Red Hat certification as a catalyst in your career

[Marek_C]

Recently, we have published a blog about Red Hat certifications serving as a catalyst for the learner community, and as a possible solution to the sometimes difficult job hunt situations (when, for example, switching careers).

My question to you is, has Red Hat trainings/certifications influenced your career? If so, which certifications gave you the largest bang for your buck? And which were the most impactful for your professional life? 

[Radesh]

RHCE has been the most beneficial.

Why?

The material covered RHCE is available in Red Hat documentation, but the course provides a standard way to implement infrastructure in a supportable and maintainable manner.

The test. You've got objectives where you use what you learned in the course. This doesn't mean you can't use other ways of meeting the objective, but the test proves out what you learned so you can have confidence that you can reliably implement whatever is required. A good case for me is NetworkManager. We hadn't move to it, but I learned how to use it, which examples in the man page get me close to the config that I want, etc, so when I ran into it in our OpenShift installation I wasn't intimidated. I know what to look for and how to manipulate it.

My next fav is RH342... It's a class for folks who like puzzles (or pain, depending on your perspective).

[Raul1]

Thanks to my RHCA i was able to join Red Hat directly as Senior consultant years back when that was the highest position in consultancy at Red Hat.

[littlebigfab]

Hello Marek,

Red Hat certifications definitely enhanced my career.

I used to be a pure Linux sysadmin. Last year, I applied for a position of Cloud Engineer in an OpenStack/Ansible environment. It was a pretty bold move because I've had absolutely no previous professional experience with those technologies before.

However I had two assets.

First, I was a RHCA, which demonstrates not only technical skills but also an acquaintance with various open-source technologies in general and the ability to effectively learn new things.

Second, I was RHCE in RH OpenStack and RH certified specialist in Ansible Automation, which matched the technical environment of the job.

I got the job, I still work there and I have learnt A LOT and am still learning new things every day! :)

In a nutshell, to me, Red Hat certifications are a decisive career catalyst as they grant access to jobs that would be out of reach otherwise.

[ricardodacosta]

Our beloved Director of Certification once stood up at a conference and was talking about the value of the Red Hat Training & Certification program. It went something like this:

"Red Hat exams are practical in nature, and we test whether you can do the work associated with the product. We don't test your knowledge of the product. That means that when you obtain a certification from Red Hat Training, that it's a promise to your employer, and anyone who wants to hire you, that you have meaningful, practical skills associated with the exam you've passed."

@RRR may have forgetten what he said all those years ago, but he was impressed that he said it when I quoted him in conversation about 2 years ago ;-)

I value my certifications for those very reasons!

[dennisk]

Talking with a senior hiring director for a major IT company this week, he had this to say about certifications like Red Hat's which test your ability to actually do the work.

"I don't care whether your have a certification like RHCSA, RHCE or Cisco. If the certification requires you to complete practical tasks rather than answer multiple-choice questions I'm more likely to hire you because I know you can learn a new skill. That is important to me because whatever technology we use in house we wil have heavily customized anyway."

Dennis

[Razique]

For me,  mostly best practices, and understanding what's "under the hood". For example, managing systemd units, or working with SeLinux.

Although there is so much documentation out there, it's great to have the structure when learning.

I also try to keep these best practices in mind when I'm doing my job.

[bschonec]

I've found quite the opposite:  Most employers -- or at least the ones that I interview with years a go -- have no idea what the RHCA really is.  They think it's the RHCSA.

I spent more time than money (and I've spent a lot of money) getting and renewing my RHCA.  I most certainly wouldn't do it again.  The RHCE?  Absolutely.  The RHSCA gets you the interview.  The RHCE gets you the job.  I've found very little benefit in acquireing  my RHCA other than personal satisfaction.  

[itnet7]

I look back when I first became an RHCE earlier in my career, and I think it really helped me more than it helped my employer. I was fortunate enough that my team leader at the time sent me to the RCHE Boot Camp course, which included shots at both RHCT and RHCE for RHEL 4 (at the time). The Instructor was Dax K. and I learned so much from the class. What I liked so much about the Red Hat training was that you could directly apply everything that you learned into your daily workflow, and it helped to establish best practices. This became the standard of Training that I measured all other vendors by.

WIth the way the certification material is guarded, I believe all of us have a confidence when we see other individuals that have also earned the credential, this really helps when considering hiring on additional staff.

Having the RHCE personally helps me feel as though I'm not trapped where I currenly work. If I were to apply for a position that has RHCE listed as a requirement or preffered, there's a good chance I'll be considered for at the least an interview.