[SunRescue] Re: OT: Advice on Certification

[James Fogg]

All I can say is that I have been "doin it" for 15 years (paid) and 15 years
before that too. I have outlived almost all of my employers (Proteon, a
division of Motorola, Prime Computer *geek points for anyone who remembers
them*). Most of the O/S's I learned (AOS/VS, PrimeOS, RSTS, etc) are dead. I
embraced MS in the beginning (not a religious experience, but DOS and Windows
were an interesting wedge into the world of "big computing" for the masses). I
don't play in the O/S field much anymore, but am definately responsible for MS
servers and Linux and Unix machines (all in a Internet production environment,
not just "office stuff"). My previous employer demanded the staff get Cisco and
MS certs. I foolishly thought I could walk in and take the test (been with NT
since it ran on 386's and Cisco since IOS version 9.8). I failed and the company
wouldn't pay for the courses. Instead they hired a shit-hot knowitall MS guru.
This guy was so out-there that he framed all his certs (15 of 'em, including
Instuctor certs for MS) and hung them OUTSIDE his cube (so noboddy would miss
'em). From day one the dude pestered me with all his problems that he couldn't
solve. I was slowly relieved of my MS and Cisco customers (I was the only one
that could handle our other routing products (Motorola)) and eventually quit.

Well big freakin OOPS. All of a sudden this dude is calling me at home for
answers. Within 6 months this company lost 60% of their client base. The only
ones they have left are the small ones who don't know any better.

I say screw certs. They're nice to have, but mean nothing. I call it
"wallpaper". I am also highly suspicious of an employer who is so clueless that
they need certs to know who they can rely on.

I am also VERY tired of paper tigers. I haven't met one that can troubleshoot
or design his way out of a wet paper bag. In fact, the BEST people I have met
in the computing field (software, hardware, O/S and networking) have had no
formal education or a degree in a completly unrelated field. One of the best
Network Engineers I know has a masters in philosophy.

Know thy craft and love it. If you don't love your work you will never be good
at it. If you really love building stone walls but think computing pays better,
think again. Become a stone mason, when you get good at it you will make almost
the same amount of money (and won't dread going to work each morning). I would
do what I do for free (really). The pay is just a bonus.

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	 James D. Fogg, Network Engineer
	Vicinity Corporation - Lebanon, NH

     DESK (603) 442-1751 - CELL (603) 252-1864
            EMAIL jfogg at vicinity.com
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