What Certifications are Valuable in Today's IT?

ganjadude asks: "I am a twenty-something who took the CCNA classes back in 2001. College at the time was not an option, so I am mainly self-taught in the field. I was wondering if there were others on Slashdot who took this route, and what certifications they have found will best further their careers. Does college matter in the security field anymore, or are certifications the way to go?" What certifications would you recommend as the most pertinent in today's IT market?

Atleast in my situation

[otacon]

Personally I never had a desire to go to college. I started working at an ISP when I was 15 due to my desire to learn, not to mention Linux experience. I've had my share of crappy IT jobs working at a repair shop, or what have you. However all of that served as a good learning experience. I am 22 and currently hold a CCNA and MCP (I only did MCP because my ex-employer had an MCSE and I bet him I could pass an MCP without studying, and I won) I currently work in an environment where everyone else has a bachelor's or better. I'm a Network Engineer, dealing in a large enterprise Cisco network, I make about 25/hour when you break it all down without ever setting foot in a college. I'm not saying a degree is not the way to go, but it's not the only way to go.

Certified==Underqualified

[Foofoobar]

The only people I know who get certified are those who feel they need something to prove they can walk the walk. This usually comes out when you ask then to talk the talk. Mainly a certification only helps those who need help; those who know what they are talking about and know what they are doing rarely get certification and generally don't need them. At least this is from all the interviews I have been in. It's usually experience that is the big qualifier and not certifications.

Re:A Few to Note

[zoomshorts]

I WORKED in several shops where the 'managers' thought certifications
were the best thing in the world. Sadly, most of the people thet hired
with 'Certifications - you name the cert' were simply test takers.

We replaced EVERY one of those people within 2 months of their employment.
WE ended up doing the work THEY were supposed to be able to handle.

They can line their bird cages with certs.

Re:A Few to Note

[__aaclcg7560]

Ignore the certs if you want, but you'll have a harder time getting the interviews.

I been in a few contracting situations where I show up with bunch of technicians to do a one-day job and I got treated with more respect since I was only the one who had certifications. Then again, maybe it was my ability to read the instructions. One place was doing a Token Ring to Ethernet network conversion. Each tech was supposed to remove the Token Ring cable and plug the Ethernet cable into the motherboard NIC. The techs without certification plug the Ethernet cable into the Token Ring card, didn't bother to check the software configuration and missed some work stations. I was collecting overtime cleaning up that mess.

Certifications are meaningless....

[GuyverDH]

I am a 30 something, who started in the field in '86 while still in high-school. Everything I know is self-taught. Experience is the key. Too many short term memorizations have made certifications not worth the paper they are printed on.

List your experiences, and areas on knowledge.

In most cases that's as good as or better than college / certifications. If someone out there won't even interview you because you don't have a college degree, or certifications, then they are an idiot, and you wouldn't want to work for them anyway.

I've been continuously employed in enjoyable and enriching positions (2 for the entire 20 year period). It took me all of 3 days to find a new position when I tired of the old company.