James Kelly

I’ve never been an advocate for traditional institutionalized education.  It moves too slowly and, in my opinion, does little to prepare you for the real world as far as teaching you how to apply skills.

I can gain skills much faster by studying real world problems and finding solutions to those problems through research.  I’ve found that I can quickly learn most of what college classes offer in a fraction of the time that it would take to complete a college class.

That tirade above is mainly concerning technical skills.  For more general skills like math and writing, college still works well.  I intend to get a masters in business at some point in the near future, but I’m going to work through my certifications first.

I’ve attended the local college here off and on mainly to brush up on areas that I felt I needed some extra emphasis on, mainly math and a few select programming courses.

During this time I was pursuing my Associates in Computer Science. I also worked as a lab technician and private tutor. I was involved with several progressive (at the time) classes dealing with object-oriented programming that was really just catching on.

Unfortunately, I abandoned my studies in order to pursue a career; I don’t really regret my decision although at times it might be nice to have that piece of paper.

In my career I’ve never bothered becoming certified. I was always too busy solving problems to worry about going through formal channels to prove what I knew and my past employers were typically uninterested in the benefits of certified employees.

I’ve met many certified people and those with associates and masters degrees that knew a lot of general knowledge but were completely incapable of applying that knowledge.

I do at some point intend to get a degree in business, but that is the only degree regarding the college path I am currently interested in. However, I have decided to get certified in both networking and development disciplines.

My reasons are simple:

1. I want to prove to myself and the world that I know what I know.
2. Certifications, unlike degrees are valuable not only to the recipient, but also to the employer often translating to monetary benefit.
3. I’ve discovered that having experience and then getting certified fills in gaps that you may not have known you had.

With that in mind, below this text you will find my certification goals I am currently pursuing. These goals are in the order that I intend to achieve them. As I achieve them these posts will be edited to reflect my achievements.

I believe that I can achieve my A+ certification simply by brushing up on my hardware knowledge. I am planning on taking the exam September 2006 and have no real concerns about passing it.

This is another certification I believe I can pick up in short order by leveraging my current knowledge. I intend to skim through the books covering the test topics and, if my schedule allows, also take this exam in September, 2006.

I am currently working on the CCNA 640-801 certification diligently. I should have little problem mixing my studies between the A+, Network+, and the CCNA since I already possess most of the knowledge for the first two. You may ask why I would pursue the network certifications first since it appears that most of my experience is with programming and development.

The reasons are simple:

• I have a great deal of knowledge and experience with networking that doesn’t really come across in my resume.
• I also have a few gaping holes in my knowledge that I feel need to be addressed.
• I feel that programmers today need to have as broad a knowledge base as possible to overcome challenges, especially with almost every solution requiring some form of connectivity.
• It makes me more of an asset to communications companies that dwell in the Cisco marketplace.
• I believe I can achieve these certifications shortly.

Exam: CCNA 640-801

Expected completion timeframe: October 2006.

I’ve always had an interest in security and most applied security concepts have come to me fairly easily. Of course applied concepts and testing concepts are far from the same. This certification will help me fill gaps I have regarding my knowledge of security and will count for my Microsoft certifications.

Exam: SY0-101

Expected completion timeframe: November / December

This certification will be my first development geared certification and a welcome change from the networking side of life. Three of the exams I’ll be taking to achieve this certification will count for three others I intend to get.

Exams: 70-228, 70-229, 70-290, and 70-293

Expected completion timeframe: 2007

This certification takes me back into the networking and administration side of life. But it also helps me leverage the knowledge I already have and the exams I’ve taken concerning the Security+ certification, and exams 70-290/70-291 from the MCDBA certification.

Exams Taken: 70-290, and Security+

Exams: 70-291, 70-270, and 70-350

Expected completion timeframe: 2007

I plan to get this certification next so as not to lose momentum and since I’ll only need two exams to complete this track next.

Exams Taken: 70-290, 70-291, 70-293, 70-270, Security+, and 70-350

Exams: 70-294 and 70-298

Expected completion timeframe: 2007

Finally I’ll start down the road toward my development certifications. This will help me to round out my certifications so that I’ve covered all the bases of direct interest.

Exams: 70-305, 70-310, and 70-316

Expected completion timeframe: 2007

At this point I’ll only be one test away from my MCSD so I’ll complete this track.

Exams Taken: 70-305, 70-316, 70-310, and 70-229

Exam: 70-300

Expected completion timeframe: 2007

I’m not certain which direction I’m going to take once I’ve achieved all the certifications.  At this point, It will likely depend a great deal on who I’m employed with.

If left to my own devices I’ll likely upgrade my Microsoft certifications to the new versions and then work toward my higher Cisco certifications.