InsideTech

hey, i have a question and u seem like this is the place to ask .. A+ and networking Certification are they worth getting ? and do jobs see them as a plus on your resume.. if so i found a traing company called netcom ..( http://www.netcominfo.com/ ) anybody heard of them ?

I agree, Steve.

Certifications look great on a resume but if you don't know your stuff when you're on the job, then you won't be there very long. Anyone can study, cram and pass a test. Employers are well aware of this. They have been getting burned by people with MCSE certs for years. They have the cert but no practical application ability. Employers are wary of certs even though they require some certs as a prerequisite for the job. Many IT employers are now trending towards temp-to-perm and contract employment to weed out the people that can't cut it on the job. My suggestion is from my own experience when I was studying for my MCP. We got a study group together and pooled our resources to create our own network. Then what we learned in the book, we applied to our own network to test the results. I learned much more from the hands on experience than I ever did from the book. Plus, the hands on experience reinforced what I had learned and made it easier to remember. Since then, any time I want to learn a new technology, besides reading about it, I make sure I get hands on experience by experimenting with it myself. One more thing, out of the original 6 people in the study group, only 2 of us finished the book and passed the test. So try to start with as large a group as you can because people will inevitably drop out.

Now I'm not saying that every MCSE doesn't know his stuff. All I'm saying is that a lot of them don't. If you're going to be a tech, then A+ certification is a must. If you want to be a system administrator, then MCSE is a must. Yes, certifications are that important. The job market is highly competitive right now because there are a lot of people out of work. If you don't have your certifications and work related experience under your belt, then forget about applying. No experience? Then certifications can help you get your foot in the door. No certs but several years of IT work experience? Most likely, you are in, as long as, you get a good reference from your previous employer. Therefore, the bottom line is this, a combination of certs and job experience are necessary to gain employment in today's IT job market. Even then it is tough out there. Take me for example, I have my A+ certification, I'm a Microsoft Certified Professional and I have 12 years experience in the IT industry. I'm having a hard time finding work! So there you go.

In my case im a 24yrs old about to get my BS in computer science but i have no relevant work experience or internships under my belt. I was thinking that certs would offset my lack of exp. and  at least land me an entry level job to get my feet wet. so in my case are certs the way to go ?

 I agree with ZeroDay on getting certs. With little or no experience in the field, they will work to your advantage. Just don't go overboard because it will look like you just loaded up on certs with no actual experience to back it up. Past a certain point, certifications lose their luster as experience takes over. If you start doing certs, start with a roadmap just like you have to do in school. A+, Network+, etc. Then if you decide to get into networking, go with Cisco, etc.

Some employers love their certs - especially in the services business where they want to sell clients on having techs who are certified in something, anything if at all possible. Most of these are not what I would consider "professional" certs per se. I would say, at a certain point, a computer science Master's degree might come in more handy and if you plan on going into management, an MBA should be on your horizon.

With certifications in general, it really depends on the certification and the job you're applying for. An A+ for example is good to have because a lot of PC Tech jobs require this before you can ever touch the insides of a computer. And is definitely a plus compared to someone with equal experience without it. But if you mean is it good as in will pay you lots of money, no unfortunately. Even a bachelors in Computer Science is not always a big plus. In today's IT market, most employers are interested in expertise and experience with specific technologies. Which there are certifications out these days that gear towards specific technologies and network protocols. A Network+ is good to have as it will show employers you have a good grasp of basic networking and should land you a job even without experience. But in my opinion the best overall Networking certifications are Cisco certs. Such as a CCNA or CCNP. The CCNA is now 2 exams and the CCNP is 7 exams. I know people with less than 2 years experience with just  a CCNA that makes 60k a year. Also when it comes to Windows Administrator and Active Directory Infrastructure jobs, the best I'd say is a 2003 MCSE (7 exams). What Mustangbarry said about an MCSE is true when it comes to a 2000 MCSE, but the 2003 MCSE has literally qualified as an engineering level certification to employers and will land you a job with relevant experience not being much of a factor. Because it's not possible to pass this without really knowing your stuff. Same as for Cisco certifications. But yeah I've heard of Netcom before, but I don't know of anyone who's done training from them.

Knowledge is being an Architect, no matter what field....

For A+ -> http://www.proprofs.com/certification/comptia/a-plus/practice/index...

I got my A+ last year and I got a really high score on both exams. It's pretty easy. In my opinion if you can build a computer you can pass it. At the above link is basically all I used to study. The real test looks a lot like it and it's free.

I haven't came across a free site that offers up-to-date..... or lets say "efficient" practice material for Cisco exams. I've used http://www.selftestsoftware.com for my Microsoft exams and I have a couple buddies that have used it for their CCNA passed the exams. It's like $99 for a cd or to download. I'm plan to start working on Cisco stuff myself like maybe a CCDA here soon and I'll probably use selftestsoftware since I know people personally who liked it and passed the test with it.

Knowledge is being an Architect, no matter what field....

No problem at all. Yeah Cisco is constantly changing. And the worst thing is to be studying out-dated material. But Anyways, good look :D.

I went through two temp agencies when I lost my job in July.  I have not had one offer from either one of them, not one.

It could be.  I live in an area where a BS in anything means you are qualified for minimum wage jobs.  I would move but financially it is not possible and I have elderly parents which I care for.