My 2c... As someone who has Solaris, Novell and M$ certification I see the value in it (I used self study options for everything).
Yes, it helps getting past the HR manager. It also gives your employer more confidence in you. I know people with many years experience, but don't know how to do much. Having said that, I don't place much value in M$ certs, too many "paper MCSE's" exist. The Solaris exam is tough and worth doing if you are into that. As for linux, the only cert I have seen being asked for is RHCE. From what I have heard and seen the Red Hat exam is tough, therefore worth doing. As for people putting false things on their resume, I've been surprised when employers comment that I haven't "enhanced" mine when they question me. It must be a common practice. Given two candidates that are similar, one with (valued) certs should be slightly in front. Doing certs is a great way to gain training. Rather than just installing and playing with something, you will be forced to learn a wide range of things. Having LPI certification will certainly be better than nothing. A statement like "I have used and supported my linux desktop for the last 2 years" does not mean anything. "I have LPI certfication" does. Craig Cook -- Big Brother Consulting and Training Services www.cookitservices.com -- TriLUG mailing list : http://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilug TriLUG Organizational FAQ : http://trilug.org/faq/ TriLUG Member Services FAQ : http://members.trilug.org/services_faq/ TriLUG PGP Keyring : http://trilug.org/~chrish/trilug.asc
