10/1/2000 -- If you're looking to enter the IT field and are seriously pondering certification, you've probably struggled with the same three questions that everyone else has:

1. How much can I make if I'm certified but have no experience?
2. Should I go to college or just get certified?
3. What (or which) certification(s) should I choose?

Surprisingly enough, the answers to these questions all turn around the same principle: it's not certification, but job effectiveness and planning that count most. You must consider these two factors in making any certification decision. Employers aren't just paying for a piece of paper--they want job effectiveness. You must not only be able to do the job assigned; you must do it meeting high standards, within budget and on time. While paper certifications have made the whole thing much more confusing, your ability to do your job well is still the bottom line. The skills tested in certification exams (product knowledge, logical thinking, structured approach to problems) are necessary, but not by themselves sufficient. As such, they're not alone in dictating your pay scale, or what you can achieve long-term.

Career Tip # 1 When starting out, don't aim too high in certification, but make sure your experience and certification match. If you are new to the industry, start with a relatively simple certification like A+, find an entry-level job, and work your way up. Just going for more certifications doesn't get you there. Then again, don't underestimate the experience gained from having a small network at home. These sorts of skills may be precisely what a small company needs.

The following is my take on the answer to these three questions. Share your comments/advice by posting in the forum at the end of this article.

Question 1:
How much can I make if I'm certified but have no experience?
While it depends on the certification, for most the answer is "Not that much." As many freshly minted, job-hunting MCSE's can testify, employers are looking for a combination of experience and skills. Certification can give you the skills, but not the experience.

So the question is really put the wrong way round: Rather than asking how much you will make, focus on what you can do--where can you be most effective? If you are starting out in IT, or breaking into the field from somewhere on the sidelines, chances are you will not be very effective at the console of production-end servers--with or without certification.

You need to realize that certification studies provide a simplified world--one in which things are done the "Microsoft (or Novell or Company X)" way. Reality tends to be bigger, smellier and more complex. It takes a field experience to appreciate this; to gain the tacit knowledge that is not tested on any exam but is so important in the real world.

Question 2:
Should I go to college or get certified?
The answer to this one is simple, and then it isn't: both. A certification tends to be vendor specific; it needs continuous maintenance (as many MCSEs are currently finding out) and, since it focuses on what is currently "hot," tends to age rather badly. A college education, on the other hand, stays once you've got it, is more generic and ages rather well. In the world of IT, a well-endowed CV will show both.

Career Tip # 2 A job in computing could fund a college education. Again, start by focusing on a cert that's not too hard to get, look for a job and keep studying. In the end, you'll come out with a college education, work experience and the certifications you need to move up. .

At college, you will learn many valuable skills (such as study habits and techniques) that will help you in your certification studies later. Plus, current trends in the IT industry indicate that the somewhat unregulated days of the PC are nearing their end. If these trends are anything to go by, the focus today is on things like directory services, storage area networks, single sign-on, replication and customization, all of which require a much larger degree of planning, documentation and focused execution than has been the norm in the past. As a result, quite apart from certification, it's smart to invest in the more generic skills like structured thinking, conceptual thinking and communication that a college education can give you. These may very well be the core skills you'll need to succeed long-term.

Question 3:
What (or which) certification(s) should I choose?
There are more specialized certifications out there than ever before. How can you tell, being new to the industry, what you'd like? MCSEs, for instance, look after servers and networks. But if cutting code is your game, you'll be much better off with a certification aimed at developers, such as MCSD or Java.

The worst thing you can do is decide on a certification without thinking about your long-term career path. The story goes something like this: "Hmmm...I think I'll start with MCSE, and then continue to do Cisco...Well, on second thought, Linux seems quite hot as well, so I'll throw in an RHCE, then some Java, Citrix, Master CNE, pursue some security and Web certs..."

Career Tip # 3 Reserve one month every year to review trends in certification, the job market, technology trends and your future needs. Then review your certification status and make some hard decisions on what you will do for the next year. Be realistic; Planning to sit one exam every two weeks looks nice on paper--it isn't in reality.

Do you really need all of this? Probably not. In fact, having lots of certs is a pain to maintain. As many MCSEs are now finding out, just maintaining MCSE status will require them to pass between two to four new exams between now and December 2001. The more certs you collect, the more this workload will grow. Take on too many and it can grow to the point where the effort required to maintain your certs is larger than the effort required to do your job--i.e., your job effectiveness will actually start to decrease because of certification. If you ever get to this point, you need to do some serious thinking. You might even consider giving some certifications up by not passing upgrade exams; Use the time instead to strategically re-align your skills with the market.

In choosing your certification, you should also be somewhat wary of "hot certs." Don't choose a cert just because it's the "in" cert to have. Anything that is currently "'hot" has only one way to go: down. Unless your job requires this specific cert or it's a true stepping stone to your long-term career goals, it may not be worth your time and resources.

All in all, certification choices are remarkably similar to other career choices--and their success depends equally on a combination of career focus, planning, hard work and--don't forget!--fun.

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