Why certify?

Its probably one of the most common questions people ask me. Why do I need a certification?

The answer is dependent on the side of the IT house you are in. If you are in the Infrastructure/Admin side, you will probably need one, whereas developers don't generally need to certify but that is a generalisation and I will explain about that more further on in this post.

One of the things with the Admin guys and certifications, is that the certification system has been a bit too successful.

People who pay the bills, like having people with a vendor guarantee, i.e. cert are minding their servers and core services and making sure that they are working 24/7. Looking at any job advert for an admin role and you will see acronyms such as CCNA, MCSE and VCP.

These are all certifications considered nearly standard for a mid to senior system admin. Personally I consider the mix of CCNA and MCSE to be one of the best for system admin.

It is also the progression of education and people wanting to have something that differentiates themselves from the crowd.

Now, why don't developers certify?

Developers are on the creative side. This means that they can bring a sort of portfolio with them. So employers can take a look at existing work and evaluate based on that. Not as easy with system admin guys as they are usually working on systems that people don't readily want others knowing about.

But it is becoming more of a requirement that developers also certify. More and more, the requirements as listing different certifications as very desirable. Thus increasing your chances of being successful in your job applications.

And there it is, the answer to why certify? To increase your chances of being successful in your job application or to give you a better shot at a better job.