A Guideline on IT Industry qualification

Certificates are not only something that you can hang on the wall or add a pretty nice prefix to your name card but it demonstrate that you are professor in a particular field. This article is generally provide you some basic views about well known IT certifications.

There are plenty of certificates from different vendors, so probably your first question is what should I get first? Which one is more valuable? In 2006, CertCities.com did a survey for the top 10 hottest IT certificate [Nagel, 2006]:

10 Linux Professional Institute Certification, Level 2(LPIC 2)
9 System Security Certified Practitioner (SSCP)
8 MCSE: Security
7 Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP)
6 Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE)
4 Cisco Certified Security Professional (CCSP)
4 Project Management Professional (PMP)
3 Microsoft Certified Architect
2 Microsoft Certified Technical Specialist: SQL & .NET

The top prize goes to
1 Red Hat Certified Engineer

Another ranking is provided by About.com, the researcher did a survey to get feedback from certification readers about what they are looking towards the next stage [Reuscher, 2007]. The result shows on below:

10 Cisco CCDA
9 PMP
9 Microsoft MCDBA
8 Microsoft MCP
7 CISSP
6 Microsoft MCSD
5 Microsoft MCSE
5 CompTIA A+
4 CompTIA Network+
4 Microsoft MCSA
3 Cisco CCIE
2 Cisco CCNA
1 Cisco CCNP


Although, there are slightly differences in between, but it is not difficult to found that Microsoft and Cisco certs are still monopolise the market. As a beginner, you only need to think about what will be your direction (Programmer, Network Administrator, Security Engineer, etc.)? The start point could be:

Operating System: MCP or LPI (Subject Code: 70-270/70-290 or 117-101 + 117-102)

Networking (Telecommunication): CCNA or CompTIA Network+ (Subject Code: 640-801 or NE0-003)

Information Security: CompTIA Security+ (Subject Code: SY0-101)

Database Management: MCTS-SQL or MySQL Core (Subject Code: 70-431 or 001-003)

Programming: SCJP (Subject Code: 310-055)

Information Management: ITIL Foundation (Subject Code: EX0-100)

Project Management: PMI CAPM, Project+ (PK0-002)

Hardware: CompTIA A+ (220-301)

I wish you all can aim an IT cert now...~~~~~

Nagel, B., (2006) "CertCities.com's Hottest Certifications for 2006." available on: http://certcities.com/editorial/features/story.asp?EditorialsID=95

Reuscher, D., (2007) "Top Ten Certifications to get in 2006." available on: http://certification.about.com/od/toppicks/tp/topfor2006.htm