What certifications should I get?

I’ve been asked a few times about what certifications someone should get who wants to enter a tech role. Real talk: I’m a bit weird with the whole certifications thing.

I typically look for folks who don’t have a ton of certifications.  Over the years, everyone I’ve interviewed or hired with a bunch of certifications didn’t end up having the best overall technical skill and tended to be lacking in customer service skills. 

Honestly, all certs tell me is that a candidate can memorize facts and pass a test.

Honestly, all certs tell me is that a candidate can memorize facts and pass a test.

What I look for in a candidate is actual experience and people who can tell me a story about themselves and their career progression – not just folks who rattle off how they fixed their mom’s network and took a bunch of IT classes.  So – my advice would be – get the all the certs you want – but get them to learn, not just to check boxes saying you have them.

Also, try to dive into as many projects at your current workplace as you can, and then remember how those experiences (good or bad) might translate into an interview question one day down the road.

If you can tell me a story clearly about how you participated in a major rollout of a bunch of new network gear or some servers, or even end-user devices, and you can clearly explain the efforts that were taken to plan the project, implement it, check on how it worked out for the affected users, and what the outcomes were, etc. – you’ll be on your way to a job offer.  Don’t forget to include the frustrating parts and how you helped the team solve those issues, if appropriate.

Hiring managers (at least the nice/cool ones) aren’t going to expect entry-level techs to be perfect or have a ton of experience leading things until you get to higher level positions one day.  To get started, your job is to gather as many experiences as you can and formulate those in your mind into ways that you helped your team or a project (or whatever) succeed to provide some sort of value to your clients.

Let us know genuinely who you are as a candidate. Tell us a story. We want to hire a a relational human being who enjoys working hard, not a certification robot.