Well, I’m not 100% sure how valuable they are, but I picked up a few more CompTIA badges recently. I’ve been going through the CompTIA certifications to renew some that I had, and to pick up some new ones. All told, this now gives me eight badges: A+, Net+, Sec+, Linux+, CIOS, CSSS, CSIS, and CLNP. Now I just need a purpose for all of that alphabet soup!
Previously, my job required just one certification, Linux+, but the month that I went to take the test, my work changed the one requirement from Linux+ to Net+. So I finished taking the Linux+ test, and then the next month took the Net+ test. Now, my work actually doesn’t require any certification at all, “sort of”. It is a little bit complicated in the contractor world, but essentially, my actual employer does not require it, but while the company that they contract through does not either, they are pushing for it with bonuses for companies under them to have certified technicians. I get the feeling that my company will one day decide to secure the bonus by mandating certifications.
If that ever happens, well, I’ll be ready. But for now, I just have a lot of alphabet soup. Required or not, though, I like taking these certification tests because I feel it keeps me sharp and in the loop about the IT world. Sometimes we get rather specialized on a certain group of equipment, and we start to loose focus on the IT world as a whole. These certs help me with that by making sure I’m current on best practices, infrastructure, and technology.
Now I just have to decide which one to take next. I think I’ll go for something like Server+. Any suggestions?
Linux – keep it simple.