| William H. Magill on Sat, 19 Oct 2002 22:20:04 -0400 |
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On Saturday, October 19, 2002, at 03:52 PM, kaze wrote: I found that VARs _really_ like certs. Some will train emps and give bonuses What you are talking about here are VAR training and certification programs. Every major vendor has them. There are usually both hardware and software versions. And they are the only place where you can get "certified" training that is actually timely and useful. (I.e. on the release before/as it ships, instead of 18 months later!) This is because these sessions are typically NOT merely technical, but oriented towards "marketing" -- much of what you learn is under some kind of strict Non-Disclosure agreement, which binds both you and your employer, and covers not only the theoretical aspects of the manufacturer's product, but how to compare that product to other vendors' offerings ... ie competitive advantage information. They are all structured under the premise that there is no such thing as a techie who is not part of marketing! In general, these courses are not available to the general public (i.e. individuals) simply because A) they tend to be several thousand dollars per course unit, with 5-10 units required per certification, B) the training schedules are not publicized outside the VAR channels, C) they tend to take about 3-6 months of "city hopping" to complete -- because unlike MSE, there are not hundreds of thousands of people trying to get them, only a few thousand. However, they are quite good and very different from the "official" training courses offered by the various commercial training outfits (like Global Knowledge) around the country. I know there are certification programs, from CompTIA, the Red Hat Certified There is also the Usenix - SAGE certification program. ( http://www.sage.org/ ) If you are a System Administrator for ANY flavor of Unix, you should be a member of SAGE -- The System Administrator's Guild. SAGE is a segment of USENIX and is the co-sponsor of LISA (Large Installation System Administration), taking place in Philadelphia the first week in November. There are student registration rates available and the "trade show" is free. (Registrants for LISA get a 50% discount on SAGE certification.) SAGE is the only reason that you can claim a job description of System Administrator -- were it not for the SAGE efforts to define and promote the concept of System Administration as a profession and skill set, you would still be nothing more than a "computer operator." The demand for these certification programs are actually an inverse function today. They are rarely listed in a job description simply because individuals who have been certified are such a small number and employers do not wish to unnecessarily and artificially limit their pool of applicants. However, if you have one, you can demand more respect from your (prospective) employer. (Meaning, negotiate better salary, perks, hours, etc.) However, you may need to educate your interviewer about them as part of your interview process. The other aspect of these programs (both SAGE and LPI) is that they are brand new, and still under development. T.T.F.N. William H. Magill magill@mcgillsociety.org magill@acm.org magill@mac.com _________________________________________________________________________ Philadelphia Linux Users Group -- http://www.phillylinux.org Announcements - http://lists.netisland.net/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce General Discussion -- http://lists.netisland.net/mailman/listinfo/plug
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