[clue] linux certs? [TALK]

[Maxwell Spangler]

On Fri, 2011-06-24 at 13:11 -0600, Mike Bean wrote:
> (whistle)   I'm starting to think certs are an amazing scam.  Usually
> once you're hired, nobody really gives a damn about the letters behind
> your name, they just care that you solve more problems then you
> create.   But to get past the bureaucrats and headhunters you have to
> pass all these exams that have little to do with the knowledge you
> need to do the actual job.   400 bucks a test.   And compared to the
> certs I have looked at, 400 bucks for RHCSA is actually comparitively
> cheap!

The only people I know who dismiss certifications are those who are
employed and feel comfortable with their *current* employment.

It appears as though one reason for dismissing the certification is to
avoid confronting the fact that they don't have the certification.  It's
like a field medic dismissing a doctor's training so he can say "I'm
good enough" to himself and not consider getting more training.

When you're on the hiring side of the employment process, certifications
help.  They help one candidate stand out from the others and something
verifiable like an RHCE certification number means they actually were
good enough to pass that test.  It's a strong step towards going from
resume review to interview with the candidate but is no guarantee of a
job.  The next resume in line who doesn't have that cert may claim equal
skill but it is up to the wording alone of their resume to communicate
it.  The next resume after that is clearly someone lying about their
capabilities which makes the reviewer fatigued, makes them doubt the
second person's resume and the RHCE candidate looks even better now.

>From everything I've heard (and the discussion we had when David Willson
talked about this at the Boulder LUG meeting) the Redhat Certified
Engineer (RHCE) is the key cert for Linux users that want to work as
admins.  For those familiar with it, the RHCE is recognized as a
difficult test to pass and one that demonstrates knowledge and skill.

FWIW, I don't have any certifications at all but I continue to
reconsider the RHCE.

-- 
Maxwell Spangler
========================================================================
        Linux System Administration / Computing Services
        Photography / Graphics Design / Writing
        Boulder, Colorado
        http://www.maxwellspangler.com