. I had to pay for it myself, but they gave me the 6 weeks off and I came back to a huge raise. This was back in the NT 3.51 days. I left that company on good terms to go on to learn and experience more than I could if I continued there and I'm told by former co-workers that the President and VP of Development still speak highly of me to this day.

Anyhow, I have pushed this work ethic and customer service attitude on every team I've ever been on. In fact, my friend that I mentioned in another post that is now a respected and well-qualified mid-level IT manager at a large university was once my protege and says he learned it all from me. There were others who have worked with me in the past and took what I had to say about work ethics and customer service to heart and they have gone on to excel and do very well for themselves.

But enough tooting my own horn, my honker is worn out. I hope the point that I am trying to make comes across. The point is not "look at me, I am great" but that a good work ethic and customer service attitude can take you far. I am living proof, I'm really just an average person who learned to have an attitude of service.

OK, that's all I can say on this subject, I've got to break the grip this discussion has on me and get back to my duties.

The problem with being self taught, is that there are gaps in your knowledge that will only be addressed when you run into a situation where you have to teach yourself more. Anyone who thinks the NIC handles DNS has experienced nothing and learnt less.
Experience might help you talk complete rubbish better, don't know many people who want to be certified as doing it well. Except press officers, market researchers , lawyers and politicians of course.

Would have been really funny to see the look on your face as soon as you realized what you just said.

Did the others catch it or only you?

I have found you can get away with saying a lot to people because they just don't listen anymore.

Feel free to BAH as much as you want. I was not complaining, just making an observation. Although you might have to change your login ID to advancedDORK if you do! hahahahahahahaaaaaaaa!

(I crack myself up)

Have a great day. Someone might as well.

I just put that as the title so people would read it. I'm so clever :)

But think about this one...
Somewhere out there in some reactor or canyon in some nuclear facility, a computer is sitting there unmanaged, with no patches, with sensitive material on it, that could lead to the world being destroyed because some administrator cheated to get his job. Therefore, cheat on your tests, and destroy the world.

How's that for a guilt trip?

ANY company in the phone book that YOU would like to work for.
Visit their website and learn as much about their goals and operations as you can from the info provided. YOu can often get the executive directory there too.

Call the company, if you DON'T have the bosses name, just ask who is in charge. You'll get questioned by the gate keeper and it takes some practice to get around it but with a little work you will find it weasy to be put through.

I find what helps people th efirst few times out is to actually WRITE down a putch, not have on ein oyur head. Introduce yourself and summarixe your skills REALLY quickly, then ask if you can talk to the person incharge of company operations or the owner/preseident.

YOu will often be told, "HE/SHE is not here, do you want to leave a meesage? NEVER leave a message!!! just say,
"Well I would but I am on the phone all day or in and out myself, so it's best I just call back another time instead of playing phone tag. Can I ask his NAME so I know who to ask for when I do call back?" (Always smile when you're on th ephone, you can even place a mirror in front of yourself so you can make sure you're smiling, smiles can be heard on the phone and are very well received)
You've asked a direct question that even the best gatekeeper can't get around without blatantly being rude and just saying NO, but you were smiling so you WILL get the name. ONce you have the name, ask when th ebest time to call back is, often you will be told it is uncertain but other times you will actually book a call back time. At this point you will have NO problem beig put through directly when you call back. "Hi it's Ben calling again, you mentioned 8:30 would be a good time for me to speak with MR. Reeves"

If the receptionist/gatekeeper DOESN'T give you a name, just move to the next company.
Another thing that's important, always WRITE DOWN th erecpetionists name as the phone is answered and use it in your conversation.

If you are told BY the receptionist, "HE's not interested", you can again SMILE and say, "I understand that 'Shelly', that's probably why HE hasn't called me yet!" DON'T STOP SMILING!!!
But I just wanted a minute to quickly introduce myself.

So anyway, you're PAST the gatekwwper and Mr. Reeves, introduce yourself, QUICKLY list some of your skills and objectives and without hesitation, ask if you can meet with HIM to discuss opportunities with his firm.

This will go one of three ways here;
1) You will be told to go through HR, in which case get him to transfer you directly to HR. They will be FAR more responsive and accepting of you and will take more time to flag and read your resume if the call is passed on by the boss.

2) He will agree to meet with you, you will be surprised at how many times THIS happens, far more often than being passed to HR that's for damn sure!

3)He will say they have no room and he doesn't have time, at that point thank Mr. Reeves VCERY much for accepting your call and listening to you, then ask HIM for a referal. I have found mroe work from referrals off poeple who say they have nothing available but 'no wthat you ask, a freind of mine is looking for someone'.
This happens all the time, too.

YOu see, SOME people think NETWORKING is meeting with similar individuals in coffees shops or little monthly get togethers some even CHARGE you for the priovalege, for the most part you are just meeting peers not potential employers though.

If you get meetings with the employers they are usally lunch meetings, coffee stops etc. These pople have PROVEN to be more than happy to help, more than happy to pass you on to others and more than happy to offer some good advice. Ask them the best way to get into their field, they will talk your ear off at this point.

It's HARD at first, most people think such an approach will be laughed at, or shunned due to corporate structure. the truth of the matter is, this is how the best jobs are found every time.

I have done it more times than I can count, I have taught job clubs using these skills that are proven to be effective.

Timelines:
For basic, entry level work, you will be employed within 2-3 weeks of well planned personal marketing this way.

For a senior or entry level management position, you will need up to 6 weeks.

For that KEY executrive role you will need 2.5 - 5 months.

It WILL work, it DOES work and FAR more effectively than a newspaper or online ad.

Why take a more competetive route that inevitably pays less when you can market your skills for a better position with higher pay?

Good luck! Keep in touch if you get stuck, I've got all kind of ways to get around the gatekeepers and to the boss! ;)

SOmepeople think networkin gis joining a networkin group that meets monthly though. THis will result in meeting peers every month, not employers though.

IN addition to those you know and see daily, get potential employers to meet you for llunch and use THEM to network from. IF you present yourself well, you will have no problem when asking THEM for references, they also meet THEIR peers and know who is looking for whom. THey get kudos for finding a friends company the right employess and will do it just for the recoignition they get, as well as to help you out of course.

I have actually been told MORE THAN ONCE, by potential employers, that I have old called and got out for a meeting, "We need to find you the right job!" WE.....they said WE!!!!

This is from people who can't help me themselves but have given me names, passed on my name and put a good word in for me. Resulting in jobs or contracts as needed.

Seems far fetched and yes, nobody YOU know does this. THAT'S why it is SO effective. People pay BIG bucks to take career management courses that teach you these skills.

A good resume, a good presenttion and some DRIVE in seeking work pay off EVERY TIME, without fail. Just kleep going and calling DOZENS of contact each day. You will soon be deciding WHICH of the top dollar positions you want to acept. I promise you!

If certifications didn't hold some value, all of these "CCNA and MCSE bootcamps" would disappear. But they don't disappear. So we have to ask the question "Why don't they disappear? And why don't the certs disappear?"

The reason is pretty simple. Cert's diferentiate. Period. While I would not hire a "paper cert" (someone who has a cert but no experience), someone with the certification AND experience goes right to the head of the pack. It tells me that they care enough about their IT career progression that they are willing to 'go the extra mile' to show me that they know what they are doing.

The other reason that certifications hold value is while there may be cert cheaters out there, there are also people who grossly inflate their resume. And these days, most companies will not give out a negative reference because they fear lawsuits (and that's another story). The cert as an add on to experience is an indication to a potential employer that the person is at least knowledgable enough to be trainable.

Dave