Conversation Starter: What do certs mean to you?

Over the years, I have had an “on again, off again” relationship with IT certifications. I tend to take what I think is a long time to prepare, and I’m not a fan of failing when I have dedicated so much time to preparation. I won’t say that my reasoning for pursuing certifications has changed over the years, but rather evolved. My reasoning started with trying to advance my career and get that next job. While that reasoning continues, I have also added the concept of certifications as an “insurance policy”. The primary goal of my career is to be able to provide for my family. If that worse case scenario were to happen and I need a new job tomorrow, I want as much as I can put on my resume to help it float to the top of the stack with hiring companies, and I believe that certifications are a part of that. I still believe that knowledge and experience are key, which you can have without certifications, but I want that “insurance”.

I would say that career insurance and progression are my main reasons for pursuing certifications as this point in my career. That being said, there were multiple times over that last ten or so years that I wasn’t sure if that was enough. Was learning the certification curriculum for the given cert the best way to learn applicable skills to my current job or the next one that I wanted? This is where I think it’s important to do at least a bit of high level planning. I think you need to know what you want out of a certification and the training that comes with it to decide if knowing that curriculum is “enough” for you to be satisfied. For now and the immediate future, I’ve decided to be focused on Cisco Enterprise technologies. Between CCNA and now CCNP studies, I have been happy with what is in the curriculum. I am learning things in the curriculum that I didn’t know in depth before, but are applicable to my current role. That is very rewarding for me and is part of what makes this whole process worth it.

I would love to hear what your reasoning is to, or to not, pursue IT certifications. I think there is a lot of good conversation around this topic.