Suresh Bhandari

This November, I got chance to visit Birgunj again. This trip was set up in a hurry. In 2^nd Nov, Aakash sir and I went to New Bus park at Gongabu, and since no seat was booked, and no proper set were available, due to upcoming Chhath (the famous festival of the Terai), we returned back. We must have to go to Birgunj, so we wake up earlier and pick the package for Birgunj and went to Kalanki hoping to get a Microbus to our destination. We were in search of faster and cheaper medium to go to Birgunj, and hence were in search of a Micro. Unfortunately, no micro did go there. And we were suggested to catch Tata Sumo, from Balkhu. Now, we were at the beginning of our travel to Birgunj. Aakash sir purchased tickets, and luckily we get the front two seats. Around 8, we started our journey from Balkhu. Passing through places like Pharping, Ramche, Chhaimale, Sisneri, we stop at Tekar. After having some breakfast, we continued to Birgunj, and cross Deurali, Kulekhani, Bhimphedi, Bhainse, Hetauda, Nitanpur, Jitpur, Parwanipur etc.

Upto Kulekhani, this trip was very much back-aching one, as we have to pass through around 22 kilometers of under-construction road, popularly known against the very famous leader of Nepal, Late Madan Bhandari. From there, we were quite comfortable because the road was now pitch.

It was twelve and half of afternoon, when we were in Birgunj. We hurried to our destination at Adarshanagar, taking a rickshaw. After completing the work for about 15 minutes, we looked for the NRB, where we have planned to stay. This 15 minutes were the crucial time for which we were there after a return from the bus park last evening.

Since the work was completed, we didn’t have any works, so we went to NRB to meet Sanubuwa, and ask for the guest room. After being refreshed by the cool air of the air conditioned room, we decided to have a look around the bazzar. We used rickshaw to visit from here to there. I am remembering only three rickshaw-wala, first an old rickshaw-wala. The friend of mine amazed how old the rickshawwala was, and why was he like that. I confirmed the age of this rickshaw wala, he was 60 years old. He was not muscular, but his arms and legs are seem stronger. We both were sorry about him, but urged that if we were not riding him, he has to carry others. He asked for 10 rupees, but I gave him 15. The second one is who was asked to take us to a good hotel where we can have some Sekuwa and something as we had only a plate of “chana” and an egg each as the breakfast before riding the Tata Sumo. He told us “yaha sabkuchh milta hai ‘woh’ bhi.” He thought that we both are in search of Girls. Huh, we scold him and asked to carry us to some good hotel. He dropped us before some “sabkuchh milne wala hotels”. Furious we took another rickshaw and returned to where we started our journey with the previous guy.

Not new but have not been there for some 5-10 years, we have no idea about the rates of the rickshaw. We were new to the place was clear from our jackets and sweaters we were holding in our arms. The rickshaw-wala were “imandar” as they were asking for 5 and 10 rupees only. And at the same time, if we gave them more than that, they were returning the remaining amount. In Dhangadhi, when I was there for a two days visit in 2054BS, I was charged triple than it cost. I came to know that it was triple when my local friends told me about the rate. Dhangadhi is where I spent 5 years and completed my schooling upto 6. After which I came to Kathmandu.

After some mighty minutes, we found no Sekuwa, but a pure vegetarian hotel - the Himanchal … I forget the name. We eat some momo and Mixed Chat etc. and then moved to bus park to confirm whether Tickets for Tata sumo are available. At the counter we are asked to come tomorrow, as the next day was Chhath and they were unsure about whether the drivers get the passengers and whether the drivers were ready to go back to Kathmandu.

Not certain about tomorrow, we returned. That night, we stayed at NRB guest house as planned. The next day, Chhath day, we wake up at six, with a cup of black tea, served by the talkative man who served us yesterday evening with delicious food in the guest house. Sanubuwa had been to bathroom, so we waited for a while and move towards the bus park. Tata sumo was ready, and hence happy to return.

Now I wanted to check what places we go through. And then I noted those Nitanpur, Jitpur etc. I further noted statistics like Hetauda to Bhainse and Bhainse to Bhimphedi both are 11Km each, and Madan Bhandari Marg is 26 Km etc. While returning, we stopped at Sisneri, 10Km from Daksinkali. This 10Km took about one and half hours to cross. When we reached Balkhu, it was almost 1 : 30 O‘clock afternoon.

When I reached home I was so much tired, but couldn’t rest as I was full of dust from that 26 Km. I took a bath and waited for Ramesh and mom who have been to Palanchowk Bhagawati and Barhabise.

By Warren E. Wyrostek

Less than 10 years ago, certification was a surefire way to enter the growing IT sector. But certification no longer guarantees that you will be able to find a high quality job in IT. It still has its place, but the IT certification industry has faced some systemic problems that no one has addressed since its emergence. Warren Wyrostek calls on personal and real-world experience to share the top 10 problems with IT certification in 2007/2008.

Main Story

Since the early part of this decade, when I wrote several certification articles for InformIT, IT certifications have changed a great deal, and the industry’s perception of certifications has waned. IT certifications have fallen out of favor in the eyes of many.

Less than 10 years ago, I had no reservation about recommending a certification to a person interested in entering the IT sector. Certification and the training needed to “earn” an IT certification was a great way for a career changer, a displaced worker, or someone simply looking for a career to get a foot in the door on a growing field and land a good job with a lot of growth potential.

Certification no longer guarantees that you will be able to find that kind of job in IT. It still has its place, but the IT certification industry has faced some systemic problems that no one has addressed since its emergence.

Having jumped hook, line, and sinker into the certification world in 1995, I have a bit of historical perspective about where we have been and where we are and what the problems are.

The following are the topics I want to cover during the course of three articles:

    * In this first article, I’ll examine the top 10 problems with IT certification in 2007–2008.
    * Next, I’ll re-examine the first steps you should consider if you want to enter IT using the current certification paths.
    * In the third article, I’ll present to InformIT readers an integrated networking program as a possible solution to the current problems with IT certification.

But before we can fix the problems, we have to define those problems. On to the problems.
1. Certifications are Vendor-centric

IT certifications, as they are currently marketed, are vendor-centric. Their purpose is to quantify a person’s understanding of some of the functionality of a vendor’s product.

A vendor’s certification helps a potential client feel a sense of ownership when it comes to a product. Those who support a vendor’s IT products are encouraged to certify in the product(s) to validate their skill levels.

The problem is that every vendor has its own set of certification criteria; none of them match, and there is no uniformity. Whatever Vendor A says you should know is what you need to know in order to achieve validation.

If you have ever taken a Novell exam, a Microsoft exam, a Cisco exam, and/or a CompTIA exam, you probably have been told to answer the questions on the exam the way the given vendor wants you to answer the questions.

Don’t worry if the answer is ridiculous; if you want to get certified, give the Novell answer, or the Microsoft answer, or the Cisco answer, or the CompTIA answer. For the same question, each vendor could potentially have different correct responses. This is maddening at best.
2. Certification’s Life Cycle Is Short!

Because IT certifications are vendor-centric, a vendor can revise, revamp, or completely redo a certification as often as it wants. Much is based on the life cycle of a given product, such as an operating system. If you want to feel like you are simply chasing your tail, keep up your certifications based on a vendor’s whim and whimsy for how long they feel a product’s life cycle is.

Here’s a good example from my experience. In 1995–1996, I earned the Microsoft MCSE for NT 3.51 through a lot of hard work. Not six months later, however, Microsoft changed the MCSE requirements for the MCSE in NT 4.0. The seven exams I took for 3.51 no longer had legs. I had to take six or seven more. So I did.

Well, guess what happened in 1999–2000? Windows 2000 came out, along with a whole new series of exams—which almost killed me. Now in less than 4 years I had taken close to 21 exams to earn 3 Microsoft certifications that I needed to teach the most up-to-date Microsoft classes. Several years later, Windows 2003 came out with two more upgrade exams, which so far I have not taken/passed because of disgust with the process. I will probably have to take them before long because the Longhorn roadmap “encourages” MCSEs to be at least 2003 to avoid taking all exams again.

Now a sane person would say that I did not have to be MCSE-2003 if I did not have to teach those classes. I have supported Windows Server 2003 since it was in beta without a MCSE-2003 and never had a problem.

I would agree until recently, when I was talking to an HR recruiter who told me that a company that was interested in me would not consider any of my experience unless I had the latest-and-greatest MCSE. Three earlier MCSEs and 15 years of field experience made no difference. If I did not have the MCSE 2003 they would look elsewhere.

Guess what? They looked elsewhere.
3. Certifications Are Not Real-World Oriented

Because certifications are vendor-oriented, they do not prepare you for the real world. Every vendor would have you believe that every enterprise environment is made up of only their platform or application. In today’s market nothing is farther from the truth. Every environment is integrated.

No environment is made up of just Microsoft, or UNIX, or Novell, or Linux. The real-world enterprise is made up of at least two platforms, and tens if not hundreds of applications from a host of vendors. The real world is a fully integrated environment. If you are focused on one vendor’s platform/application, could you in practice manage a real-world enterprise comprised of numerous platforms, or do you have to outsource what you don’t know—thereby giving up ownership to someone else?

If you earn the MCSE from Microsoft, are you qualified to administer a Lotus Notes environment or a Cisco environment? If you are a certified Linux admin, are you qualified to manage a Windows 2003 environment running SQL 2005?
4. Certifications Have Been Devalued

This next problem is no secret. IT certifications have been devalued since their heyday in the mid- to late 1990s. The reasons for the devaluation could be the basis for a book. Some of the major reasons why many in the industry do not respect IT certs are the following:

    * Brain dumps let you get all the questions on a live exam. You can then pass the exam without knowing the technology.
    * Paper certs: those who have used brain dumps or so-called study guides that many sites sell to prep a person for the live test questions. People earn the certification without training and without experience, and advertise themselves as experts. This makes everyone look bad and devalues the certification process.
    * Testing issues are legendary. There are some vendors, such as Microsoft and Cisco, which are trying to improve the value of the testing experience by incorporating simulations. But in my opinion it is a band-aid. Knowledge-based cognitive exams are awful. Many are poorly written, poorly edited, not real-world oriented, and not in tune with the needs of the industry.
    * It is difficult to truly accept whether candidates know their stuff based on these exams. If you pay enough, a trained chimp could pass many of these exams.
    * Practicums, which in my opinion are the best testing methodology currently available, are not widely used. When a practicum is done right, knowledge and experience are absolutely needed. Brain dumps are useless. What matters is skill.
    * In short, testing has been inconsistent and all over the map devaluing certification.

5. No Oversight Body

Because certifications are vendor-centric, no one is overseeing the whole process.
6. Degree vs. Certification vs. Experience

There is still tension in the market over the value/need for a degree versus the need for a certification versus the need for experience. The battle rages on with absolutely no resolution.

Because certifications have been devalued, what is really needed when you want to apply for a job in IT? A degree? If so, which degree covering which disciplines?

Many universities offer the CIS or MIS degree. But when it comes to running an enterprise environment, don’t you need to know a bit more than what is offered in the CIS or MIS programs to administer a multi-platform/application environment?

Nevertheless, most advertisements require a degree. What about the folks like me who came up when the CIS or MIS were not even on the radar? How many Master’s degrees does a person need to get a job? Academics look down on certifications, yet they require numerous certifications when they are hiring staff to support their infrastructures.

I have several former students who have Master’s-level degrees and no certifications. They ask me which certs to get so that they can get a good job; they cannot find one with just an MIS.

So how do we assess a person’s skills and experience? Maybe there should be a balance between certifications, education, and experience. What about the person who has no degree, has no certs, but has 20 years’ experience and could write most of the books except s/he is too busy running the enterprise 24/7?

The answer is that the degree wins in 2007/08, which puts those with certifications and/or experience at a distinct disadvantage.
7. HR People Are Not In Touch with the Real World

HR people, including headhunters/recruiters, give no guidance and do nothing to help the situation in IT. In fact, most just muddy the waters by asking for a laundry list of certifications that are completely other-worldly.

I have met no one who meets a majority of the requirements that most HR folks list on IT jobs.

    * Some want no part of certifications.
    * Some “demand” the most up-to-date certifications.
    * Others want it all.

This leads to complete confusion when planning a course of action if someone wants to enter IT through the certification path. If I were coming into IT now and looked at some of the unrealistic certification criteria required for entry-level jobs, I would find another way to make a living. It is discouraging.
8. Budget Cuts

Cuts have killed training dollars—and consequently the certification market—because it costs money to get certified. So unless you bypass the training with brain dumps, you will not entertain certification as a viable path because training is not available.

Additionally most employers will not train their folks toward certification because of the fear of losing their investment. When people get certified, they start looking for greener pastures. Employers are gun-shy, especially in times of budget cuts.
9. Glut of Certified People

This one should probably be higher in the list. But it is a major reason for the waning interest in certification. There are just too many certified IT folks—those that know what they are doing and the paper certs who have killed the market.

Simple supply and demand. When the supply goes up, the demand goes down. There has to be a way to weed out those who have killed the market.

If the supply were not as high, the demand and wages would improve.
10. No One Knows Which Certs Matter

No one really knows which certs you need to get a job, to get a foot in the door, and to prove that you know your stuff, while not scaring people off.

In short:

    * No one knows how many certs you need.
    * No one knows which certs have value today.

Until those two points are addressed, people get fed up and move onto to another path. If a guru could tell you to get this cert and you will get a good job, you would be all over it. But those days are over for many of the reasons previously mentioned. Will one cert do it for you or do you have to have 10 or 20?

The best advice I can give you at this point is to assess what the environments are using in your geographical area and what the demand is. Then look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself whether that is what you want to do. If you have passion for it, get the needed certs.
Conclusion

So we have problems. Significant problems. I would not give up on certification. In the next article I will outline a strategy I would take if I were starting out now and wanted to go the certification route in 2007–2008.

Then I will outline my solution to the problems with IT Certification: A New Program that revisits what now exists but presents it in a new package. It does not address all the problems, but the majority of them are put in their place, and I don’t have to tear the building down to renovate the kitchen.

Stay tuned.

Mr. Warren looks forward to your comments and e-mails. You can reach him at: wyrostekw@msn.com or through http://www.3wscertification.com.

Everybody knows that MD following an individual’s name means they’re a medical doctor. And CPA signifies the individual has met standards and fulfilled requirements to be a certified public accountant. More than a few cryptic initials following a name, thousands of associations utilize professional certification to recognize individuals for their dedication to their chosen career and their ability to perform to set standards. Ask a certified professional “why?” and they’ll tell you that the certification process is one of the single most important steps you can make in career development. Here are the top ten reasons you should consider professional certification:

Actual Story

1. Certification demonstrates your commitment to the profession. Receiving your certification shows your peers, supervisors and, in turn, the general public your commitment to your chosen career and your ability to perform to set standards. Since university degrees can no longer represent the full measure of professional knowledge and competence in today’s evolving job market, certification sets you apart as a leader in your field.

2. Certification enhances the profession’s image. Association certification programs seek to grow, promote, and develop certified professionals, who can stand “out in front” as examples of excellence in the industry or field.

3. Certification reflects achievement. And not only achievement, but personal achievement. A certified professional has displayed excellence in their field and fulfilled set standards and requirements.

4. Certification builds self-esteem. Association certification programs create a standard for a particular profession, complete with performance standards, ethics, and career paths. You’ll begin to define yourself beyond a job description or academic degree. You’ll see yourself as a certified professional who can control his or her own professional destiny and find a deep sense of personal satisfaction.

5. Certification establishes professional credentials. Since it recognizes your individual accomplishments, certification stands above your resume, serving as an impartial, third-party endorsement to your knowledge and experience. And when the public looks for individuals qualified to perform services, they seek individuals-like you-who have achieved certification.

6. Certification improves career opportunities and advancement. Certification gives you the “edge” when being considered for a promotion or other career opportunities. Certification clearly identifies you as an employee who can adapt to changes in work, technology, business practices, and innovation.

7. Certification prepares you for greater on-the-job responsibilities. Since certification is a voluntary professional commitment to an industry or field of knowledge, it is a clear indicator of your willingness to invest in your own professional development. Certified professionals are aware of the constantly changing environment around their profession and possess the needed tools to anticipate and respond to change.

8. Certification provides for greater earnings potential. As a certified professional, you can expect many benefits, but for today’s down-sized, right-sized, topsy-turvy working world, salary increases speak for themselves. One association survey reported that their certified professionals earn more than non-certified professionals.

9. Certification improves skills and knowledge. Ideally, achieving certification shows your individual competence by confirming proficiency and career involvement and assuring knowledge.

10. Certification offers greater professional recognition from peers. Hear that applause? It’s all for you! As a certified profession you can expect increased recognition from your peers for taking that extra step in your professional development.