The Power Of Certification
There is an excellent post by Redwarrior on The Power Of Certification that I would like to share here. Its a wonderful success story on how certifications can help at many different level from convincing the employer of a strong and current skill set to landing the wonderful job offer.
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Thank you RedWarrior for sharing this wonderful story and thanks for being such a positive influence to the community at ProProfs. You’ve been (and am sure will continue to be) an awesome support to the community and we wish you all the very best in the new job.
Here is the post :
Tomorrow I meet with the HR person for a company I just interviewed yesterday. I have already been told that this is a formality and that as long as she puts her stamp of approval on me, there will be an offer tomorrow. Woo-hoo!
A little background here, so you’ll understand why I put the subtitle on this “The Power of Certifications” on this post. I am 30-years-old and have been in IT off and on for almost 10 years. I started my career first as a student desktop support person at a university and then graduated and took a job as a LAN Administrator. That was during the dot com boom, so tech jobs were plentiful and well-paid. When the boom busted, I took time off to get married and have kids, just doing a little consulting work here and there. When I wanted to come back full-time, boy was I in for a rude awakening!!!
I had never pursued certifications. I had been one of the people who even scoffed at them, making derisive comments about “paper MCSE’s” and touting the old mantra of “experience is far more important than a piece of paper.” Now, though, I found myself not even being considered for jobs at the level I had worked at because my skills looked outdated and I had no certifications. My resume hardly ever got past HR to even be looked at by a technical person because I was missing those important letters. It was like a bucket full of cold water.
So, I enrolled in a training program at a training center and took an entry-level helpdesk job while I studied and studied hard. That opportunity led to a better desktop support job with a bit of a wider scope and more time to study, which I did. Everything I was working on in my classes and exam study, I tried to find some way to apply at work. After I took my CCNA and passed, finally I had people calling me for a change and it felt great. This led me to reconsider staying in desktop support and try for a Jr. System/Network Administrator position. I believe that I never would have even been considered without my certs. Although I still have a lot to learn, the team interviewing me did allude to the fact that the certs I have earned showed a willingness to learn and a drive and, luckily, they were looking for just that for this position.
2 certifications did so much more for me than just my nearly 10 years of experience. I think the combination of the two is what just got me a big break. To all of you considering putting off working on your certs, just think of that. Right now you might not need them, but what about if something happens and you have to hit the job market again? Wouldn’t it be nice to have that kind of insurance? Wouldn’t it be nice to know you have the security of being able to present employers the “full package” of certifications along with experience? Good luck to everyone studying and thanks to all those who have helped me so much here. I plan on remaining active and continuing to go after my MCSE and who knows what after that…this site rocks!
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