Spiceworks Community Digest: The worth of a cert
We all know the job market is tough, which brings up an age-old question: Which IT certifications still hold real value in today’s job market? The short answer from the Spiceworks Community? Certs are great, but experience is still the ultimate trump card. A certification is your ticket to the interview, but your proven track record is what lands the job and the big paycheck. What’s “best” really depends on where you want to go.
Your Golden Ticket to an Interview
Think of a certification as the key that unlocks the door to your next opportunity. It proves you’re motivated and have a foundational understanding.
- computerdave: “I doubt just a cert with no experience will give you a leg up over someone with years of experience and no cert though, but it should at least help you get an interview vs just being passed over right away.”
- Rod-IT: “If the aim is to get interviews, all certs show willingness to learn and ability to understand…”
- Janice777: “I always thought they just get you in the door for your first job, then experience is more important…”
- Random Parts: “I just saw a YouTube video and he said the Google IT support cert helped a friend of his get a job.”
Experience is Still King
While a certification can open a door, it won’t keep it open. If you’re going for a high-paid gig, real-world experience is what matters most.
- Rod-IT: “…if it’s about getting a higher paid job, I would say experience trumps these.”
- J-Nonya: “…in a corporate gig, experience will outweigh certs every time.”
- computerdave: “Certificates used to carry much more weight than they do now… as the testing became more memorization-based their worth declined as more people could pass the tests without really ‘knowing’ the material.”
Which certifications do you think are worth pursuing? Head over to the Spiceworks Community to let us know!
