Get Certified and Get Ahead (Technical Expert S.) - Softcover

Martinez, Anne

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0072123958 ISBN 13: 9780072123951

Publisher: Osborne/McGraw-Hill, 2000

Synopsis

The first edition of this book has sold more than 7,500 copies in the trade and 12,000 through all channels. This edition will incorporate approximately 30 new certifications as well as update existing listings.

About this title

Review:

If your goal is to be an independent technical worker of pretty much any kind, it's generally accepted that you need at least one major certification. A lot of organisations that hire contractors look for a recognised certification as a preliminary qualification for jobs, so you need some sort of document in order to be taken seriously. Get Certified and Get Ahead provides some information about the various computer and networking certifications available, shares a lot of advice on why getting certified is a good idea, and tells how you can use your certification to maximum effect.

This book would be better if it went into greater detail about the various professional certifications available to information technology workers. Author Anne Martinez is both a Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) and a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE), but she barely touches on the purposes (much less the requirements) of each of these popular and valuable ratings. Instead, she devotes half of this book's pages to soft (and too often obvious) information like how to study, how to shop for training services, and how to advertise your qualifications on your Web site. The other half of this book is a directory of companies and the certifications they offer, with brief statements of what each is meant to prove, how much testing costs, what prerequisites exist, and where information appears on the Web. It's a mixed bag, but mostly a compilation of material that's freely available on the Web. --David Wall, amazon.com

Topics covered: Computer and networking certification, with emphasis on how and why you should pursue it. There's information on how to decide which certification is best for you, how to select training and secure financing, and how to study for technical exams. There's also a decent directory of companies and their certifications (it has many entries, but they're individually too brief and lack sufficient detail).

From the Author:

More certifications than ever WITH ratings
In response to reader requests (thanks for sending them!), the Millenium Edition of Get Certified And Get Ahead includes ratings to help you compare certifications. You'll also find a comprehensive table that puts all the information - which certification is for what, how much it costs, ranking, and more - in one place.

All the good stuff on effective studying and making the most of your certification once you've got it has been carried to this edition - plus expanded coverage of funding your training and cutting your certification costs.

Certification is here to stay and for good reasons - use it to advance your career and define continuing education for yourself. Good luck getting certified and getting ahead!

About this edition

• Publisher: Osborne/McGraw-Hill
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0072123958
• ISBN 13: 9780072123951
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 608