Certification (FYI)

人生无解

Certifications in all areas of IT consulting are becoming more prevalent, but which ones really make a difference in pay and hiring trends, here is the answer from new research and analysis at certmag.com and our own research into the 3,000+ new requests for IT consultants over the last year:

& ]6 E* S7 @6 v& |' zRoles where the right certification secures the position or increases the rate:

Security Specialist - CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professionals) Cisco Network Specialist - CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) Systems Administrator - MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer) Breakfix hardware technician - A+ SAP Functional Expert - SAP Certification in the module required i.e. FI/CO, MM, HR, PM
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8 }, B' j! d2 h, X* S1 ]6 ^. vRoles where certification can help:

Project Management - PMP (Certified Project Management Professional) Database Administrator - OCP (Oracle Certified Professional) Java developer SCJD (Sun Certified Java Developer)

Roles where certification really is not an influencing factor at all:

Business Analysis
Most Software Development
Quality Assurance
Technical/Web Writing
4 I; w0 W2 I( }7 QBusiness Intelligence
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' w, t! _+ b8 v# e& S: sThe top certifications for salary increase according to a recent 2005 survey by Certmag are:

MCSE+    - average $12,909 increase
MCT      - average $11,723 increase
CCNA     - average $9967 increase
CNE      - average $7262 increase
. |7 u% Q& F5 a, C' _! l* q% XMCP+     - average $7072 increase
  c  J& d+ t: n' E4 y# `CNA      - average $7061 increase
+ x8 l# f, k4 V5 ^Network+ - average $6487 increase
A+       - average $5134 increase

' H. ^8 ~) t/ m; O( ?. iThe only professional certification in Canada is the Information Systems Professional (I.S.P.) designation from CIPS. More information can be found at www.cips.ca/standards on this designation and the impact it can have on your marketability as a consultant.

1 \6 G! _3 q  jHumor
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$ G# X8 V3 W) `& ^Top 10 replies by programmers when their programs don't work:
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10. "That's weird..."
* S: \2 a. v3 ?' k1 R9. "It's never done that before."
8. "It worked yesterday."
7. "You must have the wrong version."
6. "It works, but it hasn't been tested."
) i1 u, [6 P" I. ]; s0 P5. "Somebody must have changed my code."
9 h/ E- l% i! a- x) h4. "Did you check for a virus?"
( c0 J! j' H/ t5 E; w3. "Where were you when the program blew up?"
2. "Why do you want to do it that way?"

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and finally ...

8 W! `3 U0 j4 A% u- n+ A" Z) }1. "I thought I fixed that."

xmTiger

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