What IT or non-IT professional certifications do you have?

[Richdog]

I was just curious as to what professional certifications (IT or non-IT) were floating around the members here, and what you guys had found useful for getting jobs in your field.

Personally I have the following, all employer-funded working first in IT and then in IT risk:

• CISA - IT Auditor industry standard, needs continous professional learning, helped to get me my current job) http://www.isaca.org/certification/cisa-certified-information-systems-auditor/pages/default.aspx
  
• PRINCE 2 Practitioner - I never use as I'm not a PM, but it's permanent and employers like it https://www.prince2.com/eur/what-is-prince2
  
• COBIT 5 - IT Risk control framework. Nice to have on the CV as it's permanent but ultimately has little value http://www.isaca.org/Education/COBIT-Education/Pages/COBIT-Implementation.aspx
  
• ITIL v3 Foundation - For IT Service Delivery. Nice to have on the CV as it's permanent but I never use it https://www.axelos.com/qualifications/itil-qualifications/itil-foundation-level

Working towards this year:

• CRISC - IT Risk assessment and controls. Good cert to have and goes hand in hand with the CISA http://www.isaca.org/certification/...nformation-systems-control/pages/default.aspx

Please try to answer:

1. What have you guys got, or what are you studying towards?
2. What field are you in?
3. Is your employer covering the cost?
4. How useful has it been / will it be to your career?

 

[Richdog]

Addition of whether an employer funded a certification or if you self funded would be an interesting metric.

Good point. All of mine were employer-funded and I have added that to the OP.

 

[Richdog]

Yes, it is. I was making the point that IT qualifications are, by no means, the be all and end all of a career in IT.

Viva la revolution!

No-one said they were, so your point is moot. Feel free to start your own "what degree have you got" thread.

Professional certifications, none. My poor addled brain doesn't quite understand why I would need to whore myself to a vendor qualified instruction. No thanks.

There are many vendor neutral certifications in the world.

 

[Richdog]

Non-IT stuff, all finance related:

My official name when I get correspondence from the IFS is:

Mr B Dee CeMAP CeRCC CeSRE AdvCeMAP DipMAP

I choose to just use DipMAP as it is the diploma level qualification and I would look like a bit of a **** if I used them all. Planning on doing a couple more too when time allows.

lol.

MCDST
MCSA 2003
MCSE 2003
MCITP: EA
MCSA 2012
MCSE 2012
VCP 3, 4, 5, 5.5
CCENT

Doing the re-cert this week for the MCSE.



M.

Do all of those really help with work? Seems like there's a lot of crossover...

 

[Richdog]

I'm yet to see a "qualification" in here that is worth mentioning

There are two in my post that are crucial to getting a job in my field, I can see others down this thread which are also key processional certs. If you have nothing useful to post, then perhaps better to stay out of the thread to avoid looking like a numpty.

Richdog - when you say PRINCE2 Practioner is 'permanent', I thought registration expired after 5 years?

It does, it even states that in the link he provided.

That's how much I take note of it... but the Foundation level is permanent, right?

 

[Richdog]

This isn't a ****-waving thread on who has the best pieces of paper for their CV, IT or otherwise. Merely a discussion about what people have and found useful in their field.

It's a sign of some people's mentality that they actually need this explaining to them. Ahh well...

 

[Richdog]

Remember to post which have been useful or useless guys, as well as which re self-paid or employer paid, it's interesting to know.

 

[Richdog]

None - not even a GCSE.

Something I need to look into changing this year. Think I'll try for A+, CompTia Network, Prince2 FD and ITIL v3 FD - need to get out of my "General IT person/dogsbody" role.

Might even be able to get work to pay for them all before I promote or leave, that would be nice.

I would go for your GCSE's (5 including maths, science and english) and even a couple of A-levels before anything else... could maybe do that within a couple of years.

 

[Richdog]

I have GCSE's and A levels just not in IT, sorry should have quantified my post better.

I have no IT certs but work in IT.

Ah I see! To be fair, few people have IT GCSE and A-level.

Well further to my post #74 it would seem the Civil Service provide the ITIL v3 Foundation course for people in the IT field.

Have applied this morning for more information. Hopefully a positive step.

ITIL v3 is pretty useless in real terms unless you move into service delivery, and if you already have decent IT support dogsbody experience then you would be better served skipping the comparatively useless A+/Network+ and going directly for MCSA/MCSE Server-based certs, or CCNA is networking is more your thing, as both of those are highly recognised.

Basically you just need to get a foot in the door at a big multinational company and then the IT world is your oyster a few years down the line.

 

[Richdog]

Yeah I've looked through the ITIL stuff and it seems pretty general.

The thing with where I work now is that if I can show them I have completed say A,B,C course they will more than likely help me to fund the more expensive X,Y,Z course. If I can show willing they may even fund some completely as they keep pushing me for "career progression".

Feels good to take the first step.

Then why do you need to spend money on a BS course before you go to the good ones? Just go for the good long-term value courses or you are wasting your time and theirs.

If your work are constantly pushing you to progress and not vice versa then it sounds like you may have been a little unforthcoming in that regard...?

 

[Richdog]

Yeah I didn't want career progression, I was more than happy to stick where I was but I've come to the conculsion that in the long term I need to promote for further challenges.

I need to be able to show that I have the aptitude for learning and progressing before they invest further in me. Trying to get money for external courses isn't easy for my gov dept as they are in the process of reducing staffing by 30%.

MCSA and CCNA are not really expensive, and passing a certificate like ITILv3 foundation you will never use hardly shows aptitude, it's just a waste of time and money. But in the end it's of course your choice.

 

[Richdog]

It's also worth pointing out, that the networking industry is a hell of a place to be at the moment, there's so much work and not enough people to do it, if you can be bothered to get involved and invest some serious time - there are some cracking roles out there.

I will also add that if you are serious about building a relatively future-proof career with very good earnings potential and opportunities worldwide, then IT risk (audit, compliance) is also an incredibly rewarding option. The demand for IT risk professionals is going nowhere and will only increase as cyber risk etc becomes a real hot potato for all companies in the coming years. I went from IT support to IT audit and my salary has more than doubled in 5 years and with my CISA certification (plan also to get CRISC this year, CISSP next year and ultimately CIA over next couple of years) I basically will in all probability not be out of a job even in the toughest of economic conditions as long as I keep my skills current.

Interesting thread. What would you guys recommend going for to help with general desktop support jobs? I've got work experience in said area but to help my argument for a salary raise etc etc. what should I be looking at?

General desktop support, go for MCSA/MCSE Server options first... will allow you to work your way into infrastructure.

 

[Richdog]

I added some numbered points to the OP, would be great if people could answer them in that format?

 

[Richdog]

HND in Technical Bakery, Pasty and Confectionery.
Several City & Guilds to do with Bakery.

Also have a Fork lift license, and Psv license.

Very cool, the obvious question being which one do you use for work?.

 

[Richdog]

Currently the Psv license, after being a Baker for 11years I had children and realised the lifestyle I had was not conducive to family life, I loved my Bakery job

That's a real shame... can you go back to it one day when the kids are older, maybe open a little shop?

 

[Richdog]

So guys, any update for some of you after the 3 months?

I am still studying (not very hard, ahem) CRISC and then will take the exam in December. After that I think I am going to go for CISSP which will be a long and slow slog.