Top 10 Reasons to Get Certified

With summer fast approaching many people are wrapping up the traditional school year and making plans for summer vacations. However, there’s no better time than the present to continue learning and to grow professional skills. Especially during the difficult economic climate where holding certifications like Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) or Red Hat Certified Technician (RHCT) are increasingly important for IT professionals and the organizations that rely on these pros to help reduce costs.

Here are 10 reasons why making training and certification a plan for this summer should be at the top of your to-do list:

1. Interest in open source is growing.
   Organizations across the private sector, government and individuals use open source. Just take a look at Red Hat’s recent Open Source Index study comparing and contrasting open source activity and environment across 75 countries. We expect that organizations want to ensure their employees have the skills and experience to utilize the latest open source technologies.
2. 10 years and counting….Red Hat training and certification can add to your skill set.
   With 10 years of experience, Red Hat Training is well-qualified to ramp up your skills and enhance overall marketability to potential employers. Red Hat IT training and certifications hold weight with hiring managers. Many seasoned IT professionals recognize the value Red Hat delivers in helping organizations reduce IT costs.
3. More than half a million trained.
   You’ll be in good company as more than 500,000 people have been trained over the lifetime of Red Hat Training and Certification.
4. A variety of courses, delivery methods and custom solutions.
   Red Hat delivers more than 30 Red Hat Enterprise Linux and JBoss Enterprise Middleware courses offered in classroom, corporate onsite, virtual and e-learning settings. Red Hat award-winning courses are taught by certified instructors and include hands-on labs. This means you get hands-on, real-world training, in the environment that aims to best meet your needs. We’re also global so no matter where you’re located in the world, a Red Hat Training facility is probably nearby. Red Hat provides access to training via more than 50 locations in North America and hundreds worldwide. So you don’t have to go far to further your career with Red Hat training.
5. All exams are performance based.
   Red Hat benchmarks the skills of Linux professionals through a performance-based assessment of the competencies necessary to administer Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems. Candidates must pass a hands-on lab exam in which they are required to set up and configure a Red Hat Enterprise Linux system. Our commitment to performance-based testing has enabled Red Hat to create a high-quality program.
6. IDC ranks Red Hat the leader in IT education.
   A recent IDC report ranked Red Hat as the leader in IT training based on product, go-to-market and business execution in the short term in addition to alignment of strategies with customer requirements in a three- to five-year time frame.
7. Stand out from the crowd of current job seekers.
   Recent unemployment figures released by the Department of Labor noted that the United States lost 345,000 jobs in May 2009, bringing the total number of jobs lost since the start of the recession to 6 million. Now more than ever, job retention is a key concern. Maintaining skills and demonstrating competency through IT certification can provide a credible advantage for IT professionals. Looking to be promoted? Certification can also bolster competitive advantage and be the deciding factor when reviewing candidates for promotion.
8. IT departments must do more with less.
   Hiring RHCEs has allowed some organizations to increase their ratio of servers to administrators, enabling them to be more cost effective in building out their infrastructure without needing to bring on additional resources. Read more in IDC’s whitepaper entitled “The Value of Proven Skills: The Impact of Red Hat Certified Engineers (RHCEs) on Enterprise IT Performance.”
9. Learn how to carve out costs in your organization’s IT infrastructure.
   Migrating to Red Hat has saved many enterprises a lot of money. See how customers like Wall Street Systems realized significant cost savings and increased uptime by migrating from Sun Solaris to Red Hat Enterprise Linux. With Red Hat training under your belt you’ll be better equipped to make recommendations to management on how to reduce IT costs with Red Hat while optimizing systems and enhancing performance. Be seen as an asset to your company by helping trim IT costs and making an impact on the bottom line.
10. Be part of the open source movement.
    Gartner predicts that by 2011 at least 80% of all commercial software solutions will be based on open source. Red Hat offers a vibrant ecosystem and technology. Staying current with Red Hat skills can help keep your future looking bright.

Kick back, relax, pour yourself a glass of lemonade and take a look at Red Hat training and certification courses to find the right fit for you this summer or throughout the year!