Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 20:20:34 -0600 (CST) From: Ryan Thompson <ryan@sasknow.com> To: "Defryn, Guy" <G.P.Defryn@massey.ac.nz> Cc: "'freebsd-questions@freebsd.org'" <freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG> Subject: Re: Certifications Message-ID: <20020603195720.W81228-100000@ren.sasknow.com> In-Reply-To: <98B01D2717B9D411B38F0008C7840931057F38D5@its-xchg2.massey.ac.nz>
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Defryn, Guy wrote to 'freebsd-questions@freebsd.org': > I hope someone can give me some advise on the following: > > I would like to do some Unix certification. I still consider myself > a newbie and I am not looking for a qualification that needs several > exams such as MS' MCSE or MCSA. I would like to something that is a > bit like MCP. Just one exam to start off with :-) Good question. The only way I know of to become "certified" in UNIX is to find an area (or general practice) that you excel at, write a book on it, submit the manuscript, and become a well sold author. That, or contribute significant new code or research to [the kernel of] an open source operating system. Having original published works is pretty much tops on my list of things to look for on a professional resume. "Where do you want to work today?" If you don't have that much time, a bachelor's degree in computer science can also take you places, although maybe not as directly as the above. Following this up with M.Sc and Ph.D. is usually a good idea if you have the time to invest. Good institutions have a dedicated OS track that will make you a master in your area by the time you are done. Don't like school? Hacking around on your own might get you the odd consulting/tech job here and there. You might get lucky and work tech support. Maybe you'll even get promoted. I'm sure we could come up with some "certification" criteria, but there are so many essential criteria that can not be tested. UNIX isn't so much about knowing a slew of 2-5 letter commands and their syntax. That's what man pages and other reference materials are for. Being able to combine the reference sources in creative ways, building your own unique layers of abstraction, is really what UNIX is all about. *EVERYONE* here can problem solve. You won't impress many people for long with stupid shell tricks that solve problems people could barf up in C 30 years ago. If you want to be *really* good, you'll have to invent some problems nobody has thought of yet... and then maybe hire tech school grads to write the code :-) > I am not sure if there is a Freebsd specific one but something that > would test general Unix knowledge would be nice. > > What about Linux + certification? I think basically the same thing applies. You'll increase your hireability by knowing multiple platforms in detail. There are a lot of diverse server farms out there. > Cheers > > Guy > > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org > with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message - Ryan -- Ryan Thompson <ryan@sasknow.com> SaskNow Technologies - http://www.sasknow.com 901 1st Avenue North - Saskatoon, SK - S7K 1Y4 Tel: 306-664-3600 Fax: 306-664-3630 Saskatoon Toll-Free: 877-727-5669 (877-SASKNOW) North America To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
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