Certifications in IT Careers: Does it really matter?

Since the start of my professional career as IT Engineer, I have been facing many people at work who think that certifications are useless unless you have experience. I am writing this article to discuss this idea.

Business Need

With the emerging of Cloud Technologies and the exponential evolution of open source frameworks and tools, the need of technology watch from a business point of view has become something essential for companies. Even though software editors are trying to release more frequently new features to their customers, the velocity of evolution in the open source community are far away from them. Nowadays, companies are trying to change their recruitment policies to hire people who are always motivated to learn and implement new technologies. Experience may not be the only and best criterion to make a decision in that case, we should find other criteria, and maybe certifications is one of them. Actually, certifications indicate for managers that candidates have a continuous motivation to learn new things and to be able to keep this spirit as long as possible.

Potential Earning

The time and effort invested in professional certifications often results in increased income. Most clients will understand the higher costs associated with specialized training and are willing to pay for consultants who have industry certifications. In fact, one study found that online certifications increased salaries by 20 to 40%.

Work on your Logos!

Learning by certification acquires you knowledge that you can benefit for your professional life. Let’s dive deeper into this idea. It’s true that experience acquires you knowledge in real world environments but for a longer period because you depend on other people’s work. When you work in big projects, you will be assigned for a specific role which is very limited and does not make you understand all technical stuff used for implementing the system. But, when you start taking certifications, you have more chances to discover and explore more things out of your actual position.

Learning from certifications can lead to challenge people working with you on projects like architects, tech leads, devops, managers… by bringing new ideas, methods or tools that improve the product, the service or maybe the system. Learning by certifications make you stimulate your critical thinking by understanding pain points of tools, technologies and so that, you can help architects prepare their failure scenarios more efficiently.

Learning by certifications make you ready to face people and convince them about your recommendations. When your manager asks you to start benchmarking solutions in the market, you have the ability to shortlist solutions that respond to the need with less time.

Work on your Ethos!

Certifications scaffold credibility and reputation among your professional network. You will be able to easier connect with subject matter experts, managers, sales, entrepreneurs… . It’s among the best marketing strategies for an independent consultant, who are increasingly demanded . Non-profit and government organization sometimes have requirements to have some specific certifications from recognized training programs like that of Amazon web services, Microsoft, Google, Cisco, Palo Alto, Linux Foundation… . Certifications are often a worthwhile investment because of the many advantages they can provide throughout your career. As you move forward and as your business evolves, be sure to keep your certifications up-to-date so you can continue to realize these benefits. Also, be sure to share your certifications on your personal website, and your Linkedin profile. For instance, a cloud certification can make a big difference in a cloud professional’s career. They can make your resume stand out during the hiring process and they can result in larger paydays — three of the five highest-paying certifications are in cloud computing.

Work on your Pathos !

When you pass the exam, you feel proud, you feel that you are important in the society and everyone is congratulating you for your success. However, if you don’t pass the exam, exam takers express different level of symptoms:

Physical: headaches, nausea or diarrhea, extreme body temperature changes, excessive sweating, shortness or breath, light-headedness or fainting, rapid heart beat, and/or dry mouth.

Emotional: anger, fear, disappointment, depression, feelings of helplessness.

Behavioral: introverting, substance abuse

Cognitive : racing thoughts, difficulty concentrating, negative self-talk, feelings of dread, comparing yourself to others, difficulty organizing thoughts.

All these symptoms can be good because it pushes to self-questioning, review mistakes you have done in exams and try to avoid them next time.

Conclusion

Dear reader, if you have not read what is above, I want you remember one thing: consider taking exam like an investment, a long-term personal project. Every project needs a budget, resources, delays, and especially goals. Focus on your career goals and adapt them based on market needs and not trends! There is something else to remember: technology is not a deadpan thing, it evolves frequently. An expert today is a newbie tomorrow unless he learns new things.