Certification (FYI)

人生无解

Certifications in all areas of IT consulting are becoming more prevalent, but which ones really make a difference in pay and hiring trends, here is the answer from new research and analysis at certmag.com and our own research into the 3,000+ new requests for IT consultants over the last year:

% c  y7 e; T/ YRoles where the right certification secures the position or increases the rate:

0 b* a: h# w1 w" GSecurity Specialist - CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professionals) Cisco Network Specialist - CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) Systems Administrator - MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer) Breakfix hardware technician - A+ SAP Functional Expert - SAP Certification in the module required i.e. FI/CO, MM, HR, PM
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7 p8 R. V- m4 `0 x8 DRoles where certification can help:

+ `: w+ p8 o  p+ b& fProject Management - PMP (Certified Project Management Professional) Database Administrator - OCP (Oracle Certified Professional) Java developer SCJD (Sun Certified Java Developer)

Roles where certification really is not an influencing factor at all:

Business Analysis
3 f4 e: h3 `: w0 S. L7 AMost Software Development
Quality Assurance
Technical/Web Writing
Business Intelligence

" _. d9 a, m& D! v# \4 T7 W$ y8 YThe top certifications for salary increase according to a recent 2005 survey by Certmag are:
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MCSE+    - average $12,909 increase
MCT      - average $11,723 increase
5 e( x: i& ~2 v  _CCNA     - average $9967 increase
2 K8 k8 A8 ~+ t5 q% S: `: BCNE      - average $7262 increase
* }0 {5 L- {2 ~# x1 f  F6 _! pMCP+     - average $7072 increase
2 W& M, Y- U2 \- V0 D. cCNA      - average $7061 increase
Network+ - average $6487 increase
! p  Y, q4 G- j3 u& \A+       - average $5134 increase
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3 b. A  F+ j% w3 U. U6 C% R9 D) v3 }The only professional certification in Canada is the Information Systems Professional (I.S.P.) designation from CIPS. More information can be found at www.cips.ca/standards on this designation and the impact it can have on your marketability as a consultant.
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Humor

* M3 Q4 `% m6 e! `, J. m! uTop 10 replies by programmers when their programs don't work:
% x7 ]+ U4 Z9 |- w% e1 e0 `" C% `
* v# X% h( \2 y0 p2 [10. "That's weird..."
9. "It's never done that before."
6 _7 D. d1 q% z; ^. R2 O$ v8. "It worked yesterday."
7. "You must have the wrong version."
6. "It works, but it hasn't been tested."
5. "Somebody must have changed my code."
2 n+ C; o# f8 T: y  h) I4. "Did you check for a virus?"
3. "Where were you when the program blew up?"
* u4 m  u$ _  m4 L  ?7 Z& A7 v2. "Why do you want to do it that way?"

* s2 D3 J) u* P" n
( Q9 N9 r9 M8 F4 Sand finally ...

, a! S3 E9 P: O( z/ \1. "I thought I fixed that."

xmTiger

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