Just to interject on this, there is currently movement being made to create a professional standards organization for security professionals, much like exists for lawyers and doctors.<br><br>My own $.02 on the matter is that certain certs are good depending on the level of the career. For an entry level - get the A+, Linux+, Security+. Once you've been in the field for long enough to have your feet moist go for the higher level - MCSE, RHSE, CCNA or CCDA, or the CISP. Once you've been in the field for awhile, then go for the gusto - CCNP, CCDP, CCIE, CISSP, etc. Show growth within your field and that you care enough about your professional development to be certified at increasingly higher levels. It goes along the same lines as any professional field - as you maintain your professional licenses you must have continuing education credits.
<br><br>Certs are nice, but they are not the end all be all. Just as having a degree in history doesn't make you an history expert, having a cert does automatically grant knowledge, respect or prestige - contrary to what the training business advertise. A cert without the backup knowledge is worthless. Unfortunately, a cert will sometimes allow for an easier path to get in the door of certain interviews or positions. Normally, they generate a good return on the investment, but it's best to always know exactly what they mean and what they do - they are a marketing tool, treat them as such.
<br><br>Brad<br><br><div><span class="gmail_quote">On 10/8/07, <b class="gmail_sendername">Mark Musone</b> <<a href="mailto:mmusone@shatterit.com">mmusone@shatterit.com</a>> wrote:</span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
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<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">Me and a colleague of mine just had a conversation about this
topic. I thought his comments were well warranted and wanted to share them. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">He said that he feels certifications are completely worthless
(versus mine being mostly worthless). Anybody can buy a certification. Training
companies, if you pay them enough, guarantee passing certification exams. The
technology companies themselves want people using their products, so they are
more than happy to provide whatever certification somebody wants, if it means
they make more $$ for the certification and they get more free marketing of
their products..</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">What the industry needs is not certification but licensing. Just
as in any other professional field (engineering, medical, law,..etc..). </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">While these thoughts and ideas were not mine, I agree with them.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">Mark</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
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<p><b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">From:</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">
<a href="mailto:nflug-bounces@nflug.org" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">nflug-bounces@nflug.org</a> [mailto:<a href="mailto:nflug-bounces@nflug.org" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">
nflug-bounces@nflug.org</a>] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Mark
Musone<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Monday, October 08, 2007 11:19 AM<span class="q"><br>
<b>To:</b> <a href="mailto:nflug@nflug.org" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">nflug@nflug.org</a><br>
<b>Subject:</b> RE: [nflug] Linux Certification</span></span></p>
</div>
</div><span class="q">
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">My $.02 is that certification values go down as the number of
certifications you have increases..</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">The first certification is very valuable, second pretty good,
this is good. Fourth ok…</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">Once you have 5 or so, they're quite frankly not worth
much at all. Especially if you're one of those certification collectors
(can I say whores on the mailing list??).</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">When I see someone with 12+ certifications, more often than not,
they lose a ton of credibility with me, not gain it. Especially when I'll
ask them a seemingly simple question like "What's
RAID-5" and they give one of those "Oh, it's some disk
redundancy thing. I used it before", basically means they don't
know what they are talking about and all those 12+ certifications are instantly
garbage.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">Mark</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
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<p><b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">From:</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">
<a href="mailto:nflug-bounces@nflug.org" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">nflug-bounces@nflug.org</a> [mailto:<a href="mailto:nflug-bounces@nflug.org" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">
nflug-bounces@nflug.org</a>] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Christopher
Hawkins<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Monday, October 08, 2007 8:08 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> <a href="mailto:nflug@nflug.org" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">nflug@nflug.org</a><br>
<b>Subject:</b> RE: [nflug] Linux Certification</span></p>
</div>
</div>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: blue;">I think it depends on how far along you are in your career. When I
was trying to establish a career, certifications *really* helped. Sets you
apart from the crowd. And taught me a lot that I hadn't learned elsewhere... So
all the studying was pretty valuable. But now that I've been doing this for 8+
years, I find that I am no longer interested in certs - either pursuing new
ones or renewing the ones I have. At this point, I think
my experience proves that I know what I'm doing, which is what the
certs are supposed to do when you don't have the experience to fall back
on. </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: blue;">I'd be curious to hear what others think on this, too. I'm self
employed and perhaps I don't have a handle on what's important these days
in a resume, but if I were hiring I'd look for experience first (volunteer, if
nothing else, even something like helping people at an installfest) and
certification second if the experience were not very lengthy. Only once in
the past 5 years have I been asked by my clients about certification, but I
am often asked: Have you done this kind of thing before? And if I can
answer confidently that, yes, I have... It's a done deal. </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: blue;">Chris</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> </span></p>
<div style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">
<hr align="center" size="2" width="100%">
</span></div>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">From:</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> <a href="mailto:nflug-bounces@nflug.org" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">
nflug-bounces@nflug.org</a>
[mailto:<a href="mailto:nflug-bounces@nflug.org" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">nflug-bounces@nflug.org</a>] <b>On Behalf Of </b>mihakriket<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Monday, October 08, 2007 12:24 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> <a href="mailto:nflug@nflug.org" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">nflug@nflug.org</a><br>
<b>Subject:</b> [nflug] Linux Certification</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Does anyone have any of the Linux
certification? In the Buffalo area is worth getting any of the Linux
certifications? If so, what is the best certification to get? I have seen a
couple of different certification that are out their. Any feedback would be
helpful.<br>
Thank you..</span></p>
<div style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">
<hr align="center" size="2" width="100%">
</span></div>
<p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Help
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