I just read Eric Siebert’s Open Letter to VMware which inspired me to write this article. I have to disagree with his last suggestion: relaxing VCP requirements. His argument is that many admins can’t afford to take the training which is a prerequisite to taking the exam. I have to wonder why? I know it is not cheap costing around $3000 but most IT professionals can come up with money. There are several ways to accomplish this:
1. Paid for by employer
2. As a bonus for hiring on with a different employer
3. Use savings: set aside as much as you can from each paycheck and pay for it yourself
4. Use debt: get a credit card/get a loan
I’m sure there are others, but these are methods I’ve used over the years for every certification exam I’ve completed. Obviously, the first choice is ideal. Consider this: if your employer won’t pay for the training and the exam (if you pass), doesn’t that say something about them? I consider it one of those life lessons I’ve learned along the way: ask about the support you’ll get to continue your education during the interview! My experience is that businesses that are managed well and/or have a more mature IT organization know that it’s in their best interest to encourage the life-long learning of their employees. If your current or potential employer has no desire to do this, that should throw a mental red flag you should carefully consider. Note that I do not recommend immediately quitting your job(!), but this is one more piece of information that should be considered within the whole.
I know many will shutter at the thought of going into debt to pay for a training course. But one must consider the full scope of the situation. Why do most IT professionals what to achieve certification? To have some acronyms listed after their names on a business card? No, it’s to convey value they bring to an organization based on their skill-sets. It may help hiring managers narrow down potential candidates to interview for a position. It may help Joe Admin get recognized by his peers and earn him a promotion. The point is that the training should be worth $3000 to the student in that it helps him further his goals at some point in the near future. Financially, it should also help him pay back the loan or pay off the credit card much faster than would be otherwise possible.
An administrator should only get the training and take the exam if it is required for them to accomplish their long-term goals. This at least implies that the exam should be no less easy to take just as not every admin needs or wants to take it.
Which brings me to my next point: I think the exam should be harder, not easier! I enjoy the exclusivity that passing the exam brings. With the “multiple answers” format, it’s too easy for dishonest people to publish “brain dumps” with exact questions and answers they saw on the test. It’s even worse that thugs sell PDFs with many of these questions to losers that use these exclusively to pass the exam. It really brings down the value of the certification for everyone. Ever heard of “paper MCSE”? I worked with one many years ago I can tell you the guy didn’t know how to do his job – even when I asked him to carry out the simplest of tasks. And there are many more of those folks out there today. What a waste.
I can’t say I have a solution to this problem. I dream of a day when testing methods become more robust in that they are better able to signify that the certificate holder knows their stuff. The VCDX may go a long way towards achieving this dream. In the meantime, I can highly recommend taking the course and the exam as the VCP is probably the hottest certification in the IT industry.
My VCP number is 001711.
1. Paid for by employer
2. As a bonus for hiring on with a different employer
3. Use savings: set aside as much as you can from each paycheck and pay for it yourself
4. Use debt: get a credit card/get a loan
I’m sure there are others, but these are methods I’ve used over the years for every certification exam I’ve completed. Obviously, the first choice is ideal. Consider this: if your employer won’t pay for the training and the exam (if you pass), doesn’t that say something about them? I consider it one of those life lessons I’ve learned along the way: ask about the support you’ll get to continue your education during the interview! My experience is that businesses that are managed well and/or have a more mature IT organization know that it’s in their best interest to encourage the life-long learning of their employees. If your current or potential employer has no desire to do this, that should throw a mental red flag you should carefully consider. Note that I do not recommend immediately quitting your job(!), but this is one more piece of information that should be considered within the whole.
I know many will shutter at the thought of going into debt to pay for a training course. But one must consider the full scope of the situation. Why do most IT professionals what to achieve certification? To have some acronyms listed after their names on a business card? No, it’s to convey value they bring to an organization based on their skill-sets. It may help hiring managers narrow down potential candidates to interview for a position. It may help Joe Admin get recognized by his peers and earn him a promotion. The point is that the training should be worth $3000 to the student in that it helps him further his goals at some point in the near future. Financially, it should also help him pay back the loan or pay off the credit card much faster than would be otherwise possible.
An administrator should only get the training and take the exam if it is required for them to accomplish their long-term goals. This at least implies that the exam should be no less easy to take just as not every admin needs or wants to take it.
Which brings me to my next point: I think the exam should be harder, not easier! I enjoy the exclusivity that passing the exam brings. With the “multiple answers” format, it’s too easy for dishonest people to publish “brain dumps” with exact questions and answers they saw on the test. It’s even worse that thugs sell PDFs with many of these questions to losers that use these exclusively to pass the exam. It really brings down the value of the certification for everyone. Ever heard of “paper MCSE”? I worked with one many years ago I can tell you the guy didn’t know how to do his job – even when I asked him to carry out the simplest of tasks. And there are many more of those folks out there today. What a waste.
I can’t say I have a solution to this problem. I dream of a day when testing methods become more robust in that they are better able to signify that the certificate holder knows their stuff. The VCDX may go a long way towards achieving this dream. In the meantime, I can highly recommend taking the course and the exam as the VCP is probably the hottest certification in the IT industry.
My VCP number is 001711.
