CCNA

Why Certify?

Given that a typical IT certification imposes a set of requirements on candidates who seek to obtain such credentials, you might wonder why (or why not) pursuing such credentials might be worthwhile. Interestingly, there are different rationales relevant to IT certification that are important to the vendors or organizations that offer them, to the individuals who pursue them, and to the companies or organizations that might encounter—and therefore, have to evaluate—job candidates who hold such credentials, or employees who might seek to invoke such credentials to help justify promotions or other changes in their working circumstances.

In the sections that follow, you will learn what is in the certification game for all of these players, as well as why pursuing IT certification might not always be in your best interest. As you read the sections that justify or explain the potential value that inheres to some certifications, be aware that this information may not be completely applicable or true for every certification available in today's (or tomorrow's) marketplace.

Why Vendors and Organizations Like Certification Programs?

Simply put, obtaining a certification credential puts money in the pockets of those who offer such credentials. And for those vendors whose credentials are related to specific products, platforms, or technologies, certifying IT professionals can do all kinds of good things for their bottom lines. This helps explain why a 2000 International Data Corporation (IDC) survey on certification made mention of the fact that 9 out of 10 of the top 10 software vendors offer some kind of certification programs, in addition to their more conventional product offerings..

For vendors and organizations, certification programs can be quite attractive. Here's why:

•	Those who offer certification programs can make money by authorizing training and publications related to their credentials, as well as from associated exams and other chargeable requirements.
•	Certified individuals often act as champions for the tools and technologies in which they certify, by sharing their knowledge of and enthusiasm for related products, services, or technologies.
•	Certification candidates must identify themselves in detail to the vendors or organizations whose credentials they seek. This information creates valuable databases of interested and qualified professionals who can be polled, surveyed, analyzed, and marketed to at will.
•	Individuals willing to meet certification requirements and bear associated outlays of time, effort, and money are also likely to want to maintain their certifications. Whether through meeting continuing education, retesting, or recertification requirements, more than half of such a population is likely to keep reupping their credentials as long as they hold their value

Why Individuals Like Certifications?

In most professions, including information technology–related work, the highest-caliber individuals are always looking for some kind of edge or advantage whereby they can demonstrate competence, interest, and currency. For many IT professionals, certification provides a way for entry-level workers to get a foot in the door and for more senior employees to demonstrate an ongoing interest and currency in their chosen areas of competency.

As a more-or-less standard way of showing at least basic skills and knowledge on a variety of technologies, tools, platforms, and other IT-related topics, certifications can appeal to IT professionals at all career levels. There's a tendency to believe that obtaining certification leads to higher pay and better job opportunities for such professionals, and nearly every certification program can cite salary surveys and success stories to bolster this perception. Although it's not always true that obtaining certification is a guaranteed ticket to success, there's enough evidence of a positive correlation between the two to encourage many IT professionals to pursue multiple certifications (and to maintain their currency as well).

In fact, a certain class of highly motivated IT professionals seems to perceive certification as a good thing in and of itself. Such busy overachievers collect certifications like merit badges, and no sooner do they finish one credential than they get to work on obtaining another.

Why Employers Like Certifications?

Some of the same rationales that colleges and universities use to justify standardized testing for their applicants also apply to the perceived value of IT certifications in some hiring organizations. That is, such programs provide at least a minimal guarantee that qualified individuals have worked their way through a battery of tests and met background requirements to help assure minimal competence with concepts, skills, and activities. Thus all parties involved—vendors and organizations that offer certifications, individuals who pursue such credentials, and employers that require them—agree that such programs measure something interesting and useful about what a certified professional knows and can do.

For this reason, many companies require employees who hold certain IT positions—be they network or system administrators, PC technicians, security officers, or software developers—to obtain and maintain IT certifications related to their job duties and responsibilities. Although there are often concerns about the "real meaning" or "real value" of the most popular IT certifications, such concerns do not always affect hiring decisions or how job requirements get specified.

Then, too, many vendors that offer certification programs require their partners to obtain and maintain such certifications to remain active in partner programs. Because such programs often offer early access to beta software, free or discount software or products, access to special levels of technical support, and so on, many businesses accept the costs of keeping a certain number of staff members certified as part of the overall costs of partnering with vendors.

Why NOT Certify?

Given the undeniable benefits attached to some certifications—which can include higher pay, improved job prospects, and increased value and visibility for credential holders—why might it not always be in your best interest to obtain such credentials yourself?

The answer to this question has a foot in two well-known market phenomena:

•	Supply-and-demand: The biggest and best-known certification programs produce large populations of certified professionals. The more people who hold a credential, the lower the value of the credential in differentiating one candidate from another. If everybody's got one, it's not much of a value-add.
•	Cost-benefit analysis: Obtaining certification takes time and costs money. Given that most credentials have a real "shelf life" of three to four years (or less), unless increases in pay or job options repay the value of the time and the cash you must expend to obtain a credential in that time, it's not necessarily worthwhile purely in monetary terms.

When weighing the pros and cons of certification, never forget that the time you spend pursuing a certification is money, above and beyond whatever hard costs you must incur to become certified. Consider also that unless your employer gives you time on the job to get certified, you will have to spend your own personal time on such an effort. It may still be worthwhile to get certified, but it is also important to consider the impact on your free time, family life, and attitude when you start down the certification trail.

Home Page