Certification - July 2008 - (Page 19)

CERTIFICATION I should have studied history. If I’d studied history, I wouldn’t have to learn new material every two to three years. History is constant; I could’ve learned it once and known it forever. Instead, every couple of years I have to learn an entirely new technology, then drag myself to the local Prometric or Vue testing center and vie for a certification to prove my IT worth. By waving the MCSE and CCNP around, I not only overtly profess my technological genius and skill, but I’m also portraying a degree of experience. Early on in the certification business — and in many cases, this is still the case now — that’s exactly how the certification was viewed: as a measurement of skill with an expectation of a certain amount of time on the job. Traditionally, certification tests were specifically designed to rate an individual’s progression along a career path. For example, a hiring manager could use a CCNA or CCNP entry on a resume as an indicator of time, experience and knowledge. The CCNA candidate most likely had three to five years in the business, whereas the CCNP was a more senior person. A casual glance through CompTIA’s Web site shows what it expects of candidates before they even attempt an exam — 18-24 months of experience before attempting Security +, for example. But the new reality is that certifications are sometimes used as a shortcut to a career. While a person working in academia, for example, must follow a specified, inescapable series of steps to progress to title and glory, an IT worker need only take the appropriate certification exam and a credential declaring knowledge and skill is awarded. This, of course, has had an entirely predictable outcome: Businesses and hiring managers have begun looking past the credential toward the experience and educational background. Jon McAfee, senior IT security engineer and national security systems manager at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, put it this way: “It’s not that I don’t look at the certification at all; it’s just that it doesn’t mean as much to me as actual, real experience working on an enterprise network or a college degree. Certifications are great, but by themselves, they don’t mean a whole lot.” Certainly this is cyclical. We’ve all witnessed the ups and downs of perceived value with certifications from year to year. However, at least early in 2008, it appears the certification world may be rebounding in a big way by targeting an area previously not in its crosshairs. Certification vendors have begun targeting the entrylevel crowd, offering certs aimed at proving your July 2008 CERTIFICATION MAGAZINE 19 http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/mcse http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/le3/le2/le37/le10/learning_certification_type_home.html http://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/home/index.html http://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/home/index.html http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/le3/le2/le0/le9/learning_certification_type_home.html

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Certification - July 2008

Certification - July 2008 Editor's Letter Contents Data System Virtual Village Tech Careers Dear Techie Academic Connection Look Ahead Troubleshooting Testing Your Foot in the Door: Certification at the Entry Level Analyzing the Societal Effects of YouTube Interface Spread the Knowledge: Becoming an IT Trainer Inside Certification Ad Index What We Like Endtag

Certification - July 2008

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