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| *Ostroff, Fair and Company>>>Technology |
Please be honest....What are these really worth and are there jobs? |
I am considering attending WGU and getting my BS in IT. Their program includes these certifications: Oracle Certified Associate (OCA) CompTIA Network+ CIW Professional CompTIA Security+ CompTIA Project+ Sun Certified Associate for the Java Platform CompTIA A+ Microsoft Certified Professional (Based on MS 70-270 Windows XP Exam) I am 32 and will be 34 when I finish this program. Would that count against me when looking for work (not to mention being female)? It sounds like you have 2 questions here 1. Are the certs included with the IT BS degree beneficial (in $$$) 2. Is age / gender count against me in looking for an IT job. The degree in and of itself is valuable if you do not already have a degree. The certifications are beneficial, but minimally (the certs that you describe are a broad range of entry level certs). If you want the certifications to mean something you will need to decide on a narrower focus and persue higher levels (i.e. Networking - CCNA, CCIE; Microsoft - MCSE). Like it or not, age will always be a factor. Today some high school vocational programs are starting to turn out high school graduates (willing to work for anything above minimum wage) with some / many of the certs you decribed above. The main primer always falls back on experience (especially management type) and willingness to do what it takes to get the job done. I am an IT executive and have interviewed hundreds of IT professionals over the past 20 years. The value of those certifications will vary by business, but I would encourage someone to get a Microsoft MCSE certification over anything you have listed. There is a solid market for the skills an MCSE offers and the the jobs pay very well. Your age and gender won't count against you if you know your stuff. While not familiar with some of the certifications (CompXXX), the others all appear to be the lowest level of certifications offered by the certifying bodies. Most of those could be passed with minimal study and after taking 1 or 2 collegiate undergraduate courses (database design using oracle, ooa/d using java, etc). Keep in mind though, the more relevant items you can put on your resume the better, certifications included. If yor looking for something to make money with, check this out! www.lost.eu/51926 www.lost.eu/51926 I am not sure why 34 is old when looking for work, also what does female have to do with anything. I don't think you type with a penis do you? It's never too late to go back to school and if you enjoy something and you get certified, you will do well. IT is a career that is in very high demand no matter where you go. Go for it, and good luck! The question really should be turned around, and in so doing, there may be a different Yahoo category or non-Yahoo venue that is best place to get answers. Here is an example of what I mean by "thinking outside the box" when it comes to figuring out what you want to be doing with your career http://www.interviewrx.com/index... When companies hire people to work with Oracle, or various other computer specialities, the basis for which they hire the people, what role do these certifications play in the hiring process? What other considerations are important in the hiring? What relative weight do each play? Then when you see the relative importance of these certifications, by type of job, where in some cases the importance is microscopic, and in other cases very important, you can then see for which jobs these certifications are critical, and whether or not you are interested in such jobs. There is also the question of whether the WORK involved has a decent future. For example, Microsoft comes out with a new version of Windows every couple of years, which means any certification you get will have value for how long ... 5 years, 10 years ... so will you get enough income in that time period to justify that investment? Similarly new programming languages are always coming along. How soon will Java be passe? 10 years? |
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