Posts by Is this secure?

Microsoft's MCSE and MCSD will become HARDER to win

The RHCE is a great example of how to do it right and MS did actually do this with one of their exams for Active Directory but it seemed to disappear as they stupidly gave people a choice to do the standard exam or simulation

This is also the best way to interview technical staff, once they get past the "do you fit the culture and basic tech" interview.

NDA's are generally on all exams, most of the exam dumps come from compromised testing centers.

Re: Certs aren't all bad

Entitled to your opinion however pointless

I have worked or companies that paid £10k increase for achieving certian accreditation, so definitely worth the time and effort

Certs aren't all bad

I think certification has its place but is most definitely not a measurement of ability, unfortunately they get you past a lot of HR departments that don't really understand what they are. In my previous life as a Senior IT Engineer (they required a MCSE and CCNA for that job), I told HR to submit all applicants directly to the IT department and we would select the candidates (my last hire had no certs).

I think the important aspect of certification is the reason for doing it, they provide a structured learning process and when I first started in the industry this was useful. Also I never stayed within the confines of the material and would always go and build infrastructure and just play. I am at the point in my career that I don't need to do them anymore, I just keep up with the knowledge and if I want to learn something new, I go and do it.

What I hate to see is someone who is certified to a high level without the experience that is required to really understand what they are doing. I have had CVs from people with CCNP and MCSE but work as 1st line support operatives. If you take the certification path, it should be on a par or 1 small step ahead of where you are.