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Great Cert Prep Advice From CertMag

As somebody who’s dispensed a great deal of advice on how to prepare for IT certification — including three or four editions of a book called IT Certification Success — I’d like to think that I can recognize good examples of the genre from other writers as well. In that spirit that I call your attention to Luis Carselle’s recent story for Certification Magazine. Entitled “Learn Smarter: Preparing for a Certification Exam,” it appeared on the Web site on 9/25/2009 and will also appear in print in its October issue.

One of the sections in the story I like best is called “Years Before the Exam,” which digs into the kinds of jobs that actually require certification before individuals can practice or perform them. Aside from the kinds of positions we all know require such vetting — commercial pilots, physicians, therapists, and so forth — a growing number of technical positions in and around IT are starting to fall under this kind of umbrella. I also know of lots of companies that require their field engineers, system engineers, and senior technical support staff to earn and maintain certs in the areas, platforms, or products with which they work.

Carselle goes on to lay out tasks and objectives on a timeline basis, to describe what candidates should be doing to prepare for an exam six months out, three months out, and so on, all the way up to the day before an exam. I can’t say this story is complete or even comprehensive. But the advice it proffers is generally good, and definitely worth reading. If you need some information and inspiration to help you gear up for your next cert exam, give it a once-over. You may even decide to return back to it as you march down the timeline to exam day.

Good Advice On Striking Out on Your Own

When I was a kid, lots of people smoked and thus, matches were everywhere, and matchbook covers provided the informational equivalent of cereal box copy in a slightly different venue and often in a very different vein. Of course, that was quite a while ago (I celebrated my 57th birthday last weekend) and the catchphrase “Be an Artist” probably doesn’t resonate with Gen X and 7 readers who never saw it plastered all over the inside back covers of  comic books and on matchbook covers at a young and tender age as I did.

If “Be an Artist” was a slogan for schoolkids seeking escape from the grind of daily studies, then “Be a Consultant” is the anodyne for work-weary IT professionals seeking a creative outlet from the daily grind. To those for whom this updated catchphrase has more than passing appeal, I’d like to recommend a recent article in Certification Magazine by Ken Sternberg entitled “Trend Spotting: Life as a Self-Employed Consultant.” In this story, Sternberg makes numerous valid points about scoring in the consulting game, using a profile of independent consultant Ken Conquest to illustrate them. Here’s a sampling of what you’ll find therein:

• Nail down a technical degree from a good school
• Pay your IT dues, and work your way up the food chain, wearing as many job hats as proudly and effectively as you can
• Customer service skills and knowledge are good, because consulting is all about customer service
• Soft skills to develop include conversation, effective listening, restating what was heard to clarify understanding, managing expectations
• Whenever possible, under-promise and over-deliver
• Make your certifications work for you, and put them to work in your resume, on your business card, and in your conversations with current and prospective clients

Readers seeking a lengthier, more humorous, and truly wonderful exposition of the consultant’s role in business could do a lot worse than to turn to Gerald Weinberg’s immortal classic The Secrets of Consulting (Dorset House, ISBN: 0932622013, 1985) or to turn to his identically titled blog. If you’re thinking about following the singleton’s route to IT bliss, be sure to check out these various resources. Good luck!