Certification: Career boost or expensive mistake?

Tony Muma thought he was taking his career to a new level. A year out of college, the technical support engineer with a software firm in Seattle decided to beef up his networking skills by becoming a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE), a Microsoft-sponsored certification program that focuses on networking issues related to the Windows platform. As a help desk engineer with a company that targets companies with heterogeneous computing systems, Muma felt the certification would make him an even better problem solver when he fielded technical calls from customers and consultants. "If I'm going to communicate with network administrators, I have to be at least on their level," he reasoned.

He also read reports in trade journals and from program sponsors that certificates can mean salary premiums of 25 percent or more compared with what techies without such titles are making. But last February, when Muma asked his supervisor if his new certification diploma would make him eligible for a pay raise or a place on the promotion fast track, his career hit a glitch. "Congratulations on your certification," the manager said, "unfortunately, it doesn't apply to the position your in." Translation: Certification and $2.50 will get you a cup of latte.

Muma was stunned. The manager had encouraged him to seek certification and even approved reimbursement for the cost of taking the tests, which totaled more than $6,000. "I support a product that allows multiple platforms to communicate -- Windows PCs to Linux and Unix hosts," he says. "There are a lot of issues relating to PC networking with the host."

Today, Muma prominently displays his MCSE status on his résumé, but still wonders whether he wasted his time. "I hope I see a payoff, otherwise it just ain't worth it," he says, admitting the experience "gives you a bitter taste in your mouth." His advice to other would-be certification students: "Don't believe the ads."

Unfortunately, Muma isn't alone in his disappointment. According to the Association of Support Professionals (ASP), an industry association based in Watertown, Mass., employers are routinely ambivalent about certification programs sponsored by computing giants like Microsoft, Cisco, and Oracle. A recent salary survey of software companies revealed that they paid far less than the salary premiums touted by certificate program sponsors. Instead, the survey found that few companies tie certification to hiring, promotion, or pay raises, according to Jeffrey Tarter, ASP executive director. And even when certification leads to a raise, the impact is modest: Paychecks after certification are only about 5 to 7 percent fatter than before graduation.

The ASP says stories about huge pay increases may be linked to the sponsors' strong bias to promote the profitable programs, which also can be tools to lock customers into specific products and platforms.

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