IT Certifications and Careers (Official Discussion Thread)

[aixenv]

As irrelevant ppl might assume gender is in the workplace, it is an issue... Do any of y'all know successful women who are in IT (other than graphic design) and do you think it might be more difficult for a women to get into (or be taken seriously) that industry? I'm asking because it tends to be a male dominated career. I am currently in school studying CS. Am I wasting my time?

if you have game, game speaks for itself

that being said, ive run into a few females who knew their stuff, most computer/IT people wouldn't know what to do with a woman if you paid them, so there really isnt the normal gender bias you'd see, i think most of the dudes would just be amazed a chick was sitting next to them in the cafeteria

dont let sex, race , economics ever get in your way, if you have drive, passion and a brain to retain all this rift raft you can go far, it matters not whether you're a guy or gal (which is good) but that being said that doesnt mean it's common, so much respect to you, do what you wanna do, dont let anyone tell you different

 

[aixenv]

The DBA at my workplace is female.

In IT from what I've witnessed over the past four years working in it gender doesn't matter much. More guys tend to go into IT because it's hands-on geek type stuff that guys are interested in. Very few women I know are interested in IT/technology type things. That's why it looks lopsided I think.

When I worked at Hostgator the male:female ratio was like 3:1 lol.

But if you can sell yourself better during an interview and have the experience and credentials to back it up then I don't see why a woman wouldn't get hired.

listen to this man, he speaks the truth.com

 

[Data-Hawk]

Yeah, If anything we welcome more females.i dont think you'll have a Problem.

 

[JT-Money]

i've been working in federal IT since 2007. been on my current job for two years. i will say that i'm in the DC area, and this area hasn't felt the recession hit like other areas.

regarding cutbacks.... i can't call it -- i'm not seeing any. the company i was with before my current company wasn't seeing any cutbacks....company i'm with now definitely isn't seeing any.

If your in the DC area that's an completely different ball game especially if you've got an clearance. I knew an guy who sucked at IT and couldn't keep an job but after relocating to the DC area is now making close to 6 figures. That place is definitively not the norm when it comes to IT employment.

 

[JT-Money]

As irrelevant ppl might assume gender is in the workplace, it is an issue... Do any of y'all know successful women who are in IT (other than graphic design) and do you think it might be more difficult for a women to get into (or be taken seriously) that industry? I'm asking because it tends to be a male dominated career. I am currently in school studying CS. Am I wasting my time?

In the private sector I didn't encounter too many female IT worker bees. But my last 3 employers all had women running the IT Department. Federal IT jobs tend to have tons of women and the ratio is almost equal between men and women especially in the Navy.

 

[Akuma]

What is the value of Oracle certs, I see SQL, infrastructure and database?

What is the minimum cert path to take to add a decent Oracle gig?

 

[aixenv]

What is the value of Oracle certs, I see SQL, infrastructure and database?

What is the minimum cert path to take to add a decent Oracle gig?

There's a few paths, oracle is still used by some companies, it's crazy expensive, but if you are good with anything there's usually a niche somewhere, that being said just never put all your eggs in 1 basket

1) Oracle Certified Expert, Oracle Real Application Clusters 11g and Grid Infrastructure Administrator
2) Oracle Database 11g Administrator Certified Associate
3) Oracle Database 11g Administrator Certified Master
4) Oracle Database 11g Administrator Certified Professional
5) Oracle Database 11g Performance Tuning Certified Expert

link describing the paths:

Oracle University Select country

select: Database Administrator > Database > Oracle Database > Oracle Database 11g

 

[Luken]

User Support Specialist - Mississauga / Peel Region Computer Programming Jobs - Kijiji Mississauga / Peel Region Canada.

hopefully i get this

unemployment is depressing.

 

[aixenv]

User Support Specialist - Mississauga / Peel Region Computer Programming Jobs - Kijiji Mississauga / Peel Region Canada.

hopefully i get this

unemployment is depressing.

everyone has been there, ive been there, and now im #2 in a multi-million dollar company (not trying to brag, im trying to inspire) around 9/11 the IT economy was in the trash and there were a lot of brilliant people doing other jobs, hell i worked at walmart at night unloading semis to keep food on the table for my kids during that dark period, you gotta do what you gotta do, all along though i was self teaching myself to better my position in life

even if you are on unemployment (or just simply jobless) continue to expand your mind, read books, do what you can to have a network/computer lab at home, use cisco simulators (simply software) and do what you can to hone your craft, go practice interviews (that is an art in and of itself), go interview anyone you get asked to, even just phone interviews, learn what questions are asked, and how to be respond

stay positive, make the right moves, dont burn bridges and continue to evolve/grow and NEVER put all your eggs in 1 basket and if you have the God given aptitude to grasp/understand this IT gig plus the mental focus to apply those skills, you will always land on your feet

 

[ahomeplateslugger]

dont want to be negative, and anytime you get a cert that's great, but network + is almost like having an a + it's an old and not even valued cert

I would not waste your time with CompTIA (that's my 2c, take it for what its worth, i have that cert but that was eons ago when it mattered, now not so much)

if you have a desire to do networking start with

ICND1

https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/community/certifications/ccent/icnd1?view=overview

props sir. i guess ill just finish studying my network+ then pick up the CCENT and study to pass that. my goal is system administrator so i was planning on getting my network+, security+ then focusing on my microsoft certs.

what do you recommend? what would you do if you were in my shoes?

 

[aixenv]

props sir. i guess ill just finish studying my network+ then pick up the CCENT and study to pass that. my goal is system administrator so i was planning on getting my network+, security+ then focusing on my microsoft certs.

what do you recommend? what would you do if you were in my shoes?

dont even focus on microsoft at all unless you want to do microsoft network administration, i would say you sound more networking centric, learn the basics

network interconnection
osi model
TCP/IP model (understanding packets/analyzing packets)
IPv4/IPv6
topologys
differences between intranet and internet
OSPF
ICMP
NAT/PAT
client/server networking
peer-to-peer networking
network architectures (fast eth, 10gbit, etc)
WAN/LAN/MAN
iptables/ipf - understanding packet filters
switches/routers
VLANS

using linux is a good base to start too, setup apache, postfix, mysql, maybe go throught he steps of setting up a wordpress site or something, and then setup iptables with a firewall

 

[Regular Developer]

I've gotta say, going into IT, i've found the most respectful share of people to work with. I can honestly say I haven't met or heard any stories of racism amongst IT folks.

But there's a couple different branches of IT you can get into. There's tech support, security, straight up programmers, and consulting, all of which are different, even though they deal with computers. I'm currently doing regular programming work, but I definitely feel like a consultant. (This is all just stuff i formulated from job experience, so chime in if you know better.) I admire the first three because they can do some amazing work. But as far as consulting, the technology part is only a portion of it. You also have to actually be able to communicate with non-tech people and translate their issue and processes into algorithms to allow their businesses to excel. Me, personally, I enjoy that part. And the thing about it is, if you can learn the shyt out of an industry (such as healthcare, law, financial, etc.), the list of jobs you'll be doing is endless, as long as your willing to work using different technologies.

</pointless rant>

Just wanna big up all my fellow minority IT professionals. and well my ninjas

 

[gldnone913]

If your in the DC area that's an completely different ball game especially if you've got an clearance. I knew an guy who sucked at IT and couldn't keep an job but after relocating to the DC area is now making close to 6 figures. That place is definitively not the norm when it comes to IT employment.

@ the sublime. i will say i've worked with some folks that have no clue what they're doing.

 

[No Homo]

Just wanna big up all my fellow minority IT professionals. and well my ninjas

 

[Silver Surfer]

@ the sublime. i will say i've worked with some folks that have no clue what they're doing.

Im gonna be making it up there soon