Tech credentials carrying less weight
By Getahn Ward
The Tennessean
Jim Evans remembers landing a job as a database developer with MCI in Austin, Texas, just a week after becoming an Oracle certified professional in 1999. The designation played a key role in his securing the $50,000-a-year job, he said.
Now, a few weeks into a three-month contract with Dollar General Corp., Evans is grateful to be employed at all. He's now developing applications using Oracle tools for the Goodlettsville, Tenn.-based retailer, but he had been jobless for six months in Tallahassee, Fla.
Evans' experience reflects a reality that information technology professionals face today: Many are having to move and accept lower pay to secure jobs, while three years ago just getting a professional certification was often an automatic ticket to landing work.
The bursting of the dot-com bubble has meant softer demand for information technology workers, and employers are looking for people with skills beyond their certifications.
That doesn't mean, however, that professionals can stop upgrading their skills, some experts said. Certification is still a part of the hiring process.
"It's an expensive proposition," said Evans, who spent $5,000 last year to become certified as an Oracle master. "But it's still worth it."
In information technology circles, certifications such as Oracle's, as well as designations as a Microsoft certified professional and Cisco certified network associate, convey the holder's level of expertise in a company's product or operating system. They are obtained through exams taken after classes that can cost $1,500 each, or after self-study.
"When companies have money troubles, (they realize) technology is where they spend a lot of money," said Stephanie Woodard-Majors, a senior recruiter with
Zycron Computer Services in Nashville, Tenn., which recruits technology workers for corporate clients. "It's also where they're going to make their cuts."
There was also a boost in certifications after Microsoft introduced its Windows 2000 operating system; there could be a similar uptick when Microsoft's .Net system comes out this year, industry consultant John Rose said. After the introduction of new software, however, there is a lag while the companies ready the coursework materials.
Woodard-Majors has seen the downturn's effects on IT workers' pay. "You can get some MCSE (Microsoft certified systems engineer) with $20 an hour, and they were making up to $40 when the market was good," she said.
During the height of the dot-com boom, many educational institutions rushed to add classes as companies clamored for certified employees.
Some, such as Nashville State Technical Community College, said they've seen a drop in demand for some certifications.
Employers now expect workers to have certifications, added David McNeel, director of the Center for Information Technology Education at Nashville Tech.
Tennessee State University graduate Malaika Paquiot became a Java 2 certified programmer last year as part of her TSU coursework. That played a role in her landing an $80,000-a-year job package with IBM's software solution division in San Jose, Calif. "It definitely makes you a more attractive candidate when people are wading through the resumes," she said.
