Seeking career guidance and certification advice from strangers

Numerous times over the years I have seen posts from individuals on forums asking for suggestions on which certification track they should pursue to kick-start their career. Sometimes these are from people looking to change careers …

Job Profile: So you want to be a network administrator

This feature first appeared in the Summer 2014 issue of Certification Magazine.

The ready availability of computers, the internet and computer networks has revolutionized the way we conduct business and communicate with one another. According to The Radicati Group’s Email Statistics Report, 2013-2017, released in April 2013, there were more than 3.9 billion email accounts worldwide …

Stand out from the IT crowd by refining these career skills

This feature first appeared in the Summer 2014 issue of Certification Magazine.

People often talk about how quickly things change. Look back even just a few years, and you’ll see how different things were then than they are now. Ask anyone under the age of 15 to make the sound of a phone’s busy …

Salary Survey PLUS — Cloud Computing

A favorite question among certification candidates is the one about the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow: How much money will I make after I finish this certification? There are several factors that determine salary, of course, but a good certification can be a strong argument for someone seeking a raise or …

Building an Interview: Find the right person for the job

In a prior CertMag article published June 2nd — How to train your assistant: Certification makes the minion — I was just starting the process of hiring a developer to act as my backup. The wheels have been turning slowly, but it has reached …

Is experience the most important arrow in your IT quiver?

It is tempting to state that job experience is universally acknowledged as the single most important factor when evaluating a candidate for a position as an Oracle Database Administrator. The universe is a really big place, however, and there is an exception to every rule. In 20 years of working with the Oracle database, I …