At the beginning of 2020 I chose to map out my learning plan for the year. I was very deliberate about this and while I did plan on gaining certifications I also identified important areas which I believe I would benefit from the knowledge as well.
My quest has led me to do a number of what would be called “basic” certifications. I have been in IT for over 10 years and worked on many projects as a Senior Engineer and for many these certs would be considered “not worth it”, “below me” or even “Useless or Pointless”. This however is the path I have chosen for myself, at least for now. I have made a list of reasons of why I think pursuing these is useful and worthwhile.
- I Don’t Have Them – The value of certification is really in having them. When looking at the certs I currently have/had there was nothing in cloud, or linux. This means I have no real proof of validating my skill in this area. At the end of pursuing these, I will have something. It may be small but its better than nothing.
- Foundation Certs Teach Foundation Skills – I am a firm believer in getting the basics/foundations down before anything. I frequently encounter people who have many years in IT and are lost in the basics. They know how to do tasks from following steps but they have no understanding of the underlying technologies that their work is based on. They can get stuff working but have a really hard time troubleshooting or getting things done when things change. I really don’t want to be like that, and my studying for basic certs reveal gaps in my knowledge. I am doing basic certs to be certain, at least for myself that I have a certain level of foundational knowledge.
- I Like Baby Steps – When doing my CCNA, I took the two step route. At the time you could get your CCENT and then after a successful pass do the ICND2 to get your CCNA. I know that this is a thing of the past but I really felt allot more comfortable with taking small steps at a time. It validated that I learned something, and even gave me confidence that I could move on to bigger things. Who doesn’t like easy every once in a while.
- Its Cheap – Yes, money is a factor. Some of the more advanced certifications cast in the region of USD400+. A simple comparison is this: LPI Linux Essentials cost me $69 while the Comptia Linux + would cost about $399 and let’s not even talk about the RHCA. For me, the fact that I can actually get a cert for so cheap is a justifiable win.
- They Are Valid for Life – Many IT certifications expire after a number of years. This is because so much changes really quickly. Because basic certs only cover the basics, that fundamental information is really not likely to change. They can therefore be valid for longer than more advanced ones. This is again a win for me because it gives me a really nice base to build on. I can validate my knowledge on subjects that I may use less frequently without the headache of having to re-cert every few years.
What are your thoughts on this? Do you think my thinking is sound? Let me know in the comments.
