Get the certs. They mean something. They are not a measure of experience and knowledge, however, they carry weight in the market place, as does a college degree.
Personally, I have been working in IT for over 14 years. There isn't much I have not done and all of my knowledge comes from hard experience. I've moved up by working in companies in crisis. These companies didn't care about the legit learning, they wanted somebody that could fix the problems. Now, I work in Information Security. I still have no degree and no certifications. I feel I have been blessed. But it has cost a lot not the least of which is on the payroll of 20 companies in the process. If I had the certifications I would have had a much, much easier time as well as better compensation. It has not been easy as others here can testify. To have the knowledge and the certs is ideal. My friend has the certs and the knowledge. I went from the same consulting company to manage an IT department in a manufacturing company. He left the same consulting company (a bit later) and went to be the Director of IT for the Cleveland Browns. Our knowledge level was similar, stronger in some areas, weaker in others. Get the certs. They make life easier. Jeffrey L. Nelson Project Analyst Information Protection National City Corporation -----Original Message----- From: Douglas Gullett [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Monday, February 04, 2002 8:24 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: Verification of Certifications I think experience can be somewhat elusive too. If you have a person who has worked for one and a half years on Cisco equipment in a high pressure situation where they have gotten to work on lots of various equipment with lots of troubleshooting, and you have a person who has three years of "experience" who has done a lot of web surfing in-front of a rack of Cisco Equipment, but who also managed to get their CCNP with book study. Why should they be hired over the person with 1.5 years experience? I think the only true measure is to sit the candidates down and see what they can "actually" do. Then you also need to find a way to test their ability to grasp a new task, as well as being able to do research. But who has that kind of time...I guess. :-( Douglas Gullett, CCNA, CCDA, CCNP (1.5 years experience) :-) Savage, MD, USA > -----Original Message----- > From: irado furioso com tudo [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Friday, February 01, 2002 2:29 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Cc: Shawn Stewart > Subject: Re: Verification of Certifications > > > me too. I was kidding a bit, as you can ever confirm that the > certificate is (or isnot) real, issued, stamped, signed by mr. Busch > itself, but you only can prove someone knowledgement when s/he come and > DO IT. > > IMHO, certificates are not the real issue. The lie is. Can you be > confident after discovering a lie?? > > Shawn Stewart wrote: > > > Oh, believe me, I prefer someone who has years of hands on > experience and no > > certifications. Anyone can have a piece of paper that "says" they know > > something, but true knowledge doesn't come with a certificate > or a degree or > > a diploma. > > > > > -- > > saudações, > > Irado Furioso com Tudo > Linux (SuSE) User 179402 > tortura é sempre instrumento do estado, dos pais, dos professores.. > sempre alguém se imagina ter poder acima dos demais. Viva a anarquia!!! >
