When it comes to trying for an IT job, the fresh job aspirants are mostly confused with which career choice to make. IT or otherwise Information Technology is an umbrella term that consists of a large number of job titles and technology specialties. Apart from a very few who are laser-focused on any technology or job specialty, many out there are confused about which one even when they are aiming at an IT career.
People say that you need to have IT knowledge and some certification to get a job, so many tend to make a random choice in terms of taking a certification. As there are many career fields in IT, there are plenty of certifications also to choose them. It is not ideal to head on to take any certification on planning for an IT career, but it is important to know each and make an informed decision.
Different certification options and differences among them
At the baseline, a certification you aim at should reflect your desired career path. There are two important considerations while you plan for certifications:
- The recruiters can easily weed out the applicants who are just certified, but not experienced. So, a certification is not a guarantee to get a job in that functional field.
- You have to gain real-time, hands-on experience also while preparing for the certification, which will not only help you clear the example, but also will make you employable for the industry.
Choosing appropriate IT specialty areas and in turn, a proper certification path may depend on which stage of career you are now and what skills you want to gain.
Career-oriented certifications to start with
If you are aiming to work with software and devices from a leading provider, you have to get certified by them. Say for example; Microsoft, as a leading brand in IT has their certification for IT professionals dealing with their technologies related to Windows administration, networking, coding, databases management, etc. Some certifications are MTA-Microsoft Technology Associate, MCTS-Microsoft Certified Technical Specialist, etc.
Another specialty provider-based certification if you are thinking of some IT administrative challenges is from Cisco as CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate), CCNP (Cisco Certified Network Professional). For beginners, there is also a CCNET (Cisco Certified Entry Networking Technician).
However, if you want to explore more than sticking to a single vendor, then certification options like CompTIA will help you get into the IT industry. This certification is more vendor-neutral by focusing on general technology concepts. There are various levels of certifications in it as CompTIA A+ and then CompTIA Network+ certification etc.
For those who are looking for higher-end IT professions and planning to take certifications, there are many popular professional certifications like PMP (Project Management Professional), for which you need to have many hours of project leadership and management experience. Another choice now is VCP or VMware Certified Professional. Citrix also offers some similar certifications on the specialty of virtualization a Citrix Certified Enterprise Engineer and Citrix Certified Integration Architect etc.
Whichever IT career and certification you are aiming at, it is essential to undergo thorough career-oriented training to gain employable technology skills too along with the certification to crack into an IT job.
