In-demand Certifications. Resume Fodder?

From Dice.com:

• PMP: By earning the Project Management Professional certification, technology professionals prove they have the knowledge and skills necessary to shepherd projects to a successful conclusion, on-time, on-budget, and using the resources allocated.

• MCSE: have shown they can design, implement and administer technology infrastructures using Microsoft 2000 Windows Server and other Windows server platforms. Sought by systems engineers, technical support engineers, system analysts, network analysts and technical consultants, the MCSE is for professionals who spend their time maintaining the basic platforms on which so much business is conducted.

• A +: This vendor-neutral certification from CompTIA is a standard for tech-support technicians. By earning it, they've shown they can install networks, conduct preventative maintenance, secure them and troubleshoot them.

• CCNA: Cisco Certified Network Associates have the ability to install, configure, run and troubleshoot medium-sized routed and switched networks. They've also proven themselves with security and wireless basics, and their ability to work with a number of protocols. Slightly more than 650 available job opportunities request the CCNA designation.

• MCP: Microsoft Certified Professionals include developers, trainer, system architects and other tech professionals who want to spotlight their expertise with a range of Microsoft technologies.

• Network +: Another certification from CompTIA, the Network+ proves a technician's competency in managing, maintaining, troubleshooting, installing and configuring basic network infrastructures. It's included in certification programs of tech leaders like Microsoft, Novell, Cisco and H-P.

• CISSP: Globally recognized as a standard for expertise, five years of experience in information security are needed before a professional can earn this certification.

• MCSA: The Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator certification allows tech professionals to show off their expertise in systems administration and troubleshooting networks that use the Windows Server operating environment. It's earned by systems administrators, network administrators, information systems administrators, network operations analysts, network technicians, and technical support specialists, among others.

• ITIL: The three-tier ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) certification demonstrates the expertise of professionals in tech management. Public and private organizations use the ITIL as compendium of IT operational best practices. The Foundation Certificate shows a basic knowledge of ITIL terminology, Service Support and Service Delivery. The Practitioner Certificate demonstrates an understanding and ability to apply specific processes within IT Service Management. The Manager's Certificate is obtained by demonstrating expertise in overseeing service management functions.

• Security +: The CompTIA Security+ certification demonstrates knowledge of system security, network infrastructure, access control and organizational security all important areas at a time when companies are investing real money to keep their technology platforms safe from cyber security threats.

How to write an elevator pitch.

Essentially, you have 30 seconds to make an impression about yourself and the service you are selling.

Break the talk into three sections:

- Did you know? A description of the problem your service addresses
- What you do? A description of the service you are providing
- A resolution of the service. Why is your service valuable?

This Website's Elevator Pitch

Do you know that the engineering field will be stocked with more freelance labor and contract jobs? This trend is due to quicker design cycles and the uneconomical aspect of large staffs of engineering staff for corporations. Engineers today need to be flexible and have a high-level view of all aspects of engineering. These aspects include: tools used in engineering, job hunting, marketing, free tools and techniques to complete projects, and emerging skill sets.

What I am doing to solve this problem is provide an information clearinghouse to help engineers or technical types develop skills in a rapidly changing environment. I hope to build a community where people can share tips and tricks to help build each other for a more decentralized environment engineers will have operate in. www.Technicalcontractjobs.com will supply this clearinghouse for engineers to help provide them a look ahead and tips for the rapidly changing engineering environment.

This service is valuable because, I will condense and provide an early look-ahead of new emerging technologies and services. Things are moving so fast in the engineering sector that keeping your head down only a few months will mean that trends may change and leave people behind.

Announcement from CompTIA

In previous posts, you know I have been getting several certifications. In late January, CompTIA announced that they are making A+, Network+, and Security+ lifetime certifications as long as you have them by the end of Calendar Year 2010.

The link is below.

CompTIA Link

I am not trying to sell anything here, but some jobs use these certifications as prerequisites.

Pass Red Hat Certified Technician - RHCT

I've been out of the loop for a while and I'm trying to get more articles out to ease the backlog. I promise to get some programming articles up soon. First, I will go through the .NET introduction and getting started with C#.

Today, I want to go through the steps that will help you pass the RHCT exam. This is the information I based my preparation on.

A Description of the RH133 class that will help you pass the exam (depending on the instructor) is here:
https://www.redhat.com/courses/guide/

Some more information of what will be gone over in the RH133 class is listed here:
https://www.redhat.com/courses/rh133_red_hat_linux_system_administration_and_rhct_exam/details/

The real meat and potatoes of what you need to know for the RHCT Certification exists here:
https://www.redhat.com/certification/rhct/prep_guide/

From the above link:
"The RHCT exam is a subset of the RHCE exam delivered separately. Effective May 1, 2009, this exam is a single section lasting 2.0 hours. Previously, it had been two sections lasting a combined 3.0 hours. Consolidation and reorganization have made it possible to cover the same material more efficiently."

What this means is that this is not a written test. You will be tasked to perform the tasks listed in the above RHCT preparation guide. What I recommend doing to help in your preparation:

1) Take each item in the RHCT list and put them on top of an engineering piece of paper.
2) Start building a "how-to" on each item on the list
- list relevant commands
- common switches
- examples
3) Create a Red Hat Enterprise Linux box or Fedora box
4) Go through several times your "how-to" list with the Linux box to make sure you know how to do everything on the RHCT prep guide

This should get you well down the road to passing the RHCT exam without taking the RH133 class. I would recommend the class, if you are relatively new to the Linux game. If you want to save the money and just get the cert, follow the above steps and you should be in very good shape.

Interesting Articles

CNN has posted a couple of articles that I found interesting and are related to this website.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/worklife/01/07/on.the.go.office/index.html

This first article is related to the fact that office space is no longer a fixed area. More and more people are supporting companies on the go and no longer supported by infrastructure that is supplied by a corporation. It talks about some of the pitfalls and advantages. News Media is definitely a lagging indicator of where things are headed. CNN featuring the contract job life means that it is becoming more and more prevalent.


http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/worklife/01/04/cb.fix.networking.methods/
index.html

This second article talks about networking and its importance in our careers. In engineering, there seems to be an aversion to the social aspect of the job and focus on the tools to complete the job. If there is going to be a more contract job aspect to the engineering field, I believe the social aspect of the job will be even more important due to dealing with clients and business development.