[ILUG] Linux/UNIX certification

[Jonathan Harrington]

Gar,
That brings me on to another question. Are you studing for the RHCE on
your own or are you attending a training course?
Has anyone done the exam without the course? Is it much harder? What
books and material do people recommend?
Thanks.
Jonathan.


On Fri, 18 Feb 2005 11:45:16 +0000, Gareth Eason <bigbro at skynet.ie> wrote:
> 
>            Hi,
> 
>         I think there is some over-optimism on channel regarding this. My
> attitude would be that if you can get some certification, get it. It
> almost doesn't matter what it is, provided it's from a reasonably well
> recognised body.
> 
>         I would politely suggest that anyone who claims that certification
> (bits of paper) doesn't matter when looking for a job clearly has not
> gone looking for a job recently (in the past 3 years, say.) I totally
> agree that when on the job, it's experience that counts, not the paper.
> However, to get to the interview where you're talking to people who
> realise this, and can evaluate your experience in some useful / relevant
> fashion, you first have to get past HR - and possibly past an  agency.
> 
>         As one personal example (I've heard many more similar examples from
> other people) I was completely refused an interview for a mixed
> win32/*NIX environment job because I didn't have an MSCE! Despite me
> pointing out that I had been using MS products extensively since DOS
> 2.10, and having written training courses and trained people who do have
> MSCEs (and other qualifications which I regard as actually meaningful),
> the HR Drone was adament that having an MSCE was a requirement for the
> job. As it turns out, I almost certainly didn't want the job - but
> hopefully this illustrates the point that 'bits-of-paper'(tm) do have
> their uses... granted, only because of the lack of understanding in HR
> and recruitment agencies (or the poor specifications given to
> HR/agencies by the technical managers regarding employee requirements!)
> 
>         I'm currently working through the material to do an RHCE - not because
> I don't know about RedHat Linux (and/or many other flavours) - but
> because it's about a billion times easier to just say to some HR drone,
> "Yes - I must know Linux because I have an RHCE. Next inane question
> please..." ;-)
> 
>         Best regards,
>         -->Gar
> 
> 
> Thomas Bridge wrote:
> > On Thu, Feb 17, 2005 at 11:04:44AM +0000, thomas thumb wrote:
> >
> >
> >>Looking for a few opinions on Linux/UNIX certification.
> >>Firstly. If I apply for a system admin job in your company, would a
> >>cert influence you in any way? Are they a waste of time? Is experience
> >>all that counts?
> >
> >
> > Unless the company has a requirement for a particular certification (I don't
> > know about Linux, but Cisco partners must have a certain number of CCNAs,
> > CCNPs and CCIEs) certification might get you the interview but would probably
> > not get you the job unless you could back it up with real life experience.
> >
> >
> >>Secondly, Which would influence you more, a red hat or a solaris
> >>qualification? I know people are going to say red hat for a linux job,
> >>solaris cert for a solaris job but if I had a solaris cert and went
> >>for a linux job would it help and vice-versa?
> >
> >
> > Either - I'd expect Unix/Linux skills to be reasonably portable accross
> > the variations.
> >
> >
> >>And thirdly if I went for a unix development job in your company would
> >>a unix admin cert help my application? Would I be more likely to get
> >>an interview?
> >
> >
> > Development is different - if you mean writing code.    I wouldn't pay
> > much attention to system admin abilities in that situation, though having
> > some awareness of systems practices is still an asset,
> >
> > Thomas
> >
> --
> Irish Linux Users' Group
> http://www.linux.ie/mailman/listinfo/ilug/
> 
>