This may be stupid but

Thu Nov 13 14:38:29 UTC 2003

I just had to respond to this thread and throw my 2 cents in.  I can certainly 
see the frustration of hiring managers (having done so myself) that receive a 
load of resumes full of "certified" individuals who don't know squat.  That 
is what a tech interview is for, though isn't it?  Unfortunately to get to 
that interview you need a bit of flash to get your foot in the door.  The 
world is as full of people claiming to be a linux guru as it is of MCSE's.  I 
think some certs at least show that you are capable of learning, and some of 
the higher level ones show that you are capable of understanding/using 
concepts as well.
Now I freely admit to being a cert collector/whore - I just do it for fun 
nowadays but I am willing to back every bit of it up in a tech interview - in 
fact I normally ask to tech interview with the heads of the unix, security, 
AND networking groups to prove I know what I claim to know (and I'm pretty 
sure I could pass as a high-level Microsoft guy if I desired).  But it would 
be a tragic mistake on anyone's behalf to pre-assume that all those letters 
means I don't know what I am talking about.  That's stereotyping, isn't it?
-- 
Don Mills
SCSA SCNA CCNP CCDP
CISSP CQS-VPN CQS-PIX
Chief Network Security/WAN Architect
VA Dept. of Social Services
don.mills at dss.virginia.gov