Wednesday, April 3, 2013

The Value of IT Certifications and Skills

After I've told my students at school how I finally managed to get a full time job in IT, they've asked me what I thought was the most important thing I did to get that job.  I've always answered 'getting my SCJP certification' (Sun Certified Java Programmer). It's been over 10 years since I started working at the job.  While I still maintain certifications are important for developers who are trying to break into the industry, I've become less enthusiastic about them and what they mean now that I have more experience. 

Having said that, I ran into a couple of articles today that I thought were very interesting:
15 IT Certifications That Can Get You a $100,000 Salary
30 Tech Skills That Can Get You a $100,000 Salary

Granted, the way these articles are written is 'just a little bit of' hype.  These skills and/or certifications aren't going to net you a 100k salary all on their own.  They need to be married with a resume that has several years of IT experience and related, well developed soft skills.