Certifaction

[Matt Wehland <mwehland@webtripper.com>]

During the last meeting there was some talk about the value of 
certification.  Rich made a good point that it still really depends on your 
knowledge, that the companies still want you to take tests and show that 
you really do know your stuff.  This is true if you are planning on getting 
a real job, with a real company.  If on the other hand you are planning on 
freelancing then things might be different.  I am seriously considering 
getting my MCSE (gack), since I have worked in the video industry for 10 
years (started at 15) and unfortunately the industry is going towards NT 
(even AVID is supposedly dropping MAC and going NT).  In this case I will 
be freelancing and dealing with companies that don't have any computer 
expertise on staff. Having that silly certificate (along with experience, 
which really counts) really means something to these clients as they have 
no way of judging real computer experience.  Give them two consultants, one 
with a pretty piece of paper and one without, and guess which one they will 
pick (unless they have a good recommendation, from a trusted 
colleague).  The pretty paper will probably win.  I'm not saying that 
certificates are a necessity, but depending on where you are planning on 
working they might be helpful.

Also I think someone was saying that they had gotten their MCSE (or was it 
just looked into?).  If you went through the tests, could you please 
contact me off-line <mwehland@webtripper.com> so that I can hear what if 
anything you learned. I was a CNE at one point in my life, just got tired 
of computers for a while and let that certification lapse.  When I took the 
test and classes I really didn't think much of them, but when I used the 
knowledge in the real world I found that I actually had learned quite a bit.

Matt Wehland

--
To unsubscribe, send email to majordomo@silug.org with
"unsubscribe silug-discuss" in the body.