Craig, Very well put...
Larry Letterman Network Engineer Cisco Systems ----- Original Message ----- From: "Craig Columbus" To: Sent: Sunday, February 02, 2003 5:40 PM Subject: Re: myth about ccna salary??? [7:5925] > For those who came into the IT industry during the mid to late 1990s, these > last few years have been eye opening. > Let's face it...if you could spell MCSE in 1997, you could easily land a > job earning $70k or more per year. This amazing earning power was an > anomaly that burst with the dotcom bubble. Historically, jobs that paid > significantly more than average (engineering, medicine, law, etc.) required > a great deal of study and knowledge in the chosen field. When it got to > the point that just about anyone with a heartbeat could pass certain > certification tests by rote memorization of braindumps, two things happened: > 1) Certified people became a commodity and supply exceeded demand. As > anyone who took even an intro economics course can tell you, excess supply > leads to falling prices. In this case, the price (salary) required to > obtain the commodity (certified persons) took a nose dive. > 2) Companies realized that certifications were no predictor of ability or > performance. Rather, they are at best a baseline indicator that the person > has been exposed to certain ideas and concepts. > > Today, we're dealing with a slow economy and an excess of qualified IT > labor. Those who get jobs in today's market are those with the better > qualifications (experience, education, and certifications), those who are > willing to work for a salary greatly reduced from what they could expect to > earn even two years ago, and those who are lucky. The only places touting > the ability of new CCNAs to earn $60k per year are those training centers > that base their very existence on luring people to very expensive classes > with the illusory promise of graduating with a high-paying job in hand. > > The bottom line is that there's no substitution for education and hard work > when trying to get a job in today's IT world. Are certifications still > important? Yes. If for no other reason that many companies use them as a > basic screening tool to decide whose resume gets read and whose gets > passed. Are certifications enough to guarantee a good job? Absolutely > not. Many people don't like to hear this, but the time is approaching when > IT workers are going to be held to the same standards as other career > fields. You're going to need an education along with the certification if > you're going to get your foot in the door in the future. > > Finally, you want to know how to earn a six figure salary in IT. The way > you do this is to love your work. You're dealing with a highly dynamic > field where today's hot skill can be tomorrow's ticket to the unemployment > line (ask the COBOL programmers). This means that the learning NEVER > stops. If you're not studying the latest technology every day, you're > going to find yourself useless very quickly. The work can be frustrating > and the hours can be very long. Have you ever noticed how the IT guys are > often the first in and the last to leave? And when the CEO's car is at the > golf course on Saturday, the IT guy's car is at the office working on an > upgrade? If you don't love technology, and the challenges that come with > it, you're going to have a very hard time staying in the field long enough > to reach the six figure mark. On the other hand, if you love technology, > and you love your work, you'll find that over the years, your skills and > knowledge will increase, and the salary will come. > > > > At 04:39 AM 2/2/2003 +0000, you wrote: > >Hello, I'm recently taking a ccna course in new york. What I want to know is > >that I've read in salary reports which state that ccna salary's start at 60k > >but in message boards such as this one, I'm finding out that a ccna > >certification alone will get you nothing. Can someone please elaborate on > >this and if possible tell me which combination of it certifications are > >necessary for the 6- figure salary range. Thank you. [EMAIL PROTECTED] Message Posted at: http://www.groupstudy.com/form/read.php?f=7&i=62339&t=5925 -------------------------------------------------- FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html Report misconduct and Nondisclosure violations to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
