This is a very nice article written by IT Professional who tackles the unfair label of paper MCSE that's thrown around. Read it it's long but you'll enjoy it if you're trying to become a MCSE and some current MCSE's that this article talks about won't like it, Oh well you can't please everyone. The article comes from www.cramsession.com ******************************
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I’m beginning to see the term Paper MCSE everywhere I look on the Internet and I don’t like it. The term is being used by many to devalue MCSE’s with little or no experience, and I don’t know why. Like many other catch phrases you’ve got to wonder what motivates such verbiage. I remember a few years back when the term paper network administrator was attached to the CNE certification to sell the MCSE, but this is a different IT market today and I don’t think it’s going to be as easy to fail to recognize that Tiger MCSE’s (Paper Tigers / Paper MCSE’s) play a vital roll in staffing an IS department.

As a Director of Information Systems, when I look to fill a position in my department, I of course, first look for experience, or more precisely, Product Knowledge Experience. For example, if I need someone to manage and maintain a group of NT Servers, I look for someone with product knowledge in NT Server. (or if the OS was Netware I’d look for someone with product knowledge in Netware.) This seems simple enough, but as any network manager or IS director will tell you, it’s just not that simple. Finding experienced computer professionals in today’s market is very difficult and the ones you do find will cost you money. You either have to steal them away from another company, find one that is discontent, or you settle for one that has plenty of experience but has a personality issue (i.e. complains all the time and can’t get along with anyone.). Or you just can’t find anyone at all. So, what do you do if you can’t find experienced people to fill the job? (Experienced people being, those with product knowledge.) The next best thing is someone with a certification. A certification at the bare minimum represents someone with enough product knowledge to pass the test and was enthusiastic enough to learn. To me this is the best hire because you’ve let the person know that you are giving him/her a chance and that you expect him/her to take advantage of this by learning and working as hard as he/she can until up to speed.

How many people graduate with a degree in computer science that have any experience? I do know of a few, but were they are mostly programmers. If you look at what the universities are teaching in terms of network management and product knowledge, you still have someone that needs to be trained to maintain your unique company needs. And after a year of training you have a computer network trained, computer science major with an MCSE or product knowledge experience that just doubled his or her income, and the question isn’t, are they going to look for another job, the question is just how long do you have before you have to make a counter -offer or start all over again. This is something with which an IS Director in the real world has to deal every day. In any IS department; everyone is on some sort of learning curve learning some new technology. It’s said that, every IS Department turns over every fifteen months or so, from the entry-level people learning networking basics to the senior network engineer teaching him or herself how to use advanced networking devices. It is part of your job to learn. Like a POW in those old World War II flicks, it is your duty to escape—It is your duty to learn as much as you can so you can find a higher paying better position. The more acronyms that you can put on your resume, the more money you can make. I always say: to get a really good job in computer industry you need enough acronyms to satisfy a popular children’s soup. A friend of mine that worked at Microsoft told me that when interviewing a potential candidate it is more important to test that person’s ability to learn rather than what he/she knows right now, because what he/she knows right now might be obsolete in six months. So the value of a so-called paper MCSE is: Where else in any other industry can you draw from a pool of people that have the enthusiasm and energy to learn what has to be the most uninteresting, mind grueling information and quickly make themselves available for hire? I don’t know of any, and I also don’t know why Tiger MCSE’s are getting so much criticism.

I read an article on the Internet where a network manager is quoted as saying that he would rather hire two people at 12.00 dollars an hour and train them, than overpay a paper MCSE. It’s been in my experience that anytime you hire cheap and then train, once you’ve trained them they have product knowledge and now they can triple their income by simply finding another job. The jobs are out there, too. Clearly, that network manager must have a large turnover. Yep, that’s the way it works in real life. Not only do I know what I’m talking about, but I have been the trainee, the trainer, the network manager, and the MCSE with and without experience. Don’t let anyone convince you otherwise. In this rapidly growing industry there are never too many MCSE’s, paper or otherwise. When you can’t find enough people to fill a position, some product knowledge looks a lot better than none at all.

Doug Chick
Director of Information Systems
MCSE, MCP, CCNA
dougc@katsur.com

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Hi
That is a very interesting posting Courvoisser.I am currently studying for my MCSE and was becoming a little worried by all the rumors and tall tales of people becoming MCSE and not being able to become employed.I have family that have worked in the IT field for a number of years and it was one of these that persuaded me to look for a future in IT.He says that the demand for certified people here in England is immense and you would certainly gain employment after becoming MCSE certified.I think the trouble with a lot of the so called "paper MCSE's" is that they expect to be on very large salaries as soon as they become certified.I believe as with anything else that you must start at the bottom and work your way up.I would like to hear other people's view on this matter.Anyway that is it for now.
All the best everyone and good luck for the future.
Madmax.

[This message has been edited by Madmax (edited 06-22-2000).]

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I couldn't agree more. I was in retail management for the past 7 years and going nowhere. I decided at the end of last year that I wanted to get into the IT field for many reasons: I enjoyed programming when I was in High School (Basic & Pascal if you remember them), I really enjoy working with computers, and I wanted a "career" I could build on and grow with. I had several years experience operating computers but suffered the age old catch-22> I didn't have field experience in the IT industry so I couldn't get a job; ergo, how can I get experience in the industry then? I had heard time and again, "companies are so desparate, they'll train you," but I couldn't seem to find those companies. So, I checked into a certification training program.
I began applying for jobs before I started work on my A+ certification and got nowhere. After I passed the DOS/Windows test and added that to my cover letter, I got a couple interviews and then landed an entry level help desk job for a large paging company. I completed A+ on June 1 and am currently working toward MCP certification.
Why do I bring all this up? Not to pat myself on the back, but to offer it as an example that as I studied for the exams, I actually "learned" the subject matter. Yeah, I don't build computers every day, but I can now. And just like you mentioned, I'm dedicated to learning and growing.
I could have gone back to college, but certification allowed me to switch jobs within 4 months as compared to 1 to 2 years. I'm currently gaining the experience needed to build on for my future. And yes, there is the rare situation like with a friend of mine, with no certs and no previous IT experience, who got a help desk job for Compaq and is pulling down 10K more than me right off. That's fine, but it didn't happen for me that way.
I agree with Courvossier. There are people out there, with or without certs and/or degrees, who don't know hardware, or networking, or Unix, or whatever. But those who are dedicated to wanting to learn should not be dismissed so quickly.

Thanks for reading.
Eddie Heinzelman, A+

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