certifications value

[GeorgeS]

I would like to know what you think?
Recently i meet and work with a lot of people who have ccnp or even claiming that are studying for CCIE or generally an equivalent exam/lvl but many of them are not good at all.
1) have the certs lost their values?
2) renewing certs (what a pain, especially if you have 2 or 3 vendors)
3) is it really worth to hunt certs after one point in your career? IF you can prove the knowledge then whats the reason? I mean, you can study, improve yourself and your knowledge but why to give the exam!

[Reggle]

It's a personal thing. I keep hunting certs because I want to. Especially the CCIE, should I obtain it one day. I'd place it above a fireplace and be like 'I shot that one myself'. As for value: it gets me through the HR wall. The actual interview demonstrates your skills.

I also use them to push myself to learn comprehensively, instead of just the few tidbits in networking that interest me.

[deanwebb]

Good questions. Like Reggle said, the cert will get me through the HR wall. That's why I keep my CCNA and CCENT on my LinkedIn page. If the job description says, "Preferred certifications: CCENT, CCNA, CCNP, and/or CCIE", then I've got 3 out of 4 of those, as far as HR thinks. The guy with the CCIE only has one, so clearly, I'm more qualified...

There are a LOT of dumpers out there. It's very discouraging, but when I see a cert on a resume, all it really tells me is that the guy showed up one day to take a test and found a way to get a passing score. In the interview, I get to find out if he actually studied and has experience or if he only memorized a set of responses for the short term.

To me, though, it's a matter of keeping myself professionally presentable. I will keep renewing my CCNP and, when I get my CISSP, I will keep that one up, as well. I let my MCSE expire because I was teaching at the time and, if I was to return to IT, I reckoned I'd go with networking instead of being a sysadmin again. Will I go for CCIE? Not in security, I won't. If I worked for a VAR and my boss told me to start passing more tests, I'd do it. If I worked for the vendor, I'd have it inside of six weeks of hire.

But, in the world of just working for the corporation, all I need is a Cisco cert to keep doors open at other places. If I ever wanted to go to work for a vendor, I'd focus on those certs and not much more. If I went to work for a VAR, I'd probably be the guy on the payroll that did nothing but take and pass tests to keep Gold Partner status...

[Otanx]

It really is a personal choice. In my little niche of the world we all know each other, and who you know is more important than certs. However, to start out in the junior positions the basic certs will get interviews. Then once you are in you will make those personal connections. There is also a lot of truth to the re-certification treadmill. Especially if you work/certify on multiple vendors. My CCNP is every three years, CEH is every three years, etc. I took the SANS 502 class which has a certification that goes with it, but I didn't both with the exam. It would be another test every three years. However, I would like to one day get my CCIE just as a personal goal.

As Dean said there are a lot of dumpers out there. Even those certification you think can't or wouldn't be cheated on are. I had thought for a long time that the CCIE was impossible to cheat on. You have to do a hands on lab. You can't cheat that. Then I found out that there is a way to cheat, and even though to me it seems like more work to cheat than just learn the material people are doing it. Never judge a skill set of someone based on what certs they hold. I have learned to see what they can do before I make a judgement. I have also learned to check that someone really holds a cert they say they do. I can't count the number of interviews we have done where someone listed a cert, and then when asked we find out they don't really have it, they are "studying for it" or "it expired, but I could get it again".

-Otanx

[dlots]

As much as I would like to say a cert without the knowlage behind it is useless that's not the case, I can say that as we had a "CCNP" who couldn't figure out the cable was unplugged after 2 weeks of work on the system, but IMO they have 2 sets of value. 
1.) they get you past HR and get you an interview as others have said.
2.) IMO the value they offer that not many people think about is all the exposure to technologies and ideas that you wouldn't have had access to before.

I'll be honest when I study for a cert my goal isn't to be able to configure a technology 3 years down the road, but to be able to tell you the basics of the technology, and to know it's strengths, limitations, and when to or not to implement it.  For specifics I can look it up.

[wintermute000]

Good questions. Like Reggle said, the cert will get me through the HR wall. That's why I keep my CCNA and CCENT on my LinkedIn page. If the job description says, "Preferred certifications: CCENT, CCNA, CCNP, and/or CCIE", then I've got 3 out of 4 of those, as far as HR thinks. The guy with the CCIE only has one, so clearly, I'm more qualified...

Really? I don't do that. I figure if HR at that company is so incompetent and the actual hiring department is not motivated/clued in enough to fix this, then I don't want to work there. Also, that practice personally irritates me and I'm sure it will irritate someone else