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Certified Electronic Technician (C.E.T.) -- 3 Journeyman certificates (Consumer, Industrial, & Audio) since 1976, A+ Certified.

Well, the first thing you have to understand Blue is that a Cert is not a sure gurantee that you wiil get a better job or more money. A perfect example of this is the flood of "paper" MCSEs out there. I'm not sure I'd let half of them load a VCR tape let alone an operating system.
The next thing to keep in mind is that employers are looking for a number of things, which include Certs but more likely they will look at your experience and a laundry list of other things. Take my word on this one, My friend/boss is actively involved in our recruiting process.
Another important point is that Certs are like clothing fads, they are constantly changing and who knows which one will be hot next. A good example of this is the infamous Novell CNE Cert. I know that my company (years ago) spent tens of thousands of dollars on Novell training for others and today they are about as usefull as used toilet paper.
To sum it up, obtaining Certs is one small part of a well rounded IT professional. Look to balance experience with Certificates. You'll also need to be able to sell yourself to employers which means you will need social skills. One step further on this, you'll need to be able to translate "techie terms" to non technical co workers and managment. As if this isn't enough, you'll need to compete against thousands of others who are trying to do a better job at it than you are.
So you see, it's not what Cert will get me where I need to go, it's, "What things do I need to master in order to stand out from a crowd and leverage opportunities when I am successful at doing so?".
Make sense?
If you walked in to an interview with me and my boss and all you had was a piece of paper/CERT and you couldn't answer questions to demonstrate a high level of techincal unsderstanding, We would direct you to the nearest bathroom and tell you how to use that piece of paper. Then go have lunch at a nice place like we usually do!

I have a little knowledge about computers, I love technology and have been working in the cell phone industry for 5 years. I am looking into skidmore college in white plains NY, I would be taking the IT series pc and networking design with security program, this will make me msce certified along with scnp certified. My question is will this pay off? Can anyone with these certs tell me how it worked out for you. Thanks

ANYONE OUT THERE????

Well, as I see it, you can learn a lot while fullfilling your Cert requirements, or you can learn nothing. If learning is your goal, then the riggors of achieving certification will definetly help you. My customers really never ask me about my certifications, but they are all happy that I know what I know. One of the problems with NOT going through the certification process is simply that you don't know what you don't know. I don't remember where I first heard that, but the person was dead on. The certification processes that I have been through, force you to look into the nooks and crannys of things that you might otherwise have only paid casual or no attention to. It's worth the trouble, but it's not a magic bullet. You will have to do the work and then prove that you can actually think and put it to use in the marketplace.

oops...forgot to sign in....

i have a A+ took it the last day before it changed over to include linux. Now i think i don't have to re-take it.

would like to do other things other in IT other than fix pc's as a p/t hobby...not sure where to start....

Thanks for the info, just out of curiosity what field are you working in?

I'm cerified in:

C++
Java
And almost C#

CISM
CISA
CISSP

Well the cost of my CISSP was worth it. If you're going to study for the CISSP, most of study books are useless.
The CISSP Prep guide is garbage. My old roommate had it, and although it is an excellent resouce book, it is a poor tool for preparing for the exam.

CISSP is geard toward consulting and not technical knowledge. Know how your encryption formats are used, not how they work. Don't worry about specific laws or HIPAA stuff as the book goes on and on about... only a few such questions are on the test and then tend to be logical and requiring no specific knowledge, same for other specific standards or guidelines.

Just know how technologies, policies, and standards are intended to be used and you will pass with flying colors.

catch