The Certification-versus-Experience Conundrum – Part 3

The ability of a potential job candidate to gain experience, especially when they are fresh out of school, can be a difficult task. As I mentioned in the Part 1 and Part 2 segments of this series, job candidates often seek out certifications as a way to validate experience, even if they really don’t have the actual experience needed to be considered “truly” certified. After all, certifications were meant to validate prior experience, not the other way around - experience validating prior certifications. And jobs that require certifications are therefore requiring a certain amount of experience as a prerequisite qualification. So how is it then, that job candidates seeking even entry level jobs are feeling pressure to become certified and prove skills for which they really have no experience? Some have the knowledge and experience they gained in college or other post-secondary training. In some cases, these people have no real knowledge of the technology other than what they have read in books. I think that some of the answer to this part of our continuing conundrum can be found by first defining what we think of as experience in a traditional sense, and maybe looking at ways to gain job and technical experience in nontraditional ways.

If we look at the various traditional ways of gaining job experience, it is evident that the experience most valued is that which a person accumulates doing various jobs. But how does a person get experience if they are just starting out? Are there other ways that will prove to be just as valuable? I think that there are. I think that we can actually break the existing paradigms of how experience is actually gained. As I mentioned, we most often think of “experience” only in terms of what a person has gained while actually employed in a so called “real” job. However, if we seek to think of ways to make nontraditional settings, such as academics, volunteering, and even the job interview process as valuable ways to gain experience, then we can actually get a better picture of what a person has actually been exposed to. There are many different avenues for one to shape their own problem solving skills, and these nontraditional ways of gaining experience will be just as valuable in determining what people are able to bring to the table. Isn’t experience, after all, simply a way that we measure how much exposure a person has had to various tasks and problems, and how much time they have spent learning how to find solutions? If that is the case, then it is very important to understand that there are various ways to gain this experience, to learn how to solve problems and to get repetitive exposure to tasks in other ways. So let’s take a look at some of the other ways that a potential IT professional can build up their experience portfolio.

Students:

Your road to gaining real experience doesn’t just start the minute you graduate from tech school or college. Far from the truth! You need to start thinking about accumulating (and documenting) experiences before you even step into your first class. Assuming you are going to college or at least a vocational technical school of some sort, shop around for schools that will help you accumulate experience. Look for the schools that are going to give you the type of education that involves lots of hands on training, and has a reputation for making their students do a lot of research and writing. Yes, I said writing! Communications is a highly valuable skill in any workplace, and especially important in the IT workplace. The more experience you have writing and researching, the better off you will be. Schools that offer training as part of a Cisco Networking Academy, for example, are more likely to offer you an assurance that you will spend a great deal of time in labs, with real computers, routers, and switches. You will spend a number of months – actually up to two years, continuously putting your hands on current equipment, performing actual tasks, and preparing you for the first level of the Cisco certifications (CCNA). Additionally, the Cisco training involves doing a number of case studies, where you will be given a series of scenarios, and will be required to come up with a solution. Again, there is that “research and writing” part of your education from which you will gain valuable exposure. Many tech schools, colleges, and universities are part of the Cisco Networking Academy system – look into one that will offer this training.

Some additional ways to gain valuable experience: Colleges and universities are more and more requiring instructors to place a very heavy emphasis on writing and reporting. You are in school to learn about more than computers and networks; you are there to learn how to be good employees, and how to communicate both orally, and in writing. There are many other skills that fall under what are known as the SCANS skills. These are skills that go way beyond just the technical aspects of the job. For more information on SCANS, see my article here.

Take advantage of these writing assignments by looking at these assignments as a way to gain experience, and especially as a way to get an early start at showcasing your ability to solve problems and communicate. Your instructors want you to do more than regurgitate a few well chosen articles and book paragraphs onto a research paper, in which you simply parrot what you have read. Take the initiative and take this a step further. When you are researching a topic, ask the tough and critical questions. What questions does the information you are reading about bring to mind? Can you identify a particular problem that has surfaced? Does this lend itself well to turning into a case study? All of these things can lead you in a direction that will help you not only research a particular technology, but identify problems, and allow you to come up with your own solutions. Your solutions may be right or wrong. It doesn’t matter. The main point is that you are starting to bring out your ability to use critical thought processes and solve problems. In doing so, not only are you meeting an academic requirement, but you are creating something that can be used in your portfolio of experience as well. Besides, if you find yourself applying for a position that requires a lot of writing, you will be asked to provide samples of your writing. As you progress through your studies, you will further develop your writing skills, and the papers you produce will be of higher and higher quality. This will all culminate in a well developed portfolio of your own work that you can use to prove your experiences and abilities.

To give you an example why this is important: Back when I was teaching networking and computing technologies, the various employers on our academic advisory committee would tell us that teaching students the technical aspects of the job should only be secondary to teaching them how to be “people” and how to think critically. In other words, they were asking us to teach them the foundations of the technology, and then heap on lots of exposure to critical problem solving, communication, and teamwork. If the tech school (or college) could take care of that part, then the employer would take care of getting them up to speed in the current and more advanced technologies through on the job and other training.

Employers:

OK, employers, time to pick on you again. What is it that you are looking for? Are you looking for candidates who can successfully answer a battery of technical questions? Or are you looking for people who can immediately contribute to your organization? If they answer all of the technical questions to your satisfaction, then you have an idea that they at least know something about the technology. If you do as I recommended in Part 1 of this series and ask questions that are based on certification objectives, then you have an idea that they have a good foundation of knowledge about the technology. Either that or they are fresh out of the exam and still have the important stuff memorized. Anyway, lets go ahead and give folks the benefit of the doubt, and just assume that they really do know their stuff, and move on to find out more about their ability to solve abstract problems.

You are now at the point in the interview process where you want to move past foundational knowledge and find out about their critical thinking and communications skills. I read a very interesting article recently about ways for employers to ask one very valuable interview question, and how to assess the candidate’s ability to research a real problem and come back with a solution. In an article on his company’s web site, human resources and technical recruiting expert James Gifford advises calling interview candidates ahead of time, giving them an opportunity to research the company and explain how they will contribute to the organization. I would add here that you can additionally (or alternatively) ask them to solve a problem, either a real one that the company is experiencing, one that was solved in the past, or even a plausible fictitious problem that you anticipate could happen to your organization. Tell the candidates to come to the interview ready to explain how they would approach and solve the problem, and make an immediate contribution to the company. They do that, Mr. Gifford explains, by researching company literature, speaking with selected employees, and gaining a feel for the organization - just as if it were their first day on the job. Mr. Gifford further mentions that a number of candidates will be eliminated immediately because many will not even want to expend the effort to research the problem and come up with a solution. Those that make the effort, however, may or may not come up with the exactly correct solution, but this will give you an idea of their ability to think critically, understand your specific environment, and present possible solutions.

Job Candidates:

If you are faced with the type of interview mentioned above, then this is your opportunity to sink your teeth into a real-life situation and offer ways to sell yourself to the company. If not offered this opportunity, then you can turn the tables a bit and take this as a challenge yourself. When invited to an interview, take a few moments to ask if they would be willing to briefly share with you a particular challenge or situation towards which they are hoping the new hire will be able to contribute. Even if they won’t share this with you, you can still research the company, read their literature, and become familiar with the environment. Do you know anyone who works for this company? Ask them some questions and gather some insight as to what kinds of technical challenges they are facing. Research industry best-practices dealing with that particular technology or industry segment, and then be prepared to discuss how you can apply these best practices to their company.

Be prepared to talk about more than just your memorization of computing technology facts and figures. You will usually be given opportunities to ask questions about their organization. Take some initiative and ask about what they feel are the most pressing technical challenges they face, and then use your recent research into best-practices and industry solutions to sell them on how you can contribute to their company. Will you have to think on your feet to make this a successful interview? Most certainly! But then again, being an IT professional is all about thinking on your feet and being able to quickly articulate a problem, and the solutions, every day. Additionally, the interview process is just as much an opportunity for you to shop for a potential employer as it is for them to shop for an employee. By taking some initiative and doing your homework, you will build up your own experience in tackling problems, as well as finding out if the potential employer is even a good fit for you.

If you didn’t get the job, follow up and ask what you could have done better to win the offer of employment. Ask about how they felt you were able to articulate your understanding of the questions and offer answers. What did you do well? What did you need to improve upon? Use this as a learning experience to do better at the next interview. Who knows, you may be back for a future interview with that very company.

Wrapping It All Up:

Part 3 of this series was all about preparation. Preparation early on in your academic career leads to experience that you can use towards proving yourself on the job. As we used to say in my teaching days: “This isn’t practice, this is real life!” This preparation starts, or at least SHOULD start, before you even walk into the first classroom when you start college. Find an academic setting that will let you roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty. In my opinion, if you can configure a network router in a classroom and make it communicate with a network, then that is just the same as if you configured that same router in the telecommunications department of a real company. If you fix a complex computer problem in a lab, it is the same as if you fixed it in someone’s cube in an office. Same equipment, same issues, it is just that now you are getting paid to do it. So why not document this activity and use it as a way to show that you have in fact put your hands on this equipment? If you shopped for a school with a good reputation for academic excellence, then there is no reason why you shouldn’t expect to be actually working with the technologies instead of just reading about them.

Use that academic environment to build up your problem solving and communications skills as well. Don’t just cruise through with the expectation of turning in mediocre work just to pass a course. You are paying for the course to get something out of it. Why not use the opportunity to give yourself something that you can be proud to put into a portfolio of your work? I have seen many instances where my former students have actually taken this portfolio with them and offered selected works as evidence of their ability to do the job. I designed my courses to require this kind of effort, and many of my fellow instructors did the same.

Employers have the opportunity to really shop for a highly effective employee by designing their interviews to make candidates do a little work. Candidates can use this type of interview to their own benefit to showcase their problem solving skills and gain further experience applying solutions to a real-life situation. The mediocre candidates won’t want to do the work. The ambitious ones will. Employers, focus more on these ambitious candidates, and offer a willingness to train them in the specific technical areas once they are hired. I have heard many a hiring manager say that they valued the soft skills (communications, ambition, critical thinking) over the hard technical skills. If they found someone who really “had it going on” in the soft skills department, then they knew that training them in the technical areas would be a piece of cake.

Many ways to gain experience – most of which described here are considered non-traditional or perhaps unconventional. It is high time, in my opinion, that people be given credit for actual experience that they gain in a meaningful training setting. I feel that when people fresh out of school sit for certification exams, provided they made the most of that academic time, they will be calling on that experience to pass the exams and will have no need for memorizing brain dumps. Employers will be getting a much better rounded entry level employee as well.

Back to Part 1

Back to Part 2

Daylight Saving Time 2007 - What Does it Mean to the IT Community?

Watch the news in the coming weeks - you are likely to see at least a few articles and reports of expressed concern over the new daylight saving time date change which takes place in 2007. In case you are not aware, daylight saving time (DST) has changed to March 11 this year instead of the first weekend in April as has been previously observed. This change was caused by the enactment of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which President George W. Bush signed on August 8, 2005.

Initially, my inclination is to think that it is no big deal; I’ll just have to set my clock ahead a few weeks earlier is all. You would think that an event like this would simply come and go, we would set our clocks, VCRs, and computers, then life would be good. But when you think about it, you realize that with our current level of technology dependence, we rely on computers and cell phones for everything these days. Meeting schedules in our computer calendar programs, certain database events, when an online bill payment transaction is posted, even what time we can call on our cell phones to get the off-peak calling cost breaks, are all tied very closely to the time on our automated systems. Computer, network, and other system time accuracies are more critical than you might think.

There is a considerable amount of buzz about the DST issue in the patch management discussion groups on the Internet right now, so this must be a somewhat serious issue for the IT community. Today, for example, I think I received on the order of 50 or so emails on the DST patch (for computers) issue alone. Believe it or not, your computer is not the only thing that will be affected by the change. It is possible that network devices (such as routers and phone system components), PDA's, cell phones, and the like will also be affected. Some are equating this to a Y2K kind of event - on a much, much smaller scale, of course, but significant nonetheless. One article I read from Gartner suggested that companies form project teams to deal with this, and even have people on call and present to watch time changes to make sure the event goes smoothly, and that all systems are operating normally.

Although it will indeed be on a much smaller scale, here are some possible consequences of the DST change that people in the IT world (and consumers as well) are concerned about:

• Bank transaction times - people worried about payments not being credited properly.
• Cell phone time syncs - people being charged for peak minute usage when they are really in a non-peak time (i.e. after 9:00pm).
• People in organizations where their computer and/or Internet access has access time restrictions, may not be able to log in and do their work - could that be someone you have to do business with?
• eBay and other online auction ending times being affected.
• Missed deadlines for time sensitive things - those folks who like to submit things online at the last minute might end up an hour late?
• Incorrect departure and arrival times for airlines or other transportation.
• There is not a patch for Windows 2000 and Windows NT servers – if you are still on these platforms, the patching process is going to be manual.
• Networking equipment (certain routers) may experience issues when the new DST time change occurs, and again when the previously recognized DST date occurs.
  Applications that rely on Java Runtime Environment rules for time will report time incorrectly from March 11 – April 2 2007, and from October 29 – November 4, 2007.
• Java Applications return incorrect time after using Microsoft timezone.exe tool to update Windows (IBM Article: http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=3068&context=SSNVBF&uid=swg21250503)
• Known DST bug in Palm Treo 700w devices: http://mytreo.net/archives/2006/04/treo-700w-daylight-savings-time-change-bug.html
  

There are a lot more possible outcomes being discussed. No need to freak out though – I just wanted you to be aware that if things seem a little strange when trying to conduct business on March 12 - now you know what might be causing problems.Kind of scary in a funny sort of way (or is that funny in a scary sort of way), but one of the network administrators in the patch management group I participate in had the following to say:

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Just had a conversation with Verizon Wireless about DST and the Treos weare using. Very funny if a little scary.

According to the Tech I spoke with and the email I got all the Treo users need to do is turn off their Treo and turn it back on after the time change.

However they both said something to the affect of "You don't need to worry about that until April" (emphasis mine)

Apparently Verizon has not yet heard of the new DST changes.

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The patch to change your computer is available now on Windows Updates, but it is an optional software patch, so you won't get it automatically (yet). You have to visit the Windows Update site, select “Custom” instead of ”Express,” and select the Optional, Software series of patches. Be sure to install any Active-X controls when prompted to do so.

(click image to see full size view)

Next, look for the KB928388 patch as shown in the image below.

(click image to see full size view)

As of this writing, I am waiting to find out if Microsoft will make this Windows patch a critical update. Keep in mind, however, that if you are running systems with Windows 2000 or prior, a patch will not be available at all – you have to manually make the change in the registry settings and elsewhere that define when DST is changed on the computers. Either that or turn off DST altogether on those systems, and make the time change manually twice a year. If they do indeed move this up to critical, then those of you who have Windows Updates set to automatic download/automatic install will get it - well - automatically. They better do it soon, though - there is only one more "Patch Tuesday" (February 13, 2007 before the DST change in March. The March “Patch Tuesday” occurs the week following the Sunday that DST changes.

All in all, it is important not to panic. Watch the news, get the patch, and pay close attention to things that you do that require time synchronization to take place. Visit your cell phone company’s web site to find out what implications the DST event will cause for you.

Some sources you might find interesting:

• About.Com Article: http://geography.about.com/cs/daylightsavings/a/dst.htm
• CNet Article: http://news.com.com/Daylight+saving+change+could+confuse+gadgets/2100-1041_3-5823792.html
• EdgeBlog Article: http://www.edgeblog.net/2007/daylight-saving-time-the-year-2007-problem/
• Microsoft: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/914387

Addendums:

This article will change as new updated information is received. Check back often.

The Certification-versus-Experience Conundrum - Part 2

In Part 1 of this article, I discussed the idea that the whole IT certification environment is a catch-22 between getting the experience you need to become “really” certified in your field, and getting a job to get the experience needed to pass a certification exam. People are getting a certification, any certification, just to get in the door and get the job so that they can get the experience they really need to validate the certification they already have. Are you dizzy yet? This whole situation leads to people who seek out brain dumps, memorize test questions, and get a certification, even though it means that they are lacking the skills and background needed to do the job. But, they have to have the paper just to be considered for the job. But let’s think about this: Isn’t the purpose of a certification to validate the background and experience you should have already gained? If you haven’t gained the experience, then what is it that you hope to validate? If you memorize test questions (and answers) just to pass a test, but do not have the experience, how much do you actually know? Now be honest. We are caught between a rock and a hard place with people who have “paper certifications” and employers who require the piece of paper, just for the sake of saying that they are raising their hiring standards.

In this installment of this article, I would like to discuss ways to build up that experience so that not only will you be exposed to the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) that you need to pass the exams, but so that you can be a productive and valuable asset for your employer as well. Employers, I hope you will take some of this to heart also, and explore ways to foster an environment that helps your employees gain real certifications, and make them more valuable to you.

If being an IT professional were easy, everyone out there would be doing it. However, it seems like many people who are just good test takers are jumping in and memorizing exams, then calling themselves certified. I know this because I have seen my fair share of these so-called certified “paper tigers” in the work place. They stand out because they have the paper, but also have to have their hands held every step of the way. In some cases these paper tigers do not know even the most fundamental of computer concepts. I recall one very profound example of this: When I was teaching networking at a junior college, I had one self-proclaimed MCSE in one of my classes who didn’t even know the first thing about IP addressing and networking basics. But by-golly, he was an MCSE!

So lets take a look at some ways to get some real and valid experience, and real-world knowledge. I think in many cases you will find that once you get to this level, you won’t have to seek brain dumps to pass the exams.


Education:

I have said it before, I will say it again: Information Technology is a profession worthy of formal education. You can expect that most employers will require (or at least ‘highly desire’) at minimum an associate’s level degree. Formal training in networking, programming, or some other computer science related field is a very valuable credential. In fact, companies like Cisco have endorsed formal education to the point of backing initiatives such as the Cisco Networking Academy, and bringing in companies such as HP and Sun to create non-Cisco curriculums for CompTIA A+ and web development. Many colleges and universities, such as Southeast Technical Institute in South Dakota, are fully fledged Cisco Networking Academies and can offer this training. Unlike simply memorizing the material for a single certification exam, completion of formal training indicates that you have been exposed to certain concepts over a longer period of time. You have probably passed several exams, and completed a number of hands-on projects. Formal education is more likely to also include exposure to critical thinking skills and more in-depth technical knowledge. There are many universities or even junior colleges offering IT related programs. The main benefit of attending such a program is that not only do you get a more formal education, but this whole process in itself counts towards valuable experience.


What about “Boot Camp” Types of Training?

Boot Camps have their place – and a very valuable place at that. But I highly discourage jumping into a boot camp with no practical experience. By doing so, you are once again falling into the trap of trying to memorize exam questions and passing a certification exam with no regard for any type of real learning or relevant experience. The boot camp types of training are really intended for professionals already in the field who have experience and will understand what is being discussed. The main focus of the boot camp types of training are to refresh you on knowledge you already have, but perhaps that you don’t work with from day to day. One very real example I can give you here is the last boot camp I attended for the MCSA certification. I already had knowledge of and experience with the concepts being discussed – most topics having very intimate knowledge. However, one aspect – managing DNS – was a particularly weak topic for me, and I found that the refresher was just what I needed to correctly answer the DNS questions on the exam. But nonetheless, this topic was not foreign to me – had I known nothing of this topic prior to going into the training, I would have still struggled on the exam. The boot camp simply provided a much needed refresher for concepts that I do not work with on a daily basis, but faced on the exam.

The other benefit of the boot camp types of training is that they usually prepare you for the “psychometrics” of the exams. That is to say that you get a pretty good idea of what kinds of questions will be asked, how they are asked, how to weed through the “fluff,” and what mind-set you need to be in to answer the questions correctly. The exam questions are not perfect, and you are often at the mercy of the point of view (and grammar skills) held by the exam question writers at the time. Microsoft exams, for instance, have a way of drawing you into long, verbose questions. The goal is to weed through it, eliminate the irrelevant information, and find out what the question is really asking. You have to know as much about the strategy for test taking for a Microsoft exam as you do the actual technical information. Likewise is true for CompTIA exams, and for the many other exams out there. For each exam I have ever taken, I have noticed that I have had to be in a different mindset for each, and had to know how to interpret what the question was asking.


On The Job Training:

Hands-on experience is one of the best ways to sharpen skills. On-the-job training (OJT) often involves working with real situations, on real problems. The best way to get this type of training is often to jump in and demonstrate that you are willing to learn, have an open mind to absorbing concepts, and are willing to take advice from others. One of the things I have often been an open proponent of is a workplace environment that teams a mentor with one or more people. A mentor can be a strong source of training for the employees being trained and the mentor alike. Latch on to someone whom you think has sharp skills and pick their brain. One thing about the IT community is the willingness that most of us have with sharing our knowledge with new people to our profession.

Later on, become a mentor for someone else. Teaching someone how to do something sharpens your own skills. Information retention can be as high as 95% when you are teaching it to someone else, as opposed to only around 5% when you are just reading about it. Being in a mentor/trainee relationship helps build a good team environment and solidify working relationships. Be open to the points of view and techniques of others, but don’t be afraid to form your own techniques.


Self-Study and Virtualized Labs:

Microsoft’s Virtual Server is now free of charge. Get this software and set up a virtual network on a single computer. Then look around and get copies of evaluation software for setting up your lab environment. A domain controller server and a workstation will fulfill the requirements for most hands-on training tasks for the Microsoft testing batteries. This will also give you tools to practice with for some of the CompTIA exams as well. If you need Linux, free versions of Linux abound. Get one of the training kits that offer lab exercises. Make an honest effort and actually do the lab exercises. Play around and explore the things that are not covered in the labs.


Volunteering:

There are a number of organizations looking for IT people to do computer work. Skills in anything from running network cabling, to refurbishing computers for less fortunate families, to providing office support, to providing training are being asked for. These are great ways to build up experience. Keep in mind that when you are performing these tasks, you are doing so for a real company. And since you volunteered your time to do it, the people are always extremely grateful, and when asked will provide a shining personal reference. Building up your list of contacts I just as valid when the list contains people for whom you have volunteered.They pay is not great, but believe me, the rewards are every bit as worthwhile as money, and often longer lasting. Try http://www.volunteermatch.org/ for some opportunities.

Find an Employer Who Supports Training and Mentorship Programs:

This is easier said than done – you just have to look around and interview people to find out which companies have a reputation for supporting employee development. And don’t forget – when you go to that job interview, you are allowed to ask questions of your own. Many employers will actually be very impressed when you ask questions about how they view teams and employee development. You are shopping as much for them as they are for you. In many areas, filling IT staffs is once again becoming a challenge for companies. Find out what they can offer you. Don’t burn bridges, but at the same time don’t jump on the first job offer that you get.

Employers, you aren’t off the hook in this article segment - I have to repeat what I said in Part 1: Carefully analyze your requirements for hiring. Don’t offer entry level jobs that require fistfuls of certifications just to get in the door. It’s not fair, and you are asking to be disappointed by gaining employees who have “paper” in hand, but no real skills. Additionally, set up a mentor program and get your senior people involved in the training and development of junior people. Support your employee’s professional development and help them gain certifications. My opinion on this is that you are likely to gain more loyalty from your employees by showing them that you are willing to support their growth and train them. If you really want to protect your return on investment, require your employees to complete a certification exam for which you send them to training, within a specified amount of time. Additionally, make them agree to continued employment with your company as a condition of receiving the training. On that note – employees: Show some loyalty of your own. Don’t join a company, just because they have a reputation of offering training, then bolt off to new opportunities. Stay and grow with them for awhile. If they are willing to train, they are probably willing to promote as well. Evaluate current and future opportunities with them and give yourself (and them) the chance to grow.


Where Are Certification Exams Headed?

If recent exams that I have taken are any indication, then I think the future of certification exams is headed toward overcoming this gap between gaining real experiences and passing the exam. More and more, certification exams are building in simulations where you actually have to be able to go into a simulated environment (a Windows 2003 server console, a Cisco router, etc) and do correctly do all of the steps required to complete a certain task. I remember the first time I passed the Cisco CCNA exam – it was all multiple choice questions – I was in and out in about thirty minutes. Now the CCNA exam is broken up into two exams (you have an option of one more broad exam or two more focused ones) and consists of questions requiring you to type in typing in router commands and the like to complete a task. The recent MCSA exam battery I just completed had a number of simulations where a specific set of tasks had to be completed. These simulations are extremely difficult for brain dumps to duplicate. Unless you are really good (and have a photographic memory), memorizing all the screens and steps will be difficult. I for one applaud this move as it requires a candidate to at the very least put together a virtualized lab environment where they can practice doing the labs and hands-on tasks.

Wrapping It All Up:

I’ll be blunt: Certification exams have experienced a somewhat “cheapening” of their worth over the years. To at least a minor degree it is because of employers who require multiple certifications for entry level jobs, causing potential candidates to scurry about to get certifications just to get in the door. But mostly, I believe it is because of people who are feeling the pressure to get lots of certs to be able to get those entry level jobs. And to a great deal, people just want to take the fast route to having lots of letters to put after their names. In many cases, especially the latter, people are getting those letters, but they have no real experience or practical skills to back them up. Certifications, that don’t expire and/or require proof of continuing education, result in stale skills. This also results in a “certified” person, who has outdated and obsolete skills, having little incentive to participate in continuing education activities. The IT profession is not something that everyone can fall into and expect to do well in – it is hard, complicated work, and requires people who are willing to commit to a long term of life-long learning. The IT profession is worthy of requiring formal education to get into, and certifications that validate real experience. And by that, I mean experience that gives true knowledge, skills and abilities for the job.

Do you want to know how valid this whole notion of having experience can be in preparing you for an exam? I can give you an example from one of my own certification exam taking experiences - one day on a whim, I downloaded the exam objectives for the CompTIA i-Net+ exam. I thought to myself "I know this material," and scheduled an exam just to see how well I would do. I figured the cost of the exam was worth the experiment. I passed! No brain dumps needed. I relied on experience I already had, and passed the exam, simple as that. This particular experiment ended with a pretty good additional outcome - shortly after passing the exam, CompTIA invited me in as a subject matter expert (SME) for a re-write of the i-Net+ exam.

Addendum:

The author of this article series has numerous IT certifications as well as a Master’s Degree in Computer Science (Information Security). He has participated as a subject matter expert (SME) in certification exam re-writes for CompTIA including the CTT+, i-Net+, and A+ certification exams.


On to Part 3

The Certification-versus-Experience Conundrum - Part 1

Certifications play a big part in proving credibility in the IT world, but the reasons and timing for getting them has become somewhat of a nebulous and ever moving target. I’m sure you have heard the same old story: You need to have certifications to get hired, but you need experience to get certified. So how do you get experience if no one will hire you (because you don’t have certifications)!? We in the IT profession are operating under a rather strange standard, if you ask me – that many of our hiring managers are requiring certifications to get in the door for an entry level position. But our certifications, in order to be really and truly valid, rely on a person having prerequisite experience and knowledge. This is the classic “Catch-22” predicament. What this is actually leading to, however, is a whole bunch of people going out to find brain-dumps, memorize test questions, and go take the certification exams. Then they are hoping by some chance that they know enough to pass the interview, get hired, and can get on the job to learn about and get experience with what they really don’t know.

In reading the various message boards around the Internet, I see this very issue all too often. As a professional member of various online IT professional communities, I see over and over again messages from people who are asking where they can find a brain dump to help them pass the exam, not where can they go to get the experience or practical knowledge. The sheer number of brain dump sites in existence is testimony to what I am talking about in this article. We are living in a society of “paper certified” people, and it is adversely affecting the IT community as a whole. My opinion is that people in IT are working in a professional field of expertise, and that the certifications that go along with this profession are suffering because of the situations discussed here.

As members of a professional field, IT people really should at the very least be first undergoing some sort of formal training before attempting certifications. This isn’t a field for people who are solely “book-smart” as it takes a great deal of common sense and problem solving abilities to do well. If this was easy, everyone would be doing it. But wait – if you are a good test taker and can study brain dumps and memorize answers, then you too can be a certified systems administrator or engineer and get hired. Then you get into an organization and either get lucky enough to be taken under someone’s wing and get trained, or stumble through without really knowing what you are doing. The latter leads to a poorly run IT infrastructure, or worse, security breaches, damage, and loss of productivity because the answers to those real life situations were not included in the brain dump study guides.

How do we fix this? The first step is to make certifications become a reflection of what a person knows, rather than what we expect them to know in the future. Requiring certifications just for the sake of writing in some high and mighty hiring criteria does not make for a valid set of hiring requirements. In other words, certifications validate the level of professional expertise that a person has built up to, not a piece of paper verifying what a person can memorize. I didn’t get my pilot’s license just by passing a written exam – I had to prove that I knew how to fly the plane! So too should we be treating our certifications for IT systems. In essence, there are three groups of people involved in this conundrum who need to re-shape their thinking a bit.

Hiring Managers:

Quit insisting on MCSE and CCNP level certifications for entry level jobs. If you are going to post entry level jobs, then that means that you should be willing to take someone with no certification at all, or at the most an entry level certification such as MCP or A+. Then, one way to ensure that your new people do get certified is to make it a condition of employment: “This job is probationary for ‘x’ number of months, at the end of which time the incumbent must be A+ certified to be considered for full-time permanent employment.” This will help get those entry level people in the door, help them get the experience they need to do the job, and especially help them to get the experience they need to pass the exam and be “really” certified.

Look at the relevancy and recentness of certifications – when interviewing candidates, make sure that the certification they have is relevant to your needs. An MCSE on Windows NT won’t do you any good in your Windows 2003 shop. Likewise, an A+ certification earned on Windows 3.1 and MS-DOS won’t help you much in your Windows XP desktop environment. A recently passed certification exam should not mean that the person is a “newbie.” It should mean that they used their recent and relevant experiences to pass a current certification exam.

Ask some technical questions to root out the paper tigers. If they say they are A+ certified, then you should ask questions that are part of the A+ objectives. If you need help with this, don’t hesitate to look to your IT staff for assistance with putting together interview questions. Don’t hesitate to go to CompTIA or Microsoft and get the list of objectives for the certifications so that you can design some good interview questions. You might also consider asking scenario based questions about how a candidate might solve a real problem or challenge that you are facing in your company. But ask questions relevant to the level at which you are hiring. Don't ask an entry level candidate to solve a complex engineering or design problem, and don't ask an engineering level candidate how to reset someone's email account.

Candidates:

If you are just starting out and going after the entry level certifications, read my point below about going to school. A formal training setting will give you much of the experience you need to get entry level certified with something such as A+. But don’t go after the certifications just for the letters. Find out what the objectives are and go further by researching the objectives more in-depth. This in itself will lead you to knowledge you perhaps didn’t have, and will give you more in-depth understanding of the material. Understanding is what it important, not just having letters by your name.

Entry level and experienced people alike: Do volunteer work – what an experience builder this can be. Virtually every city I have ever lived in has volunteer opportunities that you can take advantage of. If you live in the San Franciso Bay Area, you have the king of all IT volunteer opportunities – CompuMentor. Also take a look at Volunteermatch.org for some opportunities in your area. This is a great way to do professional networking, and build those contact and personal reference lists also.

Take some classes at the local junior college. This will often give you the prerequisite experience for those entry level certifications. It is not uncommon for a two year program at a junior college to provide plenty of the pre-requisite experience needed for a certification such as A+. There are a number of Cisco Academies that teach the Cisco networking curriculum for CCNA, as well as the HP IT Essentials curriculum needed for A+. These curriculum packages are all hands-on and will give you some real experience.

Certification Bodies:

Follow the lead of the organizations that bring us such certifications as the PMP, CISSP, and even the Cisco certifications. What do all of these certifications have in common? They expire and/or require proof of continuing education to keep a certification current. Even the Microsoft certifications eventually become retired, and at the very least are associated directly with a specific operating system or technology. A person may very well be an MCSE, but when the hiring manager asks for specifics and it comes out that he or she is an MCSE on Windows NT, then it is easily seen that the “big” certification has very little relevance in an all Windows 2003 shop. Cisco has an excellent structure for certifications: they expire, and follow-on certifications require a valid lower level certification to continue with the higher level cert. Gaining higher level Cisco certifications also maintains validity of the previously earned certifications.

CompTIA is one of the largest certification bodies in the IT community, yet none of their certifications expire, nor are the holders of those certifications required to prove any continuing education. These types of certifications are very relevant when they are current, but can quickly become obsolete. And given the relatively high price for the CompTIA exams, there is little incentive for taking the same certification exam over and over just to keep it current. How about an upgrade exam that is a little less expensive? What about requiring continuing education credits to keep these certifications valid? Just a thought.

Wrapping It All Up:

I end this article by using the technical people in the medical profession as an example of what I am talking about. Many of the professionals in the medical field, such as nuclear medicine technicians or biomedical equipment technicians, enter their first jobs with no certifications. But after working in their field for awhile, they are often required, as a condition of employment, to obtain their certification within ‘x’ months of being hired. These people are fresh out of a junior college or technical school; their employers know they have the foundational knowledge, but then give then an opportunity to gain real experience before requiring certifications. But a deadline for certification is often strictly stipulated. Get the cert or you’re out! Even doctors have to go through an internship as part of their training to build up experience, right? Let’s take that example as our lead to make the IT community a better place. Let’s quit requiring a fist full of certifications to get an entry level job. Grab the newly graduating people out of school, give them a real environment to hone their skills, and then help get them certified. My personal opinion is that employers will notice a good deal more loyalty from these folks (most would feel too guilty about leaving an employer that helped them get certified), and a great deal more sound productivity as well.

Personally, I think that we need to move more into a professional environment where we value life-long and continued learning rather than laundry lists of letters to put after our names. The certifications are a good way to validate what a person already knows based on the experience they have already gained. But a certification is a crummy way to try to validate what we think a person will know in the future. All the certification is doing in this case is testing a person’s ability to read, memorize, and take an exam. If that is all we are concerned about, then why bother?

Continue to Part 2