Re: What direction should I take? MCSE or ...

"Jtyc" <yo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:eS60%23%23W1JHA.6056@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The more certs you have the more marketable you are. There was a time, when there were LOTS of IT jobs, that certs weren't as important. But right now they're more important than ever. Employers want to see some type of proof that you have the knowledge that you say you have. And whether it's right or wrong, they rely on certifications for that.

That hasn't been my experience at all. Your certifications can't answer interview questions, you have to.

But first you have to GET the interview. And if I'm looking at a stack of resumes for a job, and I've not already eliminated the candidates for obvious reasons like lack of Job Experience, or undocumented lapses in employment, or egregarious errors in grammar or spelling on the resume, or just a general lack of written communication skills -- then I have to decide who gets on the short list to sit in a conference room with me for an hour.

All other things being equal... the candidate with advanced (and Current!) certifications is going to rise to the top of the stack.

And any experienced interviewer can tell when someone is quoting a book vs. speaking from real world experience.

Absolutely! And, every once in a while, I've (unfortunately) discovered that the candidate I'm interviewing doesn't really know what the piece of paper they hold suggests they should know.

But to John's point.. it's about *marketability*, and *marketability* is what gets you the invitation for an interview so that you can answer those questions and demonstrate your exceptional product knowledge and technical expertise.

And, as a personal testimonial -- I've had a lot more doors open up to me with MCITP and MCDBA after my name in the past two years than I did when my only cert was an MCP on Windows 95 in 1999 when any idiot should have been able to get a Y2K job -- even with fifteen years of Unix experience on six different platforms prior to that! :-)

So, to that point, you bet I'll keep my certs current -- even if only to keep the doors open.


--
Lawrence Garvin, M.S., MCITP:EA, MCDBA
Principal/CTO, Onsite Technology Solutions, Houston, Texas
Microsoft MVP - Software Distribution (2005-2009)

MS WSUS Website: http://www.microsoft.com/wsus
My Websites: http://www.onsitechsolutions.com;
http://wsusinfo.onsitechsolutions.com
My MVP Profile: http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Lawrence.Garvin

.

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