PC Expertise Certifications... what's needed?

[Prof.Wizard]

Mercutio brought up a good issue. I was wondering what PC knowledge certifications one must have today to consider himself/herself competitive for a job entry. I know different jobs need different qualifications, but what's the really indispensable, let's say. Well, if you like, go on and propose even for specificate job entries, such as web master or database programmers...

Here in the European Union there is this buzz about the ECDL (European Computer Driving License)... Actually, almost all companies (private and public) which need a certification for basic computer knowledge consider it in the prerequisites. The exam itself is pretty lame, I have to admit. If you're a PC hobbyist (as I consider myself) and have some basic experience with MS Office you can pass almost all 7 modules with minimal studying.

Some companies go on and ask for MOUS. But apart these two... what's else out there?!

 

[Mercutio]

In the US the absolute entry-level certs are MOUS and A+. I've seen, exactly ONE TIME, a job posting asking for MOUS (I only have it because I won a bunch of free exam vouchers from Prometric and ran out of things to certify in).

A+ basically requires that you have a reasonable knowledge of PC hardware - and if you're reading this site, or SR - you almost certainly do, printers, the basics of troubleshooting and customer service (most important part of the cert, if you ask me), and in a different test, the operation of DOS, Windows 9x, NT and 2000. EXTREMELY basic knowledge. Do you know the difference between Windows 95 and NT boot sequences?

Probably the next steps up would be MCP certification in Windows 98 or 2000, and the Network+ cert. I'd say if you have A+ you're qualified for any level 1 (Call Center) job or for working as a PC Tech, and if you've got anything beyond that you're probably good for a full-fledged PC support.

Network+, the test I'm going to go take in three hours, basically certifies that you have knowledge of basic TCP/IP networking, the devices associated with building/troubleshooting networks. It's less rigorous than the entry-level Cisco certs (much like Microsoft's old Network Essentials exam), and not product-specific.

 

[Mercutio]

Beyond those you really get in to vendor-specific certs.

Cisco asks for CCNP certification that you complete, IIRC, four exams, covering topics like Router and Switch configuration. You wouldn't think that stuff would be that hard. Well, neither is brain surgery, if you know what you're doing. I started in on the ACRC (router config), and gave up. Ciscoworks is my friend!

Microsoft has MCSE as its end-all cert at the moment. Theoretically, we MCSEs are the cream of the crop, which is why there's 466,000 of us in the world right now and a lot of IT pros make fun of how dumb we are. More realistically, an MCSE is someone who passed the six- or seven exams, most of them product-specific (Workstation, Server, Enterprise management, Microsoft Networking, plus a few electives). Microsoft's exams mostly aren't that hard, and the passing scores needed are pretty low - some less than 50%. Still, the guy who passes Exchange Server, SMS and SQL Server exams is deserving of your respect.
Microsoft also has a new cert, MCSA, for system administration. I know nothing about it.
Microsoft also has a developer cert, MCSD. Its requirements seem to change a lot more often than the Support/Networking MCSE, and almost no one asks for, or has it (less than 30,000 people). MCDBA is a subset of the SE and SD certs and is very, very rare (maybe 5000 people worldwide).

Overall, the big thing is, don't go out and get a high-level of certification without any experience to back it up. You'll look like an idiot, and get questioned at every turn. Any non-entry-level cert needs a solid experience behind it. "Paper MCSEs", "Paper CNEs" and "Paper CCNAs" are entirely too common and the reason a lot of all of the above have a bad name in some circles.

Anyway...

Novell has CNA/CNE certs, and Master CNE for the really hardcore Novell guru. I know very little about this, but the Master CNE test is much tougher than any Microsoft test I'm aware of. As a sign of how unpopular the Novell certs are, the majority of postings for Novell admin positions I've seen in the last couple of year have specified MCSE-level certification, rather than Novell's.

Sun has a Solaris Certified Administrator cert. My reading of job posts indicates that it's not a high-priority in UNIX shops (they like CS degrees a lot more). Same thing with the various Linux certs (Linux+, RedHat Certified Engineer, NAI's Linux cert etc).

Compaq offers ASE certification, which requires MCSE/CNE and A+ prior to testing. The only ASE I ever met really, really knew his stuff, but I'm sure most of the other big vendors have something similar.

The other big-name certs I know of are Oracle's DBA certification and Lotus's Notes Developer and Admin certs. I don't know much about either, and I've only ever had cursory contact with either package (more than enough to respect the Oracle DBAs, though!)

 

[Mercutio]

The funny thing about certification is, it doesn't really ensure that you're ready or able to work in a given IT position. Certifications are very rarely an actual indicator of knowledge or performance. They're a quick-and-dirty check that you meet a very minimal standard, at least for the certifications that I have.

Some employers realize that and some don't. The reality is almost everyone who reads and participates in the "Computers" and "Support" forums on a site like this is qualified, in some cases vastly moreso, than the people doing most of the workaday jobs related to IT support.

 

[Prof.Wizard]

Overall, the big thing is, don't go out and get a high-level of certification without any experience to back it up. You'll look like an idiot, and get questioned at every turn. Any non-entry-level cert needs a solid experience behind it.

From what you've said, I think you can say that certifications are like the MCATs. If you don't have an active curriculum to support your results you don't get to the place you want. Is this analogy good?

Whatever, I have this interest about certifications. I will definitely go on and give the ECDL (energy can confirm how easy this exam is... www.ecdl.com), and maybe the MOUS cert later. This would be enough if I ever have to prove my office skills, wouldn't?

 

[Mercutio]

Something like that, although if some freak of nature got a perfect score on the MCATs - which is something I understand has never happened - there would clearly be an exception to your analogy.

My personal view is that you won't be gaining anything personally or professionally by attaining levels of computer certification, unless you want your ECDL to hit non-certified computer techs over the head with when they say something stupid. MOUS is simply pointless in your case. Even if you were looking for a "fall back" sort of position, you would be better off obtaining something more like an MCP.

 

[Cliptin]

Maybe Merc can correct me on this, but IMO MOUS is for poeple who don't know how to word process or who only know how to use WP. I'm not sure you would get anything out of the cert that you wouldn't get from CS110 at the local college.