13 replies to this topic

[pravinuttam]

HI
Frnds I am unable to decide which certificate I have to do to get better career and job. I hav 3 years experience in Windows administration.unfortunately I cant complete any certification to prove this. now if I determind to take MCSE exam then I find MS now plan to change windows 2003 pattern so it will outdated or in future it will lost its share due to Linux impact. then I decided to give RHCE or RHCT but I am not comfirmed that it will good decision regarding job requirement becoz I am undergrad. then I decide to give CCNA but I think I hav sufficient basic networking knowledge. and if I did CCNA certification will it give me good job.
I am totally confused pls suggest me good certification to stay employed.....

Thnaks

[pochacco]

Nothing is better than Experience...but @ least should hold the basic certs:
MCP (System); CCNA (Network)...

[TheDarkLord]

I think the sleeper hit will be Vmware & Citrix. As more and more companies have started or thinking using virtual environments.

[pravinuttam]

Thanks for your reply....

Edited by pravinuttam, 04 March 2010 - 05:56 PM.

[whoiam55]

I think the sleeper hit will be Vmware & Citrix. As more and more companies have started or thinking using virtual environments.

ditto

[Darby Weaver]

HI
Frnds I am unable to decide which certificate I have to do to get better career and job. I hav 3 years experience in Windows administration.unfortunately I cant complete any certification to prove this. now if I determind to take MCSE exam then I find MS now plan to change windows 2003 pattern so it will outdated or in future it will lost its share due to Linux impact. then I decided to give RHCE or RHCT but I am not comfirmed that it will good decision regarding job requirement becoz I am undergrad. then I decide to give CCNA but I think I hav sufficient basic networking knowledge. and if I did CCNA certification will it give me good job.
I am totally confused pls suggest me good certification to stay employed.....

Thnaks

MCSE was my key to success.

Everyone writes their own story.

Technically the certification is a supplement, an entree, and not the main dish.

I've rarely hear the real case made where a CCNA truly helped a Systems Admin... nice but not a job-getter.

Two different skill sets.


If you are server skilled... VMWare is a must and Citrix is Golden.

I did the MCSE and the CCEA back in the day.

Today Citrix is a powerhouse and VMWare is EVERYWHERE you want to be.

[Sadistic]

I think VMware is NICE

[dreamsit]

pravinuttam:


Ok I think you're kind of missing the point hear: There will not be one Certification or even serious of certifications that put you over the top; rather, you training and education should reflect your experience, interest and education -- and more often than not, it should be in that order. Why do I say this? What employers are doing is getting rid of the notion that IT people who are a "mile deep + inch wide" or an "inch deep + a mile wide" in skills are good candidates. They're looking for more of a middle of the road approach -- almost akin in some ways to how they hire most MBA candidates right out of school.

This is going sound like alot, but just bare with me:

A+

Network+

Security+

Linux+

SNIA Storage Professional

MCTS: Windows Internals [70-660] // http://www.microsoft...ID=70-660#tab2. This exam is basically taking driver development foundational skills and applying them to systems root cause analysis. You do want to get promoted don't you? This one, virtualization exams, networking and Security -- specifically the InfoSec Management & Penetration testing -- are THE fast tracks to getting promoted. If you get this before all the rest, then performance tuning [a big deal once virtualization solutions are deployed], pen testing, networking --- all of it becomes much more effective. It is also probably the OS-related cert that most directly relates to building to connection between A+ - the OS - an a more academic set of pursuits.

Linux Internals -- Most likely represented by RedHat Troubleshooting 142

CCNA

CIW Web Foundations [Completely revamped and has very up to date information. Site Development Subtest focuses on XHTML & CSS.]

CCNA - Troubleshooting

Server+

CIW Server Administration [Actually, being dated kind of HELPS you in this case, because as virtualization is deployed more, some systems will simply NOT be moved to newer OS's. Having some knowledge of older OS limitations puts you at a distinct advantage, because it simply will be harder to find. Plus, if you notice, I used a pluralized abbreviation of operating systems. It covers some of the older aspects of Windows 2000 & 2003 + Active Directory, Linux, and Unix. This is great since alot of tech's first true server administration gigs will as web server admins - at least in part. Web servers [IIS and Apache] are covered pretty well, and messaging servers do get a nice bit of attention as well]

MCTS: Active Directory

Certified Cloud Computing Foundations [$99.00]
[Offered by ( www.theartofservice.org ), this up and coming IT cert that covers the entire Virtualization, Iaas {VMware}, SaaS{Salesforce.com, Google Apps}, PaaS {Windows Azure & VMware vCloud}, and Cloud Storage {Amazon} perspective. Its really high level, but even demonstrating the knowledge and initiative is a big deal these days and it is much more likely that they will consider sending you for VMware or Citrix training {mandatory for VCP which is becoming a big money certification these days -- trust me I know first hand.}]

CPTE [formerly CPTS - Penetration Testing]

ITIL v3 Foundations [It will not get you a job, but IT will separate you from a candidate that is even with you in skills.]



Why these? Well, from a stand point of what is cost effective, takes you deep into core skills necessary to solve most computing problems and provide yourself the widest array of platform knowledge, this is the best set of recommendation I can make that do not focus too much on one vendor, though Microsoft still dominates. I did not put Citrix and VMware on here only because they can be cost prohibitive. However, you should take those [CCA & VCP respectively] at your first convenience.

So what does mean for IT professionals? Pay your dues on the help desk [or Desktop team] if possible WHILE YOUR IN SCHOOL. Your summer before your senior year [and through out it as well] should be centered around gathering your last foundational technology certs [see CompTIA's offerings -- Except Convergence+ I would consider that an intermediate cert for sure and you COULD make that arguement of Server+ as well, depending on who you ask].

[kinan]

Well, I think several certs in different domains will be important:

1. Virtualization: VMWare & Citrix, along with Hyper-V, Certified Cloud Computing Foundations

2. Systems: MCITP Windows Server 2008, RHCE Linux

3. Networking: Cisco Certifications "CCNA, CCNP, CCIE"

4. Security: CISSP, CEH v6

5. Management: ITIL, ISO20000, PMP

[chetanramasamy]

HI
Frnds I am unable to decide which certificate I have to do to get better career and job. I hav 3 years experience in Windows administration.unfortunately I cant complete any certification to prove this. now if I determind to take MCSE exam then I find MS now plan to change windows 2003 pattern so it will outdated or in future it will lost its share due to Linux impact. then I decided to give RHCE or RHCT but I am not comfirmed that it will good decision regarding job requirement becoz I am undergrad. then I decide to give CCNA but I think I hav sufficient basic networking knowledge. and if I did CCNA certification will it give me good job.
I am totally confused pls suggest me good certification to stay employed.....

Thnaks

hello friend go head with CCNA certification or else Java related will be helpful for your career.

[MsSharon7]

Anything security related is going to increase in demand over the next few years, so that is the field I would focus on

[Darby Weaver]

The truth of the matter is this:

Certifications are great - but companies actually hire experience and expertise.
So with this in mind, my sincere advice is to:

Get certified in one area - Microsoft, Cisco, Oracle, VMWare, etc. or whatever...

And then get more certified and more specialized in that certification.


You can waste years chasing every certification and maybe even getting a two-bit job that is going to slave drive you cause they actually need every certification on the list but can only seem to afford 1 person at 1/2 the rate of just one certified person in just one certification.

Great... if that's what you are looking for... that's probably not what you are looking for. I'd hope not anyway.


Microsoft has the abundance of opportunity and probably always will. Awesome place to start at. You can apply it to just about anywhere else if it does not work out for you or when you outgrow it (years from now).


Use common sense before you spend your pennies.

[Queblazer]

Hello,
Good to hear that you are an undergraduate so its better to choose your career path now, when it comes to network i know experience is the best path to certifications but if you can just concentrate on RHCE it will be better do some kind of bash and some other scripting stuffs that you can get result immediately join 2 - 3 systems 2geder do services like dns mail etc you can always get results for those ones now but network experience is your best teacher best of luck.

[Lethe]

Hello,
Good to hear that you are an undergraduate so its better to choose your career path now, when it comes to network i know experience is the best path to certifications but if you can just concentrate on RHCE it will be better do some kind of bash and some other scripting stuffs that you can get result immediately join 2 - 3 systems 2geder do services like dns mail etc you can always get results for those ones now but network experience is your best teacher best of luck.

If you have an RHCE and can do "...some scripting stuff..." I will discard you without a second thought on the matter as I've got enough of xxx certified people who are not even able to configure you a mail or DNS server as "...it was not in the syllabus of my exam...".

Scripting is something important indeed but without all the rest is pretty useless as it is RHCE without any experience OR knowledge.

As Darby pointed out certifications have their weight in our world but they are just the tip of the iceberg and these days RHCE seems to have become what MCSE was a time (lot of paper MCSE asking you how to backup Active Directory).

Try to choose a field, maybe get a couple of certifications but more important of it all GET EXPERIENCE, you have virtualization, you have internet you have emulators... limit is just your imagination. Wish I had all of this when I started.

L.