Best IT Certification to get from Job Prospective.

atmmusa

Hello,

I have been working in IT sector for good few years now.
I am basically working in Helpdesk but I want to progress further on.

Now my question is what is the best certification to get from Job/Salary prospective at the moment.

I have though of 3 options,

1st option
MCPD: Web, Windows & Enterprise Applications Developer on 2.0

2nd Option

MCITP: Database Developer & Database Administrator
&
Oracle OCA & OCP DBA 10G

Now I want to do either the full 1st Option or either the 2nd Option in full.

Now can you explain what are the Job prospective for either of the field.
Can someone give me an idea what sort of Salary I can expect if I do either of the options?

Your replies are much appreciated.

Ginger

Righty then

3 distinct tracks there!

Firstly have you a programming background. The MCPD is a heavy certification coming from a helpdesk environment. It requires quite a bit of work even when you have experience in the .NET Framework.

Job prospects, with the MCPD are ok, if you have the experience to back it up. Main thing is developers are predominately evaluated on their experience/portfolio and then usually on technical merits

Now you have 2 different Database tracks (and 2 more again within the MS SQL arena)

The Database Admin is just that, it is designed for those individuals who manage mid to large size database servers and clusters. It is concerned with security, database maintainence and all that stuff.

The Database Dev is a bit different. Its a specialist developer certification. Whereas the MCPD is predominately concerned with the .NET framework, the DBD is a based around SQL & SRSS and the development of SQL solutions such as highly optimised queries, custom functions and other such things.

I am not overly familar with the OCA/OCP but I am guessing that it is something similar to what is described above.

So if you give us a better idea of background, plans, resources, timelines etc I can give you a better idea of where to go

To be honest, I would see progression to MCITP: Server Admin / Enterprise Admin as better paths from the point of view that you are already involved in the support/infrastructure side of things.

Changing into a development focussed role will be difficult tho not impossible.

atmmusa

Hello ginger, thanks 4 your quick reply,

The thing is I have good knowledge in both Database and Development.

So I want to progress my career on any of the sector.
If it is Databse I want it to be both Microsoft and Oracle based.

Or else I would like to go go for MCPD in all the 3 sector i mentioned.

I know it is ambitous but I want to proceed in any of this 2 sector. But I want to know on Job prospective which is the best 1 to choose. What sort of salary I can expect on any of the sectors.

your reply is appreciated.

Ginger

HI again

It is very very very (did I say very!) rare to see a person with certifications on SQL for both Oracle and Microsoft especially if you are looking for both Developer and Admin sides of the house.

I say this because the amount of time and energy to get certified in one technology stack is quite large and requires a decent amount of knowledge and experience.

To have both would mean usually working in a fairly sized data warehousing provider or ISP.

So I wouldnt really recommend you doing that. Pick one stack and work with it.

Ok can i details of your database and programming backgrounds and possibly work/experience to date. This will help me better to give you a better and more informed answer otherwise it is just a case of saying you might do this or this.

donaghs

Its probably not what you want to hear, but the best qualification of all is a Computer Science degree from a recognised university. It can be done part-time, full-time or at night. I know people who've done this in their 30s.

I only did a post-grad diploma in IT, and feel I could have moved up the ladder much further initially if I had had a full degree.

Easier option, to work up form the helpdesk you can't go wrong with some MS certs - server, vista etc (unless its a non-Windows environment).

Trine

donaghs wrote: »

Its probably not what you want to hear, but the best qualification of all is a Computer Science degree from a recognised university. It can be done part-time, full-time or at night.

Hi donaghs, can you recommend any particular course/college for part-time/night?

ntlbell

There's no point thinking about money as different areas will demand more money at different times.

Do what interests you most the money will follow

atmmusa

Thanks 4 every1s reply.
I know the money will follow, all i meant was that 2 courses i mentioned both interest me but not sure which 1 2 go for. so that's y jus took the money prospective u know.

Ginger

There is a new salary cert survey resultset out. I posted most of the details on my blog.. too lazy to retype!

Tom Dunne

Ginger wrote: »

I am not overly familar with the OCA/OCP but I am guessing that it is something similar to what is described above

I am pursuing it at the moment, and it is pretty much what you describe.

Ginger wrote: »

It is very very very (did I say very!) rare to see a person with certifications on SQL for both Oracle and Microsoft especially if you are looking for both Developer and Admin sides of the house.

I agree 100%. I have worked both on SQL server (a few years back) and currently work on Oracle. I am specialising in Oracle at the moment. Doing what are essentially four different jobs is not the industry norm.

Trine wrote: »

Hi donaghs, can you recommend any particular course/college for part-time/night?

It depends on where you are located. The vast majority of Institute of Technologies/Universities do part-time, evening courses. Check out their website.