Do you have any professional certifications?

[Cloud]

The reason I'm asking is that I belong to a bunch of paralegal groups, and there is HEATED debate on the value and purpose of certifications. Some of the issues are:

1) A recent Texas court case said that registered certification marks are not certifications, only educational designations; therefore they are meaningless

2) It's all a marketing ploy by professional organizations to get your money and they don't really mean anything.

3) No proof that certifications translate into more money or better value for employer.

4) Employers don't know or care about certifications.

5) People don't know the difference between holding a certificate (i.e., going through an educational certificate program); and being certified.

6) There are too many competing designations out there, which devalues the impact of the certification.

I hold two, actually--I'm a certified Professional Legal Secretary and a certified Paralegal.I just wondered if anyone has any insight to share from other industries.

[Griff]

I'm a certified hater of certifications. I've got two PA teaching certs, which were issued immediately after all the hirings were completed for this school year. Thanks guys!

My certs involved taking a bunch of ETS (Bush family friends) tests, which explains why Republicans are suddenly interested in the Federalized education business. I actually waited over a month for my last score to come in on a multiple guess test. I did get a lovely certificate from ETS attesting to my mensaness, which makes being unemployed feel so much better. It makes me a little nuts when I think about all the time and money I spent getting degrees, which apparently don't attest to my competence.

Certs are a great way to increase your earning potential by excluding others who might compete for your job.

[Radar]

I'm in the I.T. business and certifications are more valuable than a college degree. They prove that someone has hands-on experience with current technology in a real world setting.

I have been an MCSE since 1996, and over the years I've held A+, Network+, MCT, MCSE+I, and CNA certs. I'm thinking about moving my career in a different direction and will seek out the CCIE, CISSP, Linux+, and Redhat certs. There's a LOT more money in this part of information technology.

I can tell you for a fact that certificates mean a lot in my field, and most of them cost thousands of dollars and man hours of study and experience to obtain.

[lookout123]

There are 60+ designations in my field. Some are pure fluff, some are extremely difficult to achieve. The more important ones used to be for professionals that were extremely specialized and worked in depth in a particular area. The propaganda in the industry is that you shouldn't work with someone who doesn't have one of the top two designations. It is a load of crap.

I've had exactly one client that NEEDED the specialized knowledge of a particular designation. I knew how to do what needed to be done, but had an accounting firm sign off on the concept, just to cover the bases. That is how it used to be done. I don't trust the people in my industry that say we should do it all under one roof.

[glatt]

I'm not a certified paralegal, and I don't really see much value in the certification of them. At least not here.

When we hire people at my firm, we look at the experience they have in our specific area (litigation.) To judge their experience, we talk to them. If they don't know what they are talking about, we don't hire them.

We have interviewed a lot of people that have come out of certification programs who may know a little bit about a lot of areas of law, but they have no clue about the details of any one area. (Obviously, we only look at our area.)

Some of our staff have certificates, but they get no extra pay because of it. They get extra pay when they show they are skilled.

[barefoot serpent]

One of our programmers got his MCSE while here -- and left for a better paying job the next week.

[Undertoad]

I'm a Linux guy so based on Radar's post I did a minute of research.

Search dice.com for "Linux" = 9903 jobs
for "Linux+" = 4 jobs
for "RHCE" (Red Hat Cert. Eng) = 51 jobs
for "LPI" = 13 jobs

I come to the conclusion that they don't much care.

For $232 (Linux+) I would only take the exam if I went back into consulting. However, if I go back into consulting, ever, I will need to be taken out and shot.

[Clodfobble]

I have to second the notion that in the IT industry, certifications are critical--my husband has no college degree at all, just an asston of certifications. When he has been in a position of hiring someone below him, he and his colleagues have outright rejected a candidate because he had a Computer Science degree and no certifications--because it meant by definition that his knowledge was already outdated, and also indicated on a more personal level that the candidate was either dispassionate or uninformed about how the computer industry works.

Edit to add: Years of experience in the industry will also suffice. It's just a college degree that is considered mostly useless.

[Cloud]

"asston" -- my new fave word!

[SteveDallas]

Originally Posted by Cloud

"asston" -- my new fave word!

Just remember, you need to clarify whether that's a metric asston, or the old imperial asston.

[barefoot serpent]

Asston? isn't that the kid hangin' with Demi Moore?

[Griff]

ummm... that was a bit ranty... sorry. The rabbit made me do it.

EXCEL II, welding (a few of them), fork-lift and front-end loader op, lifeguard and first responder certs have expired, still have my 440 but not my 220 insurance lic (they expire, the 440 will expire soon), OSHA for assist still op, and a few others I can't think of right now.
ALL of them are WELL worth the time spent, the money paid and the requirement bosses ask and pay extra for.
Some certs are BS, I think MOST or at least half are needed.
If you want a lifeguard or insurance agent working with you, or an unlicensed welder working on the alcohol or fuel tanks near your kid's school with no certification have at it... I will pay the extra.

[TheMercenary]

I am in a health profession where you can not work without a certification. I had to take 2 different levels of exams to get them. One issued on a state level, no passy, no worky... For the next it required a Masters Education, followed by a national certification exam, no passy, no worky. Certifications must be paid to the national certifying body to be current, it is not a huge amount but never the less must be paid annually to be current. The certifying exams are absolutely critical to measure competency. Without them you will not be certified and cannot work under any conditions.

The problem with a number of other "professional" (non-medical) organizations which recognize certifications and businesses is the lack of a national central organization which maintains standards of practice, and national or state level organizations which insure quality, maintain licensure, and have the authority to revoke your ability to practice with out certification and licensure.

The one area which is getting a lot of press on this issue today is people who are "certified" financial experts. There is generally no national organizations which certify them. You can take a course, a short exam, and you are "certified". That is the example which I have seen press on most recently. I am sure there are others.

[Radar]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

I'm a Linux guy so based on Radar's post I did a minute of research.

Search dice.com for "Linux" = 9903 jobs
for "Linux+" = 4 jobs
for "RHCE" (Red Hat Cert. Eng) = 51 jobs
for "LPI" = 13 jobs

I come to the conclusion that they don't much care.

For $232 (Linux+) I would only take the exam if I went back into consulting. However, if I go back into consulting, ever, I will need to be taken out and shot.

Did you also look at the average pay rate for each of those?