Keeping Up to Date

by Dan Blacharski

July 21, 2002 —

In the first computer course I ever took, I wrote programs in FORTRAN
using punchcards that I fed into a big hopper. It hummed mightily, the
big mainframe interpreted them, and, if I were lucky, it spit back a
"Hello World" message on the printout. This experience, of course, has
no practical use to me today other than providing me a modestly
interesting anecdote to tell at parties and in my newsletters. In fact,
I daresay that my classmates who earned computer science degrees use
virtually none of what they learned in school today, outside of some
basic theory. Those enjoying sustained success have continued their
studies well beyond the hallowed halls and frosty mugs of academia by
taking courses along the way, earning additional certifications, and
constantly learning new tricks.

Every professional field, it seems, has some sort of mandatory ongoing
education or re-certification requirement. Schoolteachers periodically
renew their teaching certificates while lawyers, accountants, and
doctors all must take a certain number of continuing education credits
in order to maintain their licensure. This, of course, is a good thing.
While a doctor that has been practicing for forty years may have the
wisdom of the ages behind him, that good doctor won't be up on the
latest treatments available without continuing his education.

Technology, of course, changes much faster than any of those fields. In
accounting, for example, numbers are numbers remain that way -- not a
whole lot to keep up to date on unless you're a tax accountant. However,
if you're in the IT field, then the technology you studied in school
three or four years ago is, quite, likely already dated to some degree.
The majority of IT certifications require some sort of maintenance or
periodic re-test, although a few -- those that deal with abstract
methodologies and theory -- do not expire. Those dealing with the nuts
and bolts of technology (which includes most of them), by their nature,
become obsolete after a time.

The built-in obsolescence of IT certifications and the necessity to
re-test may seem, at first glance, to be a way to extract more money out
of the test-takers, but, in fact, it is a positive thing for both
employers and employees. Retesting gives further evidence to the fact
that the holder of a certification is up on the latest technologies
available at any given time.

When considering certification, re-certifying and maintenance
requirements should be a major factor in your decision, especially if
you're getting multiple certificates. Some of the larger certifying
organizations, like Cisco, Microsoft, or Novell, have ongoing
newsletters, member-only Web sites, and other information for those who
have earned certifications. These things aren't just sales puffery and
public relations, they keep you up to date on the latest developments.
When it comes time to re-certify, you'll need to know the things that
have been communicated in these missives, so take the time to subscribe
to them, review them, and save them for future reference. And of course,
save all of your material from your first certification exam, because
much of it will still apply to the re-certification.

ITworld