MCSE versus CCNA versus any other cert

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Are certifications worth it?



I have a BA in Computer Science and 10+ years later I'm doing garbage level helpdesk work AND I'm STILL making under $50k...Of course it could also be my own stupid fault but that still doesn't mean I didn't try because believe me I'm trying...



Anyone out there who's an MCSE, are you using what you've studied in your day to day jobs?



The MCSE has been out for a while now. Is it overrated? How about the Cisco Certs? Are they worth it? How about the Apple Certs? Are they worth it?



For some reason I just can't see myself wasting hours pouring through a bunch of MS books just so that I could pass an exam that takes about an hour to take JUST so that 6 months down the road I can get that 5% - 8% raise and pat on the back for losing hours of sleep...



Ask yourself THIS question. When you're 38 years old with two+ kids do you REALLY want to be sitting in a cold room on your knees with your head inside a metal case trying to get a server to run just so that Joe-Jocko-Butt-kisser from Marketing could access his golf outing list??



If technology is supposed to help us then why are so many more people still teed off? Heheheheheh...



Next Column: The PC Geeks who refuse to give away their "preciousss" information.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 5
    I'm going to be getting my MCAD or possibly my MCSD if I'm lucky. But I'm like 12 years your junior and don't mind the book-reading and exam-taking. Plus, my company is paying for it. So that makes it a lot easier.



    A guy I worked with at my old job had so many certs it was an alphabet soup after his name. But he was making well over 6 figures.



    I'm on the programming end of things and I have a BS in CS. I was making over 50k right out of college and that was like 4 years ago. So now, 4 years later, with no certs I'm making a lot more than that. It sounds like you're a little under paid. Maybe it is the company you work for? You should try and get them to pay for the certs and then 3 months later demand a raise because you're now "a certified professional"



    I'll let you know if that works out for me.
  • Reply 2 of 5
    scottscott Posts: 7,431member
    So O-Mac? Your CS degree? What type of courses did you take. Some people try to say that the BA in CS is not a "real" CS degree but it depends on the program and course of study.
  • Reply 3 of 5
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Scott

    So O-Mac? Your CS degree? What type of courses did you take. Some people try to say that the BA in CS is not a "real" CS degree but it depends on the program and course of study.



    I'm guessing he had a lot less math. You didn't have to suffer through discrete math and calc 3 did you O-Mac. Punk.
  • Reply 4 of 5
    o-maco-mac Posts: 777member
    Oh I took as many CS courses I could get my hands on. I had Discrete Math, Calc 3, Artificial intelligence, Operating Systems, Software Engineering, Computer Graphics, Database Systems.



    I even had to take Physics I and II and stat. At the time, the Computer Science program fell under the Bachelor of Arts side. The school I went to didn't have an Engineering school which at other schools usually falls under the Bachelor of Science.



    Sometimes I think the recession of 1991 is what did me in since I couldn't get a programming job the summer after I graduated. That summer I got about 150 rejection letters and ended up jumping at the first offer which was doing technical support for $24 G's...Whoo hoo! haha..and thus began my journey to the dark side...hahahaha....
  • Reply 5 of 5
    scottscott Posts: 7,431member
    Okay so in my estimation you have what I call a "real" CS degree. Not that I'm any expert on it.





    Hummm? I always recommend this book when people are looking for career advice.



    Maybe you can map you, how you got where you are now, where you wanted to go, where you want to go now and how to get there. Maybe you got pigeon holed at your first job? Maybe what you wanted wasn't open when you were looking?



    My 2 cents HTH.
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