Re: Certifications?

I have 8 years of RPG experience and no certifications. On top of that 
I have been away from the IT arena for 1 1/2 years due to a family 
situation. I have not been getting any response to resumes I have sent 
out. I know the time away may be a problem, but from what I'm reading 
it seems like lack of certifications may also be a problem. Where can I 
get information on taking the certifications and also any suggestions 
on getting back up to speed would be appreciated.

----- Original Message -----
From: Michael Ryan <michaelrtr@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tuesday, October 10, 2006 9:46 am
Subject: Re: Certifications?
To: Ken Berlin <Ken_Berlin@xxxxxxxx>
Cc: midrange-jobs@xxxxxxxxxxxx

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And that brings up a good point. If the person with the hiring 
authority is
an experienced iSeries person, especially one who has worked their 
way up
the ranks, they'll likely be less impressed by certifications. 
However, if
the hiring authority is not iSeries experienced, or there's a 
screeningauthority like an HR department, they'll likely look at a 
certification as a
way of determining if the person could work in that department.

So...I guess a certification can't hurt. I have one - I was bored 
at COMMON
one time when they were still doing the first certification free 
and I
wandered in the testing room. Oooh...I have/had another one...the 
AS/400Firewall...now that was a well thought out product.


On 10/10/06, Ken Berlin <Ken_Berlin@xxxxxxxx> wrote:

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I've been in IT, programming in RPG for over 30 years from the 

IBM 360

Model 20 through the System/3, through the System/38, and now on the
System I(AS/400).
I've been a manager, director, etc. I have never taken a 

certification> test, and at this point in my career, I have no 
intentions too.  Tests

are all well and good, but some people do better on written 

tests, and

not so well in practical application.
I think its up to the individual whether they think that it will be
worth their while.  When I hire someone, I look at the work 

experience,> problem solving technique, etc. long before I would 
look at whether they

are certified or not.

Ken Berlin
Financial Information Systems Manager
National Trust for Historic Preservation
Washington, DC




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An interesting thread was started on Slashdot about IT 

Certifications> 
(http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/10/06/0337209).>

I'm curious as to how valuable certifications are in the System i
market.

david
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