Certifications and career

This article on certifications and getting a job prompted me to reflect on certificates over my career, along with their impact.

Over the years, I've seen technical certifications hype ebb and flow. I was working as a systems developer when studying the Novell Netware Red Book was a thing. I took the classes and skipped the certification testing for Cisco networking to GIAC security to VMWare administration. I put more stock in the use of what I've learned than having the certificate.

After leaving management, I focused back on technical training. From cloud providers to Cloud Foundry to Kubernetes, opportunities to learn. I now use certifications as a motivation to focus the training and push through complete courses, when there's even more to dig into.

Yes, having certifications on the resume may get a job interview. The training, understanding, and use will get the job. The continuous learning, with or without certifications, will keep a career interesting and fulfilling.