[AccessD] OT: What are you lot doing now and then?

I will state that it all depends on who is doing the hiring, and what kind
of company you are trying to get in with.  If you want to be 1 of 20 (or 7
of 9 ... <grin>) in a team of developers, then certifications are going to
be a big boon, because no matter what you really know, you are going to have
a 'team' with you, to pick up what the certs don't cover.  Now, if you want
to join a smaller company, where you are going to be far more independant,
then experience and knowledge are going to be looked at before certs.  It
also depends on who is involved in the hiring process.  We have a new
Network Admin starting tomorrow....and the person writing this email is the
one who 'certified' him to work here. (He was my second choice out of
three....my top choice lives very far away, and my bosses got the willies
over that...but he was a very close second.).  I am pretty sure he has
certifications, but honestly, didn't care, and didn't even look over them.
Instead, I approved his resume on experience, and I did the technical
interview, and he was my second choice simply on personality, he knew his
stuff.

Honestly, getting your foot in the door is the hardest thing.  But once you
have done that, you better know your stuff.  I remember a few years ago,
while still working for the company I work for now, I had a technical
interview with another local company.  They wanted a VB/SQL guy, and even
though I had a lot of Access experience, I had very little SQL experience.
However, what killed my interview, was my 'iffy' SQL abilities.  Not SQL
Server, but the actual query language.  I was asked a lot about joins, etc,
and even though I understood the questions and answers, I had a difficult
time just 'rattling' things off.  It was because I had become very dependant
on Access' query builder.  When I created an SQL statement, I usually did it
in Access, then cut and paste the SQL into my code.  Fast, efficient, but
kind of lazy too.  Now, I build almost all of my SQL statements from hand,
unless it is simply too much typing to justify the means to the end.  It has
made my understanding and skillset with SQL much much stronger.

Drew

-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Erbach [mailto:erbachs at gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, February 18, 2005 3:52 PM
To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving
Subject: Re: [AccessD] OT: What are you lot doing now and then?


Randy,

The impression I get from the few people I've been able to talk this
over with, having the certification helps you land a job; but once you
have the job the company doesn't help you keep it up to date or to get
new ones.

Did you take some formal courses -- those 3-5 day deals costing $1500
or more -- or is it primarily self-study?

Steve Erbach


On Fri, 18 Feb 2005 09:29:06 -0500, Randall Anthony
<randall.anthony at cox.net> wrote:
> Steve,
> I find myself in a position similar to yours, unfortunately I got laid
> off in the process (lack of contractual funding, natch).
> 
> 1.  I was very much immersed in developing and maintaining dbases and
> applications from Access2.0 through A2K, using SQL and ASP pages for
> some.
> 
> 2.  As the work slowed down, my access to developing new apps
> disappeared.  Consequently, when push came to shove, my skillsets
> deteriorated.
> 
> 3.  The company I worked for was a division of a defense contractor with
> a small IT department.  Last I heard that division's IT department is
> getting smaller.
> 
> 4.  So, during this "sabbatical", I decided to bite the bullet.  I've
> got one class left, SQL Server 2K Implementation and Administration.
> I'm now an MCP in ASP.Net development, I'm studying to pass the SQL
> Programming exam next week, then I have two exams left to get my MCDBA.
> If I had achieved this while working, that company would have given me a
> bonus and a pay raise, however, even if I had accomplished this with
> them, I still would have gotten the axe.
> 
> I have spoken with a number of professionals in the field when I was
> contemplating getting my Masters degree.  Most concurred that a Masters
> would be beneficial if you were aiming for management type positions
> within the IT world, but the return on investment would be negligible if
> I wished to remain technical.  Ergo, the next best thing to separate
> oneself from the pack in IT is to get certified (in my humble opinion).
> 
> I'm starting to get more positive replies from companies I have
> submitted a resume to, and I feel fairly confident that I will be
> affiliated with someone soon.  I think that could be attributed to my
> obtaining certification.
> 
> Randy.
>
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