Jobs and Certifications, or vice versa...? - Avoiding being left high and dry

  • 🇵🇦 Nuestro primer dominio localizado está en español en kiwifarms.pa. Our first localized domain is on Spanish on kiwifarms.pa.
  • Want to keep track of this thread?
    Accounts can bookmark posts, watch threads for updates, and jump back to where you stopped reading.
    Create account
Destacado
Xarpho's Return

Xarpho's Return

has sort of lost it
True & Honest Fan
kiwifarms.net
Registrado
29 de Sep, 2022
I would consider myself a job seeker, and there's some jobs out there (not a lot) but I'm faced with a dilemma...if I want a job in a certain field should I get the certification/training before I get the job, or get the job on existing credentials and then get it there?

Getting the certification before sounds like a way to better chances when applying but at the same time is putting the cart before the horse and the last thing I want is a near-useless certification, just like my degree.
 
If you get it once you have the job, will the employer pick up some/all of the cost involved?
 
Xarpho's Return dijo:
Specifically, it was truck driving and CDL stuff, but was asking about general stuff (IT, phlebotomy, etc.)
Presiona para expandir...
I don't think there is a general answer to this question. It is going to vary a lot based on what kind of role you are trying to get and in what industry.
I have no idea about truck driving, but for IT it depends. Some places care a lot about certs (more for networking roles and stuff involving government) and other places don't care at all.
 
I think some truck companies will train you to get your CDL, but it'd probably be better to just spend a few thousand and get it yourself from some school and then just hook up with some bullshit company like Swift or JB Hunt for a year.
 
Xarpho's Return dijo:
Getting the certification before sounds like a way to better chances when applying but at the same time is putting the cart before the horse and the last thing I want is a near-useless certification, just like my degree.
Presiona para expandir...
I would say do the training so that you can familiarize yourself with the demands of the position. Of course, experience is an advantage for the job market.
 
While it can be hard due to the people of H1-B, IT has a relatively low barrier of entry. If there's a military base near you and they have positions open, a Security+ will be the standard for what you need; and whether it's as a contractor or government civilian, the pay and benefits are generally good enough. The problem being, you'll have to wake up every day knowing you're feeding the beast that wants to kill you. If you don't have a cert, many places will give you a 3-6 month period to study and get your certification so you may not even need one to get hired; YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY.
 
You can get a job, then get certs paid by them. I picked certs first, yes it's easy to get a job, but why burn your own money? Both are meaningless however, the only expense is your time. You work for cash and nothing else.
 
Talk to people in the industry as it varies and changes.

For CDL I have heard that a common practice is to sign on with a company that will pay to train you, work out the contract, and jump ship to a real trucking company. Apparently this is why Swift drivers are a notorious joke.

1723542251017.jpeg

(I have absolutely no idea how to interpret this I just know Swifties are a trucking joke)

For this specifically, and if you can handle it, get hired to drive school bus by a “will train” outfit. They’re super hungry in the Midwest, for example, and a school bus CDL damn near covers anything; adding complex trailers should be pretty easy after a year of dealing with shitty kids.

Most credentials are NOT worth paying for, but are worth getting employers to pay for. CDL and other “real government ones” may be an exception. But with a fresh CDL and no experience you’re likely to be hired by a “will train” outfit anyway so …
 
Depends on the certification, some come with a work requirement to be fully licensed.

However, you can get all of the required training/courses/exams done and basically be certification-ready though, that's a big selling point if all you need to complete it is the work experience.
 
If you want to truck I'd go to a community college to get your Class A CDL. Even if you're broke they'll let you in and are usually pretty bad at forcing you to pay and then you aren't tied to some shitty low-pay carrier. Class A with air brakes, hazmat, and tanker will cover just about anything you'd want to haul. I'd pass on bus driver jobs, bad hours and tons of shitty people to deal with.
 
I’m not sure if the certs will help you get the job that will put you in front the door of the job that you need, but it will help you look great as far as résumé and dedication to the job that you are researching and looking to work for.

Most people I know that only get in thinking that they have a college degree believe they are set for life, when in reality, most job hires I know and/or see usually get in based off of the added certifications mixed with the job experience they already have on the table.
 
Depends on the certification. Most of them are completely useless because they’re saturated by people who suck. I’ve come across a few that collect certifications like Pokémon and don’t have a job because they’re bad at what they do. So depending on what your industry is, I recommend looking up the ones that are worth a shit and focus on those. Ideally you’d get your employer to pay for them but if you’re using them to find a job, I recommend focusing on the certifications that are respected in your industry. Look at the players of your industry and see what they have. Then see the useless pajeet that has a dozen Coursera certificates and you’ll understand why you should keep certifications limited.
 
It's all rather circumstantial. what trade you're aiming for and what body of regulation correlates with it, here's an anecdote to help, for Welding there's a lot of trade schools and low tier colleges that offer you the training and a nice little certificate at the end of your course, however most employers related to welding only give you a glance if you actually completed and were certified for your AWS D1.1 welding certifications. so essentially most welding certificates might as well be overpriced toilet paper, so what you should be paying attention to is fundamentally whether this tradeschool/college has a career resources that will help you find a job and actually TRAINS you for the relevant certifications and not just a paper saying you did a course for it.
 
Gender: Xenomorph dijo:
From what I've seen certs are useless cv fluff. Everyone who pays can get them so they mean nothing anymore.
Presiona para expandir...
I'll say it depends on the field; but in IT, certs and degrees are mostly fluff. The ability to perform is what people want, and unfortunately, because people lie, having publicly searchable certs are one of the easiest way to weed out liars; outside of that, they're mainly a box to check, because it might be required somewhere.

All that being said, certs still carry more weight than degrees when it comes down to someone being competent; they're also cheaper,and quicker.

Use them to get your foot in the door and let them lapse if you never need them again.
 
For the field I'm in certs are just expected but they're certainly helpful.
I see them as a foundation of knowledge that you can hopefully build on once you get the job.
If you had a candidate with no experience and certs and a candidate with no experience and no certs the one with at least some certs 'should' be more useful.

I'd say treat certs and real hands on knowledge as two totally separate things, cause they are.
If you want to learn to do shit, go do shit. If you want to pass a cert memorize, take practice tests, cram, pop caffeine do whatever to pass it. It is very hard to combine learning to do and passing a test simultaneously and in my opinion is inefficient.
 
Destacado
Debes iniciar sesión o registrarte para responder aquí.
Atrás
Top Abajo