Testing Linux skills

[Nicholas Leippe]

On Monday 16 January 2006 01:55 pm, Steve wrote:
> Isn't there also like an RHCE or something he could take?

There are a few certifications out there that I've heard of that are linux 
related.  I have never read or taken a certification exam, so I have no 
authority on the following.  I'll share my mind anyways:

The feeling I've gotten about certifications in general (MCSE, Cisco, RHCE, 
etc) is that they are more academic--they show that you can study material 
and repeat it just like in school.  While the information may be valuable and 
the basic skills very useful in solving a majority of 'common' tasks, I still 
don't think the certifications are nearly as valuable as improving your 
resourcefulness, and doing so in a way that is demonstrable to (future) 
employers (think projects and experience).

Sure, you may learn and master a set of material from a certification course, 
but what happens as soon as something not covered in the course comes up?  
Can you find the answers you need?  Can you create a solution that hasn't 
been handed to you in a cooked format?  IMO, the amount of resourcefulness to 
find answers and solve problems is largely what distinguishes people in our 
fields.

Many of my employers couldn't care less that I did or didn't have a working 
knowledge of the exact systems and tools that they used.  The fact that I 
could demonstrate my abilities to do similar things with other tools, and my 
abilities to find answers to solve problems has been a huge factor in my 
employment.  I've never once been asked about any certifications.


-- 
Respectfully,

Nicholas Leippe
Sales Team Automation, LLC
1335 West 1650 North, Suite C
Springville, UT  84663 +1 801.853.4090
http://www.salesteamautomation.com