Certifications as a means of gaining knowlage

[Bryan O'Neal]

I too do not believe certifications are worth much. With the exception of a
selling point to customers who don't know better or to help lower your
insurance premiums.  That said they CAN be a good path to focus your
learning and gain knowledge however that knowledge is not usually worth more
then a few months of intensive on the job training.

On a side note I am mojor pet peve, in that I hate companies that requier
certain certifications for emplyment... If I were to colect ever cert I have
seen "requierd" for job I was otherwise well qualified for I would have to
spend about two years and about $100K to obtain them. At which point I could
get a few years of use and then have to repeat the process ;)

If you want your people to have a prticuler cert you higher the person and
make continued employment contengent on getting the cert.

On Sun, Jun 28, 2009 at 6:49 AM, Lisa Kachold <lisakachold at obnosis.com>wrote:

>
>
> On Sat, Jun 27, 2009 at 10:33 PM, Steve Phariss <sphariss at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> Question to the group.
>>
>> I know that certificates in and of themselves are not a good indicator of
>> skill.  But are they a worthwhile goal for knowlege sake?  In particular, I
>> have been faced with a couple jobs that required Vertualization skills.  I
>> have very little enterprise experience with vertulization so was concidering
>> taking a bootcamp course that concludes with a vertulization cert (Certified
>> Virtualization Expert™ -CVE™)
>>
>> Does anyone have any experience with the CVE or Bootcamp classes in
>> general?
>>
>>
>> Steve
>>
> In the old days, we had what were considered "academics".  These were the
> people who could stand around and spout a million useless details about
> technology, but in the actual trenches, had no if/then/therefore logical
> skills.  They were like autistics, in that they could memorize rote, but it
> often seemed as if the people who actually could excel at the times when
> someone had to pull raw intelligence and creativity out of a hat, they
> failed horribly.
>
> The people who actually had to work in the fields often found the
> certifications to be far from what was required to actually master a subject
> - epic fail for those selling technology or selling management that
> certifications were actually a good gauge of mastery.
>
> So, what started to happen was people who actually were deeply immersed in
> technology started to attend bootcamps which were given often during a
> convention, where a full immersal of the student into the subject matter's
> pure "academics" would occur, whereupon all the useless facts that are never
> used when implementing and maintaining the technology get retained just long
> enough to pass the certification.  In this way, everyone could give a Class
> A subnet answer (even in the days when everyone only used Class C
> subnetting) for instance for a Cisco CCNA (which I obtained in 1999).
>
> I certified in IBM High Speed Networking Technology in the 1980's at
> USBank, and it was a complete exercise in rote memorization.   I certified
> on Websphere V in 2006, and nothing had really changed; little on the test
> actually translated to being able to manage application servers in any real
> world shop.
>
> I doubt very much this has changed with regard to Virtualization quizzes -
> except that Linux certifications are generally excellent (especially the
> RHCE - which is a complete PRACTICAL test, no reference materials are
> allowed, and the student must master the subject on a virtual slice or real
> machine during the test).  A RHCE is sold to businesses as a way to get a
> cheaper rate on their RHEL licenses.  I was hired in a contract gig to build
> new application servers (8 Prod/Dev + 1 database all Dell 1950's 2850's) and
> clean up Apache security and little Linux issues while they sent their
> Microsoft staff to RHCE Fast Track school (Choicehotels.com):
>
>
> http://www.supershareware.com/info/whizlabs-rhce--red-hat-linux-certification--exam-simulator.html
>
> http://www.scribd.com/doc/16314048/RHCE-Red-Hat-Certified-Engineer-Linux-100-Success-Secrets-on-RHCE-Linux-Test-Preparation-Study-Guides-Practice-Exams-Braindumps-Certification-Exa
>
> https://www.redhat.com/certification/rhce/?s_kwcid=TC|3636|rhce||S|p|3282576651<https://www.redhat.com/certification/rhce/?s_kwcid=TC%7C3636%7Crhce%7C%7CS%7Cp%7C3282576651>
> www.linuxlearningcentre.com/content/prep*guide*.pdf
>
> The RHCE fast track (5 day type of bootcamp) is the best way to certify as
> well because Linux people generally don't require a 3 month class, and
> simply get in and do things quickly to grasp a course:
> https://www.redhat.com/courses/rh300_rhce_rapid_track_course_and_rhce_exam/
>
> Certifications have been critisized for being "marketing manipulation"
> rather than actual gauges of skill.  For instance, a company will sell
> certifications when a product is big, and require certifications for cheaper
> rates.
>
> But if you don't already have a good history with certifications and your
> goal is simply to get a grasp of the technology, a certification is suspect,
> as a solution.
>
> Currently virtualization providers are fighting it out over a "new hot
> market".  And the technology is relatively young (unless you are IBM).  So,
> Microsoft, XEN and Vmware --- you get the idea from the "Products of the
> Year 2008":
>
>
> *GOLD AWARD:* VMware ESXi 3.5 U2<http://searchservervirtualization.techtarget.com/productsOfTheYearWinner/0,296407,sid94_gci1345772_tax312925_ayr2008,00.html>
> VMware's free ESXi leads the virtualization platform market by continuing
> to offer the greatest functionality and highest value of all hypervisors
> available on today's market.
>  READ MORE<http://searchservervirtualization.techtarget.com/productsOfTheYearWinner/0,296407,sid94_gci1345772_tax312925_ayr2008,00.html>
>
>  *SILVER AWARD:* Microsoft Hyper-V 1.0<http://searchservervirtualization.techtarget.com/productsOfTheYearWinner/0,296407,sid94_gci1345773_tax312925_ayr2008,00.html>
> "Microsoft's standalone Hyper-V is a great option for a free hypervisor,"
> one judge wrote. "I give Microsoft a lot of credit for such a strong new
> showing."
>  READ MORE<http://searchservervirtualization.techtarget.com/productsOfTheYearWinner/0,296407,sid94_gci1345773_tax312925_ayr2008,00.html>
>
>  *BRONZE AWARD:* Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.2<http://searchservervirtualization.techtarget.com/productsOfTheYearWinner/0,296407,sid94_gci1345774_tax312925_ayr2008,00.html>
> If Linux is your bag, then the Xen-based virtualization bundled with Red
> Hat's enterprise offering is a high-performance virtualization option and
> excellent value, judges reported.
>  READ MORE<http://searchservervirtualization.techtarget.com/productsOfTheYearWinner/0,296407,sid94_gci1345774_tax312925_ayr2008,00.html>
>
> I would get a general linux certification before I would get a
> virtualization certification.
>
> And since you are asking, I would point you to the RHCE.
>
> (503)754-4452 wiki.obnosis.com
> scientology.obnosis.com
>
>
>
>
>
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