Good article. I agree with most of what you say. But I wouldn't waste my time with the vendor certifications, especially for software certifications.

The problem with them is right there in your description: "If you haven't got much experience, vendor certifications can compensate".

Certification and ability are orthogonal. In fact it seems many people who know what they're doing don't bother to get certified, and those that don't have the know-how, get the certification. Certifications seem to be of most interest to HR and recruiters who don't know how to spot technical ability, and this does not reflect well on the organizations they hire for.

Here's another tip. Some verticals pay better than others. Check out financial services. And if you want career that's stable, but boring, insurance is the way to go.

Being a recent graduate I found your opinion very interesting and mostly true, from the limited experience I acquired.

Do you have any advice on what subfields could me more rewarding to pursue in terms of interesting work, financial compensation and job security? I started out doing networking and sys-admining and I am left wondering if this is a good medium, long term strategy. I think I would love to work in security but it seems very hard to get an interesting job in that area. I would think that going for J2EE would entail a lot more competition and putting up with over engineered software. Any opinions/ideas/advice?

There's only *one* certification that means anything: a technical degree from an accredited university. That one won't be stale in two years; the others will.

So useless, their almost a strike against the applicant IMO

I agree. Certifications (Sun, Oracle, MS, etc) on a candidate's resume makes me instantly suspicious.

You want credibility in the IT world? Go to uni, and graduate.

In the States vendor certs count for much more. They are an expected requirement to prove that your skills are up to date.

I am in the US, born/schooled here, in the UC system. And I am the one that will rail you if you have certifications in your resume. I want to see that you have a degree, 4 year type, in CS/CE/EE. Or I won't even interview you.

I'm interested to see the comments here both for and against Certs. I am a technical exectutive in Chicago that hires for both IT and Dev departments. Honestly what I have found is a mixed bag. I have seen candidates that had both experience and certs that were excelent performers and I have seen 4 year degree holders that couldn't find thier way through a hash table. What I will point out is that choosing a candidate or eliminating them based on a single criteria is infantile. The right mix of skills and experience can come in many different combinations.

I find that the one predictor that helps me the most is evidence of continued technical growth. I like to see that a candidate has kept his skills not only up to date, but has consistantly added to thier skill set over time. This indicates a true passion and interest in what they are doing and in my experience has been a very positive predictor of an solid team member.

Yep - you nailed the durty secrets - here I am, up at midnight, waiting for some software to install, so I can get some experience on it. CONSTANT retraining

Unless you code, you're flying blind if you think you can evaluate candidates for coding positions. Technical executive - that's a contradiction in terms. As if.

Jon you may miss out on good employees by insisting they have a degree. I personally don't have a degree but only a HNC but I have the skills and ability ti work in the IT industry and have done for several years.

Seeking candidates with 4-year degrees is fine, but be prepared to keep an open mind. Not every degree brings as much to the table as HR types would like to think. As someone who used to train recent graduates from different programs, I found them as a group to be somewhat lacking in anything other than the very basics, and far behind in practical knowledge and ability than experienced engineers with lower levels of formal education.

Of course, this varies between programs and between candidates, but don't discount professional experience or place it a distant second behind formal education. Being formally educated in how to get the job done is not necessarily the same as getting the job done.