Certification (FYI)

人生无解

Certifications in all areas of IT consulting are becoming more prevalent, but which ones really make a difference in pay and hiring trends, here is the answer from new research and analysis at certmag.com and our own research into the 3,000+ new requests for IT consultants over the last year:

. h( a4 c, C1 j: g+ ?* a" ARoles where the right certification secures the position or increases the rate:

+ ~& [7 [2 O% [Security Specialist - CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professionals) Cisco Network Specialist - CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) Systems Administrator - MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer) Breakfix hardware technician - A+ SAP Functional Expert - SAP Certification in the module required i.e. FI/CO, MM, HR, PM
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% Q( q; q0 L% i! |Roles where certification can help:
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+ H# O& f& z+ NProject Management - PMP (Certified Project Management Professional) Database Administrator - OCP (Oracle Certified Professional) Java developer SCJD (Sun Certified Java Developer)
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Roles where certification really is not an influencing factor at all:

Business Analysis
9 f$ Z8 z1 F! e2 gMost Software Development
% s' X) P! j7 `* L) ^) C6 KQuality Assurance
Technical/Web Writing
) j" ^) {' u3 B- c. A. P7 q5 L" nBusiness Intelligence

The top certifications for salary increase according to a recent 2005 survey by Certmag are:
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. J& q( `/ q% m3 E) _MCSE+    - average $12,909 increase
MCT      - average $11,723 increase
5 J- h% d3 ^3 }: u3 SCCNA     - average $9967 increase
. j& W' {8 O! t4 A& ^6 ^8 rCNE      - average $7262 increase
0 A8 U: V" J& D) c5 sMCP+     - average $7072 increase
CNA      - average $7061 increase
Network+ - average $6487 increase
2 L% f3 O( Y9 d- r* q# F. O  bA+       - average $5134 increase

$ v0 S# E3 d3 e3 kThe only professional certification in Canada is the Information Systems Professional (I.S.P.) designation from CIPS. More information can be found at www.cips.ca/standards on this designation and the impact it can have on your marketability as a consultant.

Humor
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Top 10 replies by programmers when their programs don't work:

10. "That's weird..."
9. "It's never done that before."
8. "It worked yesterday."
7. "You must have the wrong version."
6. "It works, but it hasn't been tested."
; e! ]3 Q! e" `5. "Somebody must have changed my code."
' H& ?* b0 c) A# b# f% t2 {4. "Did you check for a virus?"
3. "Where were you when the program blew up?"
* v. W+ v5 m' ]2. "Why do you want to do it that way?"
: X0 c- S" X* d" k/ w/ {' Q2 _" o

and finally ...

1. "I thought I fixed that."

xmTiger

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