Lately, it appears that computer certifications are becoming one of the most important credentials that employers are looking for. It seems that while employers are looking for this key asset, corporations are starting to put out more certifications for people to get. Microsoft and Red Hat both have a 3 tier system for their certifications, MCP and RHCT, MCSA and RHCE, MCSE and RHCA, respectively for their own fields. Cisco also has a 3 tier track for Networking Professionals, CCNA, CCNP, and CCIE. Even Dell has a tiered course for IT Enthusiast that want to become certified in their equipment.

There are several companies out there that also have more ‘Generic’ exams. CompTIA with their Plus+ Certifications (Network+, Security+ etc.) are working on getting a recognized accredited certification process for many parts of the IT Industry. Personally, I don’t believe most of these certifications can’t really judge a person correctly due to their design. The Red Hat certifications are the closest that I’ve seen come to testing a person’s true ability to do what the certification claims the holder can do. For all of you die hard BSD fans out there, there is a group at bsdcertification.com that are currently working on a system administration test.

So I leave you with this, the top 10 IT Certifications for over all quality.
(Survey taken from certification magazine)

1. RHCE
2. CCIE
3. CCNP
4. MCSE
5. CNE
6. CCNA
7. CompTIA Security+
8. CompTIA A+
9. CompTIA Network+
10. MCP