[aklug] Re: IT certifications

i have a lot of certifications. i was lucky, my employers paid for most. i didn't get any of them to make myself a better candidate for another job, lucky again. i too recommend SANS for training.SANS has a work study program to reduce costs A LOT. most security certs require a re-certification to keep the certification and knowledge current. in reviewing job applications i can verity certification gets a resume in the better pile.i've seen the extremes of great performers with no certifications. i've seen certifications whose holders can't perform. strive to be a great performer who's striving to be certified.

    On Wednesday, September 7, 2016 12:03 PM, Damien Hull <dhull@section9.us> wrote:
 

 Dan,
I have a Masters degree in Information Security. I hate to tell you this but that's not enough. Vendor certs like CCNA and CCNP tell you how to work with the product. How do you get OSPF configured? How do you get spanning tree configured? College degrees help a lot for the big picture. They may not give you the commands you need to configure OSPF on a Cisco router.
I used to work for GCI setting up Cisco and Juniper routers for Internet access. The only reason I survived is because I was CCNP certified. Without that I wouldn't have been able to make it. Then they said, surprise, we're going to Juniper. The networking concepts are the same, but the commands are different. My college education didn't tell me how to configure OSPF and MPLS on a Juniper router.  And no, we didn't get enough on the job training to figure it out before we were dropped into the hot seat. I managed to survive for a bit but it was rough.
Vendor certs will always be there. They may not be perfect but they're better than nothing. I also think that people who look down on certs haven't looked into them. The CCNP is three tests. One of which is "switching". Can you configure HSRP in a minute or two? That was on the test. Took me three tries to pass that test. 
I'm trying to make it in the world of Information Security. The SANS organization has become my training of choice. Expensive but worth it. Topics they cover are things most people don't even know exist. How do I learn this stuff if I can't find anyone who knows it even exists? Training and certs are the only thing I can think of. 
Point is, I've learned a lot from college and IT training / certifications. Wouldn't be able to do my job without them. And as someone else pointed out, you may not get past HR without them. 
I think this is also the downside to IT. It is so expensive to keep up. If anyone has a cheaper solution I'm all for it. 

On Tue, Sep 6, 2016 at 12:57 PM, Dan Wolf <dan-wolf@gci.net> wrote:

IMO..... Some of the basic certs A+, CCNA have value in providing employers with a comparative baseline for entry level positions, but after that certs tend to lose their value...... In the end.....stay in school or go back and get a 2 or 4 yr degree and you will have a piece of paper that lasts a lifetime rather than 2-3 yrs....... Then you leverage that paper to get in the door to an org that can provide the additional training you seek As always YMMV.....:-)

-----Original Message-----
From: aklug-bounce@aklug.org [mailto:aklug-bounce@aklug.org ] On Behalf Of Christopher Howard
Sent: Monday, September 05, 2016 2:03 PM
To: AKLUG <aklug@aklug.org>
Subject: [aklug] IT certifications

Hello list. I was wondering... has anybody heard of any programs (e.g., nonprofit, workforce development) that help people with the financial part of getting IT certifications? There are a number of additional certs I'd like to get (e.g., Security+) but there isn't much room in my budget, and I don't think I could convince my current employer to pitch in. (As additional certs would only help me to get a better job elsewhere.)

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