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Article:
The Hidden Benefit Of Computer Certification by: Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933 The web is covered with stories regarding the benefits of professional computer certification, and most of them are backed up with salary surveys and the like. While there's certainly nothing wrong with making more money and having better job prospects, there's one benefit of certification that many candidates forget about. Confidence. You can't pay your rent with confidence; you can't pay for gas with confidence; you can't pay for ANYTHING with confidence, right? So who cares, right? Wrong. The confidence you build from truly earning a certification, whether it's an MCSE, CCNA, or CCIE, cannot be purchased, borrowed, or stolen. It has to be earned. What do I mean by 'truly earned'¯? First, I'm referring to those little documents out there generally referred to as 'braindumps'¯. If you buy one of these things and happen to skate by a certification exam, did you learn anything? No. Did you learn anything? No. Are you going to be effective on the job? No. As I tell my students, when you're standing in front of a server or router that isn't working, and all eyes are on you to troubleshoot the problem, the correct answer is not 'B'¯. There is no multiple choice. Secondly, I'm referring to the hope that the certification you earn was earned by taking a demanding exam. Now, you're probably thinking 'okay, Chris has lost his mind. I should HOPE the test is demanding?'¯ Yes, you should. There's nothing more useless than earning a certification that's easy to get. There's no feeling of pride, of achievement; furthermore, if everyone else has that certification, what value does it have? I can speak from experience on this one. Those of you relatively new to the field may never have used NT 4.'0
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