Re: Getting Certified

["Greg Wright" <k5tsrytx001 sneakemail com>]

Hello Robert,

Not really sure if you are talking to me or just putting your experience
out there. I guess I should use my sig if you were talking to me. I have
been a part of LPI for some years now, that is why I said in one post I may
be biased :)

But the good thing with Linux is there is choice
there is quality training, no doubt along with poor training.

LPI exists for only one reason ... to bring certification with choice of
training methods & free from being a tool for marketing, I do not want to
use the hosts resources to bash their product, in fact being objective, I
would have to tell everyone to look at what is available and make the best
choice for themselves.

PS I was on this list way before LPI existed, helped LPI because of it's
values and ties to community, I also would have to say RH has good ties &
understands the community as well :)

PS PS you may want to read this in relation to one of your comments.

http://www.lpi.org/linuxplus.html


Regards

Greg Wright
ELC Board of Directors
LPI International Co-ordinator 
LPI AU Front Man/Contact





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On 30/04/2003 at 5:59 PM Robert Adkins wrote:

>There are a great deal of good certs out there and plenty of places to
>start. For a "decent" beginning, to having certs on your resume, take a
>look at the CompTIA exams. 
>
>	Without taking any courses, if you can pass some or many of their
>tests, you are doing pretty good. Personally, I was fixing and repairing
>PCs professionally for about a year or so before I went and took the A+,
>I was very surprised at how simple and how out of date the test was. I
>really wouldn't use that as much of a metric for employment.
>
>	The next Comptia Test that I took was the Linux+ test. I had been
>running Linux for almost 4 years at that time and really had only
>brushed the surface of the various distributions. I passed the test, but
>I was quite surprised by some of the questions they asked. (Mainly
>because I hadn't run Linux as much more then a desktop workstation and
>just barely scratched the surface of multi-user network configurations.)
>	Today, if I took that test, I would fly through it and laugh at the
>simplistic questions they give you. Of course, the goal of that test to
>"prove" that you could make a decent level-1 help desk support person.
>
>	I started to take a look at the Microsoft tests, but I realized that
>they design their OS and Testing Regimen in order to maximize their
>profits more then to turn out successful IT Professionals and Products.
>If that wasn't the case, then they would stick with a reliable and
>consistent Operating System management system, much like the UNIX world
>has adopted. Unfortunately, every time they release a new version, they
>have to change EVERYTHING and invalidate all of their "Professionals".
>
>	Which is why my eventual goal is to cultivate my skills and pass the
>various Linux certification tests. From what I have been reading, those
>tests are more or less good for life, with certification updates only
>requiring testing on some new areas. Which is much like the
>certification tests for Sun's Solaris Administration Certifications.
>(Which is another goal of mine to eventually conquer.)
>
>	If you are really serious about a career in IT and want to further your
>skills, accreditations and potential. There are really only a few things
>you can do. 
>
>	The most important thing is to study. Every chance you get, you have to
>expose yourself to new areas of IT. Build your own Network and build
>like the "Big Boys" in Corporate where-ever would build it. Use LDAP,
>use Samba as a Domain Controller, build an E-mail server, build an
>E-mail server with a different service, build a web-server, build an
>application server, build a network security workstation, learn and
>build a database. You have to be prepared to devour IT books like a
>ravenously hungry animal would devour its food.
>
>	The second most important thing to do is to join or build your own
>User's Group. You would be surprised at what you can learn by leading
>discussions on topics or setting topics for people to cover. Personally,
>I ran a UNIX study group that met once a week on Monday evenings, at the
>corporate headquarters of a fairly well-known global automobile
>manufacturer. Running those meetings, coming up with topics, preparing
>materials and quizzes taught me more about UNIX in just a few months
>then I had learned in the previous 4 years.
>
>	Another important point to make in joining/creating a User's Group is
>that you WILL have at your fingertips people with various experience in
>the industry that may or may not lead to potential future employment.
>Personally, when this company grows enough to warrant having a larger IT
>staff, that will be the first place that I will start my search.
>
>	Regards,
>	Robert Adkins
>	IT Manager/Buyer
>	Impel Industries, Inc.
>	586-254-5800
>
>
>	
>On Wed, 2003-04-30 at 13:04, Greg Wright wrote:
>> 
>> 
>> *********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********
>> 
>> On 29/04/2003 at 10:48 AM David Busby wrote:
>> 
>> >Just get good at it, "the proof is in the pudding". 
>> 
>> Oh dear, if only the world could really be this way .....  good certs
>> should *help* here as I think you acknowledge......     I just think how
>> many times I have missed jobs to what may be termed a "conehead" (as in
>> weed) due to a higher tolerance threshold of office politics, and lower
>> chance of revealing neglegance from higher up or those close by ...
>> 
>> At least in AU, I can tell you often an interview is a "look see" at how
>> you fit into the political landscape, nothing to do with skill, & to be
>> frank, I feel this is why the US often casts a shadow on other nations,
>> there is an ability to just "get things done ..... dammit" :)