As I briefly mentioned before, most Linux and UNIX admin positions are completely dismissive of certifications. I used the RHCE as an example of a certification that proves competency, not as a bragging point for Linux/UNIX. You can replace "RHCE" with "CCIE" or better if you'd like, or any other cert that (IIRC) requires a hands-on portion of testing graded by experts.

All that aside, market value and the competency of the cert holder are often two different measurements... I'd like to see them become one measurement, then made available for public inspection for each candidate.

Let me explain this: I'd like to see the actual test results of this new testing regimen as publicly searchable and viewable online by anyone... that way, employers know that they're getting more than just someone with an acronym on their name. Instead, they are getting a more exact measurement of how well a candidate did, and can confidently choose among the best scorers, and base your salary negotiations accordingly.

This may rightly scare a lot of MCSE's, but I myself do not fear this, and neither should anyone else who knows more than just the textbooks... it would give a lot of folks a decided advantage in negotiating salary, and the paper tigers get a well deserved rejection letter, depending on the market for MCSE's.

See, if you know what you're doing in a Windows environment, you will command a much higher salary (due to the higher scores) than the typical 'Troy-Tech junkie' ever will. This is because a hands-on graded testing regimen complete with design, implementation, and troubleshooting can prove cluefulness more than a simple battery of questions ever will, and it adds a decidedly different dimension to competing, which makes the clueful admin's CV stand out better, while the paper tigers get binned. As it is now the acronym "MCSE" can equally apply to both types, and if the paper tiger is clever with the buzzwords, the typical HR droids will rarely know the difference.

The only trick is to make the testing standardized in ability level, yet diverse enough so that even if a candidate brain-dumped his/her way through it, the candidate would at least come out of it knowing how to actually do the stuff, and not just hoping to just click their way to a solution should something go wrong.

As for actual value (which started this spiel), I submit that the typical MCSE position is paid a whole lot less than the largely cert-less *ix admin positions, and *ix doesn't really bother with certs. But value can be looked at in more ways than one, yes? :)

/P

/P

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