| The web is covered with stories regarding the | | | | his mind. I should HOPE the test is demanding?" |
| benefits of professional computer certification, and | | | | Yes, you should. There's nothing more useless |
| most of them are backed up with salary surveys | | | | than earning a certification that's easy to get. |
| and the like. While there's certainly nothing wrong | | | | There's no feeling of pride, of achievement; |
| with making more money and having better job | | | | furthermore, if everyone else has that |
| prospects, there's one benefit of certification that | | | | certification, what value does it have? |
| many candidates forget about. | | | | I can speak from experience on this one. Those |
| Confidence. | | | | of you relatively new to the field may never |
| You can't pay your rent with confidence; you | | | | have used NT 4.0, but the MCSE NT 4.0 was the |
| can't pay for gas with confidence; you can't pay | | | | certification that ended up causing a lot of |
| for ANYTHING with confidence, right? So who | | | | damage to the value of professional certifications. |
| cares, right? | | | | EVERYBODY had one. The tests were repetitive |
| Wrong. The confidence you build from truly | | | | and far too simple, there were no simulation |
| earning a certification, whether it's an MCSE, | | | | questions, and the exams required no real |
| CCNA, or CCIE, cannot be purchased, borrowed, | | | | hands-on experience. |
| or stolen. It has to be earned. | | | | As a result, my MCSE NT 4.0 had little value. I |
| What do I mean by "truly earned"? First, I'm | | | | also felt no sense of pride in achieving it. |
| referring to those little documents out there | | | | Thankfully, exam vendors and authors seem to |
| generally referred to as "braindumps". If you buy | | | | have learned their lesson. Cisco exams are not |
| one of these things and happen to skate by a | | | | easy to pass, and the initial Cisco certification, the |
| certification exam, did you learn anything? No. Did | | | | CCNA, demands hands-on knowledge and |
| you learn anything? No. Are you going to be | | | | experience. Microsoft is (finally) adding simulator |
| effective on the job? No. As I tell my students, | | | | questions to their certification exams as well, and |
| when you're standing in front of a server or | | | | the MCSE exams have gotten tougher as well. |
| router that isn't working, and all eyes are on you | | | | So if you should happen to fail an exam along the |
| to troubleshoot the problem, the correct answer | | | | way to the top - and almost all of us do - just |
| is not "B". There is no multiple choice. | | | | keep in mind that if the exams were not |
| Secondly, I'm referring to the hope that the | | | | demanding, they would have no value. |
| certification you earn was earned by taking a | | | | After all, if it were easy, everyone would be |
| demanding exam. | | | | doing it! |
| Now, you're probably thinking "okay, Chris has lost | | | | |