RHCE Oops!

[Grant Young]

I think the RHCE is among the best of the lot but I think certs remain a
marketing tool rather than a skill validation.

The biggest problem I see with the RHCE is that it's pretty much an all
or nothing situation.  You pay your $750, drop in on the last day of a
week long course where everyone else, including the instructor have been
bonding over aceing the exam, and then hope you can accomplish a large
set of tasks under rather severe time pressure.  Then, you might get a
consolation prize of the RHCT if you don't pass the whole ball of wax by
some opaque scoring system that automatically totes things up.  Oh, and
they change the test's structure arbitrarily every few months or so.  It
feels somewhat like trying to get into a special secret geek club.

The plus side is that it is task based rather than multiple choice.  The
down side is that there aren't any real gradations and the pressure to
perform is tremendous.  The Oracle and Cisco certs are more gradual and
allow some career progress between the levels of certification.  The
MSCE exams are pretty much worth the scrap value of the paper they're
written on.

I think the only true use in certifications is as a consultant marketing
tool.  If you're working for a consultant house or on your own, the
prospective client feels better about hiring you with certs.  But that's
about it.

On Fri, 2004-11-19 at 10:52 -0500, Matthew Valites wrote:
> >It is the most popular and recognized
> >certification.
> >
> >I was actually turned down for  a Contractor position
> >because I was not an RHCE 
> >[and I said, but I am a Red Hat Stock Holder 
> >w/ many shares (chuckle!)]
> >  
> >
> Would you really even want to work for a place that turned you down 
> because you didn't have a certain cert?  While I see the benefit, I 
> think they're a tad overrated. 
> 
> my two cents,
> ~Matt
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