One question I often hear asked by people wanting to get an IT job is "how much will I earn if I get certification X", another is "What type of job can I get with certification X".
They are under the belief that achieving one of these certifications will get them a particular job role, or an increase in salary. Many assume that if they can pass an MCSA then they will be able to walk in to systems administrator role, or if they get a CCNA they will be able to easily get a role as a Cisco network admin. If these people have the necessary experience to backup these qualifications then I wish them all the best. However the people who usually ask these questions are the ones with no experience.
Quite often you will see adverts from training providers offering a training course for people wanting to get into IT with the promise of a £30K+ at the end of it. The sad truth is that unless you are extremely lucky the chances of this happening are very slim.
There are also instance of people cheating to get these certifications using "brain dumps", this is where people get hold of copies of the actual test questions and answers. This allows them to memorise the correct answers to pass the test. These people would quickly be found out in a job scenario and promptly fired.
Certification should not be perceived as a method to get a job, it should be used as method to validate existing experience. Interviewers will quickly be able to see whether you have the experience required for a role, and if you have the necessary knowledge to go with your qualifications.
Using certification to validate your existing experience and skills will certainly help when applying for a new role as the potential employer will be able to look at these certifications along with your previous job history to get a better picture of your talents.
I will cover the subject of how to best get your first job in IT in a future article.
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