RE: Certification

[Kara Pritchard <kara@luci.org>]

I think that really depends on the certification you're looking at. Some
certifications are simply slips of paper that prove you passed an exam or
a course. Those certs aren't psychometrically developed (scientific term
that means the certification is developed to be valid to the current
market, and will stand up in court). Some are developed simply to sell
training and courseware, thus not complete exams. Others, you can buy the
answers over the Internet, or 10,000 other people hold the same
certificate.

In short, there are a lot of certifications that don't matter. And heck,
what do I know? Maybe they don't.

What I do know is, that the majority of corporate America cares about
those certifications. They care about the ones that don't prove anything,
and they care about the ones who do. To them, for a product or a person to
carry a certification gives them some sort of guarantee that they have
support and service for their product or their workplace using the
product.

All technical validity arguements aside (which I could talk myself blue
with anyhow), certification shows interest, support, and warranty for this
Open Source product that Corporate America is scared to use, because noone
in their company has a B.S. in Linux. If certified people helps move Linux
into more and more corporate institutions and helps move more people and
business into reasonable, cost effective solutions, then I'm all for it.

However, for sake of arguement for this arrangement within the LUG, the
idea to focus on a cert track simply satisfies needs for multiple
audiences. Certified or not, the learning course is a solid foundation for
all people, sysadmins, hobbyists, etc need to know. If in the end, people
interested feel qualified and confident enough to invest in themselves to
gain Linux Accreditation, then what does that hurt?

Granted, I feel all the M$ certifications aren't worth the paper they're
printed on. They were designed to profit more out of their own product and
to further brainwash individuals and companies into Microsoft coma. When
everyone and their dog are certified, the certification does lose value.

There is still value in the Cisco, Novell, HP, etc certification
tracks. Holding these certificates does demonstrate that you have
committed (and accomplished something) that not everyone else in the world
has.

So, if you don't like the technical arguements about what certification
can do for you (aside from pay raises, extra customers, white space filler
on your business cards and in your email .sigs), consider the claims to
committment, accomplishment, and corporate fulfillment.

- Kara

On Mon, 23 Oct 2000, Dwayne Masters wrote:

> I took the preview LPI test at COMDEX/Chicago back in the fall, found them
> fairly challenging.  My only question is what a certification is really
> worth?  From the majority of folks I have worked with or have interviewed
> for positions, a cert is only worth the paper its printed on...
> 
> Dwayne
> 
> --
> Dwayne Masters
> dwayne@linux.com
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-silug-discuss@silug.org
> [mailto:owner-silug-discuss@silug.org]On Behalf Of Kara Pritchard
> Sent: Monday, October 23, 2000 9:01 PM
> To: 'silug-discuss@silug.org'
> Subject: RE: Certification
> 
> 
> The Exam Prep book for the LPI series, is well, not very good...
> 
> New Rider's book will be out any day now (if not already). O'Reilly's will
> be out by January. Either of those is multiple times over a better
> resource.
> 
> However, you should find the objectives detail everything you need to
> know. Where you find out how to complete the objectives is up to you, and
> quite often in the man pages.
> 
> I don't think you'll have any issues.
> 
> On Mon, 23 Oct 2000, Flood Randy Capt AFCA/GCF wrote:
> 
> >
> > I think I'd be willing to work on a study group for the LPI exam.  But, I
> > think I'm less qualified to lead studying for the LPI stuff than I am for
> > the RHCE exam.  I suspect that we could take the list of objectives, and
> go
> > point by point, though.
> >
> > Besides, I wouldn't mind getting LPI certitifed as well.
> >
> > I've got the Exam Cram book for the LPI exam, but I haven't read it all
> yet.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: lwhite [mailto:lwhite@apci.net]
> > Sent: Sunday, October 22, 2000 8:53 PM
> > To: 'silug-discuss@silug.org'
> > Subject: RE: Certification
> >
> >
> > I would agree with Steve.  LPI being more general would be a better
> > learning platform for us novices and would serve as a "test of the waters"
> > for those who would like to move on and spend the big bucks for the RHCE.
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From:	Steve [SMTP:sreindl@home.com]
> > Sent:	Sunday, October 22, 2000 6:45 AM
> > To:	silug-discuss@silug.org
> > Subject:	Certification
> >
> >  << File: ATT00010.html >> At the last couple of meetings of mvlug or
> silug
> > east or whatever we are now known as, there was discussion of
> certification
> > training or study within the group under the auspices of one or more
> > guru's. I have several questions to pose as a sort of interest poll.
> >
> > 1. Are enough of us interested to make this a worthwhile pursuit?
> > 2. Which certification course should be pursued?
> > 3. Where
> > 4. When
> > 5. Who
> >
> > I am definitely interested. Talking with Kara and looking at a few
> > websites, I think that the LPI approach is probably the way to go. It is a
> > more generalized exam process and it appears more available than RHCE. As
> > for the remainder of the questions, any input?
> >
> > Steve
> >
> > -
> --
> 
> Kara Pritchard                          Phone: 618-398-7360
> Author, RHCE Exam Cram
> Linux Evangelist			kara@linuxgruven.com
> Asst Dir for Program Development        kara@lpi.org
> 

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