What Certifications Are Worth The Time And Money?

PO2 Carl W. — Tue, 01 Apr 2014 12:29:12 -0400

I am trying to move from system administrator to management. What certifications (civillian) are worth the time and money?

I have heard over and over that MSCE certs are a waste of time. What other certifications say "Wow, this person really knows what they are doing!"?

Response by LTC Jason Strickland made Apr 1 at 2014 1:06 PM

LTC Jason Strickland — Tue, 01 Apr 2014 13:06:26 -0400

Carl, It depends on what you're trying to accomplish. Moving into a management position, it will help to have familiarity with those under you with specific certifications. Demonstrating that you've managed and led with specific credentials is easier than w/o such certifications. I wouldn't waste time getting a certification just to manage that skill set...too costly and time consuming.

Response by PO2 John Crutchfield made Apr 2 at 2014 12:09 AM

PO2 John Crutchfield — Wed, 02 Apr 2014 00:09:55 -0400

I would start with the IT Infrastructure Library/IT Service Management, then move on to Project Management Professional or Certified Information Systems Security Professional. It depends on what kind of management you're talking about. I've been out of the private industry for some time, but both the PMP and the CISSP show that you know what you're doing. ITIL/ITSM is important because it shows that you understand the practices within IT Service Management. PMP would be great cert to have under your belt for general IT management. CISSP would be good in a security restricted environment.

Response by CPO Freddy Paquian made Apr 2 at 2014 4:52 PM

CPO Freddy Paquian — Wed, 02 Apr 2014 16:52:40 -0400

The best thing to do is to go to indeed.com and type in IT Manager, and read the job descripitions. Some say required XXXX and others say prefer XXXX. Every company has it's own Organizational structure.

Response by CPL John Stockton made Apr 11 at 2014 5:05 PM

CPL John Stockton — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 17:05:21 -0400

As others are saying, PMP is a great certification if you are wanting to be a project manager. Depending on the company and Industry there are others like Six Sigma that may be desired as well.

The technical certifications can be good when you are an implementer but when you move up to management they don't mean much. My company, Avanade, requires our analysts and consultants to have current Microsoft certifications, but once you hit manager level that requirement goes away.