What’s in a name?
If you own a garage and want to hire someone who’s certified in the field and can keep cars running, you’d likely look for someone known as a “mechanic.” If you own a regional hospital and want to hire someone to diagnose that thing on a patient’s leg, you’d likely look for someone known as a “doctor.”
So, what do you look for if you want to hire someone who’s certified and can keep your servers running? Well, it depends on which part of the semantic game you want to focus on.
This is a topic I first brought up few weeks ago. The gist was this: Some titles don’t sound the same as others. A designation that used to mean “beginner” in one program may mean “specialist” in another. Consider the top-level administrator-type certification from these vendors:
Apple — Administrator
Cisco — Expert
Microsoft — Professional (with Architect in the works)
Novell — Engineer
Oracle — Expert
Red Hat — Engineer
SAIR — Engineer
Solaris — Administrator
This is by no means a complete list, but even in this list of eight, four different titles are used. Is it any wonder that people
sometimes question the worth of certifications — especially when you can’t easily make comparisons between them?
- Oracle Linux Certification is BetaOne of the strongest Linux certifications to debut in a while isn't from a Linux vendor. To become certified as an Oracle Enterprise Linux Administrator Certified Associate (a mouthful, if...
- Almost ready: OCA Linux CertificationOracle is almost ready to go live with the Oracle Enterprise Linux Certified Administrator (OCA) certification. This certification, a stepping stone to upper-level Linux certifications to come, requires passing two...
- Microsoft’s 2008 Certification ShuffleWhen it comes to the new certifications from Microsoft, I feel asconfused as Ricky Ricardo does after Lucy pulls another one ofher shenanigans. In the beginning, the two main administrator-level...
- LINUX CERTS AND THE CUTTING EDGEI was struck by an odd observation this week. Desperately in need of shelf space, I began going through stacks of old books and tossing them or packing them away...
- DEMAND AND SUPPLY, AND SUPPLY, AND SUPPLY…According to a recent press release, more than 1 million Cisco certifications have been issued since the creation of the program. Mind you, this isn't the number of exams...