IT Certification a Plus, but Not Essential
Young people interested in pursuing a career in information technology confront an alphabet soup of seemingly endless proportions. MCSE, ODBA, CNE, A-plus and CCIE are just a few of the more than 350 information technology certifications that verify expertise in everything from basic computer support work to networking skills.
An international, multibillion-dollar industry has risen in the last 12 years to promote and support the certification of information technology workers. But even as the push for certification intensifies, job seekers looking to add acronyms behind their names should know that certifications still fall far behind other attributes in the eyes of employers, according to a recent report by the Information Technology Assn. of America, based on a survey of more than 600 hiring managers.
“Four-year college degrees proved the best pre-hire means of attaining needed skills and knowledge in four of eight job categories: database development/administration, enterprise systems, programming/software engineering and technical writing. Private technical schools pulled the highest marks for network design/administration and digital media,” said the report, which went on to regard certifications as being of moderate importance.
“Employers may list certification as a plus, but it’s usually not a requirement,” said Dawn M. Haden, director of human resources for HeadHunter.net Inc. “All other things being equal, certification may help get a resume closer to the top of the pile. But you still want hands-on experience that’s been applied in a real job. We do encourage our own people to obtain certification, but it’s not that their future here is hindered if they don’t.”
Many IT workers say they have discovered the same thing.
“In this area, it seems hands-on knowledge is more valuable than classroom certification,” said Michael Schlein, a 32-year-old senior Unix administrator for a Prudential Insurance office in New Jersey. “Potential new employers care more about you being able to perform a specific set of skills, namely the job that you are applying for.”
Others say the certification process, which includes everything from boot camps and corporate training academies and outside training partners to help applicants pass tests, has become a self-sustaining industry.
The cost of materials, courses, training and cram sessions can easily reach into the thousands of dollars. That kind of expense and overkill hasn’t gone unnoticed.
“The problem now is that there are certifications for everything,” said Yves Lermusiaux, president of San Francisco-based ILogos, which serves as the research arm of Recruitsoft, a company that produces Internet-based hiring systems. “It’s become a business of its own and some are far less valuable than others. People are making a lot of money on this.”
Others go so far as to privately suggest that certification is less important to individual employees and has become a weapon for companies to monopolize business contracts, equipment, software and the best IT talent.
Indeed, certain certifications are so rare and difficult to obtain that they have become bragging rights in the information technology world. Companies use them to distinguish themselves from competitors, much in the same way that a private school or a think tank will boast of the number of students or researchers, respectively, with perfect SAT scores or PhDs.
“Certifications help us benchmark and quantify our talent,” said Jeremy Bono, worldwide director of recruiting for Houston-based Global Network Technology Services.
“Take the highest level of Cisco certification, which is Cisco certified internetworking expert. Companies [that] have 20 or so CCIEs working for them can use that to close a deal. But even so, our experience with many certifications is that they do not replace real-world experience. For example, there are many ex-military people who aren’t certified but are better trained in Internet security and network security than civilians.”
Don Fields, senior marketing manager for Cisco Systems Internet Learning Solutions Group, and Lorne Braddock, senior manager for Cisco’s CCIE program, scoff at the idea that their company is trying to monopolize IT talent by pushing certifications.
“In an environment in which people are looking to distinguish themselves, being able to demonstrate their skills can be extremely important,” Fields said. “What we are looking to do is give organizations the assurance that they can find people that have the kind of skills they need to design and support Cisco systems that have become critical to their fundamental operations.”
Added Braddock, “The CCIE is a real test of experience and breadth of knowledge. It’s premature for young people to even give it a thought. It’s just not a good use of their time. They ought to enjoy the process of going to school and getting a well-rounded core of understanding of information technology first.”
Most companies reward employees who obtain certification rather than require pre-employment certification, said Los Angeles Valley College professor Ronald Reis, who has written an upcoming book that contains a chapter on IT certification.
Reis said some certifications function as the rough equivalent of licensing, in that they must be renewed over time. Most require considerable study and, given the enormous costs that can accrue, Reis counsels that self-study is preferred, given the core of books and other materials that are readily available.
If practical experience and traditional education are tops, certification can matter most to those who are lacking in those areas. That’s been the experience of Denver native Dave Rager and Austin, Texas, resident Tony Liguori.
Armed with a degree in international affairs from the University of Colorado, Rager, 33, found himself stuck in dead-end jobs after school, including fast food and pizza delivery. But Rager knew he had IT skills, having built a computer from scratch at home. He applied to become an assistant to a network administrator, got the job and treated it as an apprenticeship.
His wife, Miku, was a Web site designer who provided the rest of the motivation, encouraging him to become certified. Now, Rager is a Microsoft certified professional, a Microsoft certified systems engineer and a Microsoft certified database administrator. He’s moved from working on the computers in a county courthouse to creating internal databases for TamTam.com, which helps find global markets for small- to medium-size businesses.
“I wouldn’t have this job now if I hadn’t obtained certifications,” said Rager, whose income has risen to $65,000 annually, up from $32,000 at the courthouse job. “I didn’t have the hands-on experience or the educational background and they helped me get my foot in the door.”
Rager also emphasizes that he got his certifications on the cheap, primarily because “I didn’t have any money.”
“It took about eight months for the whole thing,” he said. “I spent about $800 altogether. There were free Web sites that help you with practice tests.”
Liguori had obtained a degree in business and information systems from the University of Phoenix, but other job seekers were miles ahead of him in terms of practical tech experience. He had hit what he called the glass ceiling for tech jobs in El Paso, Texas, where he lived. Liguori’s employer paid for the certification training he wanted, Microsoft certified solutions developer, but still couldn’t pay him what he knew he was worth.
But the certification has paid off. Now, Liguori is a software engineer working on a contract basis and billing employers at the rate of $80 an hour.
It peeves him that some of the employees he works with have more certifications and, he thinks, less talent than he does.
“I thought the certification would make me more marketable, and it has,” said Liguori, who moved with his wife to Austin. “Of course, sometimes I’m sitting next to someone who only has a [two-year] college degree and they are billing $95 an hour because they still have lots more experience than I do.”
Liguori’s experience comes as no surprise to Ken Kousky, chief executive of Wave Technologies International, an independent technology training company. Kousky was in the forefront of IT certification.
“I created the CNE program for Novell system engineers,” Kousky said. “People criticize [certifications] now, saying they’re not the best indicator, and they may be right in that regard, but that’s not necessarily what they were designed for. Now, they serve as an important signaling mechanism between the client and the buyer: ‘My people are certified to do this work.’ ”
“I’m doing a project now with students and they are asking what they need to know to get their first job. To me, a liberal arts degree is the best certificate of a life-long learner.”
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Technician Requirements
Many job seekers have come to believe that one form of certification or another is required to obtain an information technology job. These certifications, of which there are more than 350, range from A-plus for entry-level computer technicians to the most difficult to obtain, such as Cisco certified internetworking expert. But an April report commissioned by the Information Technology Assn. of America shows that hiring managers still prefer hands-on experience and a strong traditional education for entry-level positions in the following fields.
Tech support*
Specific experience 49%
Education 20%
Certification 5%
General experience 4%
*
Database development/administration**
Specific experience 47%
Education 21%
General experience 13%
Certification 3%
*
Network design and administration***
Specific experience 51%
Education 17%
General experience 11%
Certification 7%
*
Enterprise systems integration****
Specific experience 49%
Education 20%
General experience 14%
Certification 5%
Job definitions
* Includes diagnosing and correcting system problems, installing or upgrading new equipment and software.
** Database designing and modeling, developing user interface, monitoring, testing, security and maintenance.
*** Ensuring that Internet, extranet, intranet and local- and wide-area network data traffic get to their destination without losing any information along the way.
**** Consolidating and standardizing computer networks and operating systems.
Source: Information Technology Assn.
