On Thu, May 23, 2002 at 02:18:37AM +0300, ariel@fireball.tau.ac.il said:
Hi all,
I've read this thread with quite a bit of interest, I must admit. I must say that after reading it all, I see alot of ... misguided perceptions.
Certifications, of any kind, be it university degrees, or other generic certifications, or even the product specific ones, are just a way to ascertain material knowledge. Nothing, nothing more. By no means are they any good at ascertaining the persons ability to implement knowledge (no matter what Cisco says about its hands on lab test). Like any other program, they are built around a specific structure. That doesn't predict the ability of a person to implement knowledge in new situations, adapt it to his/her needs, and find a solution to a new problem. [snip]
*nod* I'm by no means qualified to give any kind of authoritative (or even very experienced) opinion on this issue, but from my limited experience to date, it appears to me that the most important qualities in a system or network admin, at pretty much any level, are the ability to know how to efficiently search for answers, and how to troubleshoot problems in unfamiliar situations. Anybody that knows how to find answers quickly and accurately, and knows how to effectively and logically troubleshoot problems, even if they have no prior exposure to the problem in question, will do well in pretty much any situation you put them in, whether they have certifications, degrees or even prior experience, or not.
my 2 cents,
--Ariel
My $0.005 (not qualified to give a full $0.02 yet). -- Scott Francis darkuncle@ [home:] d a r k u n c l e . n e t Systems/Network Manager sfrancis@ [work:] t o n o s . c o m GPG public key 0xCB33CCA7 illum oportet crescere me autem minui