[bradknowles]

If you’re a consultant, then certs can definitely help you get more gigs. I saw a lot of that when I was working in various consulting companies.

If you’re looking to get hired in-house for certain types of work, then certs can help you get past the HR droids that are only looking for checkboxes. That generally becomes less and less applicable as you gain more and more experience.

Beyond that, you have to ask which certs help you learn something that you didn’t already know, and which ones aren’t worth the e-paper they’re printed on.

I’m an old-school Unix SysAdmin/DevOps guy, with over 30 years of experience in the industry. Over the years I’ve been in the business, I have found very few certs that were worthwhile. The Cisco certs used to be something meaningful, but I don’t know if they still are. None of the rest of the certs that I used to value are still being taught — who remembers NetWare?

I think some of the higher-end AWS certs are useful, but you have to start at the bottom and work your way up. Which I am now doing.

Even if all you’ve got right now are the lower-level certs, one thing they can show is your willingness to put up with BS to get some sort of minor reward. And your intention to go for something greater.