Get Certified and Get Ahead

Along with the information revolution come new paradigms; of identity (e.g. Domain names), of rewards (e.g. contract rates), of time parameters (e.g. email), of space parameters (e.g. cyberspace), and now new ways of learning _ certification. Certifications have created a new class of education; not university based, no minimum standards required, fluency in English a must, very flexible, very global, and very rewarding. The certified are the leaders in the information revolution.The underlying concept of the book is that of the Common Body of Knowledge (CBOK). What is called an " . . . agreed upon baseline . . ." (p.xvii Foreword). The author doesn't say it directly, but I think she believes these CBOK's are converging into vendor-neutral certifications. This is because of her vision in seeing what is just over the horizon. A trend to look out for. Actually, this is also a comment on the role of Professional Associations into the future in determining minimum standards of competencies for professionals as well as things like ethical behavior. In the meantime, "Certifications of a lower quality and less value will fall by the wayside, while a handful will gain increasing prominence" (p.35). And also, multiple platform certifications to show cross-platform expertise (p. 68) as well as "middle-of-the-road certifications" and "hybrid certifications". (p.110) The IT field continues to be a worker's market but; "when you consider that most of the major industry vendors and many of the minor ones have already launched programs, it's obvious why the rate of growth can't continue apace; most of the players are already in the game" (p.28). Furthermore, " . . . certification is becoming a tool to define a path for professional development" (p.29). And finally, "certification will go from its current status as a qualification that elevates one professional above another to one that is present on more resumes than not" (p.36) " . . . people who have ignored the trend will have to play catch-up" (p.42)Don't expect the author to spell out which certifications are best and which ones are useless. It depends on your background and where you are going. What you have to do is to read between the lines, e.g. the question of tainted certifications on page 22 and the various quotes from interviewed individuals who recommend what worked for them. The closest she gets is on pages 114 to 115 Choosing a Certification Because it's Hot. One very clever thing is that of categories between one to four for all the 200+ certifications quoted.This book should be called the A to Z of certifying yourself. And it's a good test of your possible success in certification. To get the most out of it, you have to knuckle down and read it end to end!

This book has been extremely helpful, and has guided me through the difficult and confusing methods to becoming certified in different IT areas. The Informix Certifications were my interest and found them here.

I have to say this book has all the information I need as far as industry certification is concerned. I am a A+ and MCP, also on my way to my MCSE, I find this book full of information about many other great certification programs as well as my desire certification (MCSE). For those of you who want a new career, this is a MUST HAVE!!

Get Certified and Get ahead has it all from CNE to MCSE TO CCIE. If you're working in the computer industry as a programmer, network administrator or IT manager you need to buy this book!The book has information on literally hundreds of certifications. It shows you how to become certified and where to become certified! It even contains valuable information about certification training companies.

This is an excellent book for somone considering professional certification. It has everything you need to know and it even has a great chapter on study tips which I found very useful. If you need to know the ins and outs of certification, this is the book to get.