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What next after SCWCD?

 
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Can anyone offer any suggestions on what would help me get a job! I've just completed SCWCD, but little work on the horizon. Should I consider other certifications? Getting a little disheartened by it all.
 
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Welcome to the club! I've actually landed two jobs signed sealed and delivered only to have things fall through at the last minute!
I suggest you look around at other certs which fit your interests, experience, and/or aspirations, Tony. If you want to do EJB I'd suggest the SCBCD (a new Sun exam now in beta test), or a BEA Weblogic 7 certification, or one of two IBM certs built around Websphere.
 
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Congrats Tony. I agree with Alfred. However, you can also go for SCEA, which is most complex and prestigious level in Sun Certifications. I think that is quite recognised. Taking SCBCD will also help you prepare for SCEA partially.
 
Tony Walters
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My only worry with doing more certifications is that I seem to be continually doing certifications! What I lack is the job to match. I've also heard that too many certifications can give intervewers the impression that you have little experience. Its very frustrating at the moment.
I have thought of doing an architect certification, but as of yet am unsure about the pros and cons of doing a Sun one or a product-based one like IBM or BEA. Can anyone offer any suggestions about this?
 
Al Newman
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Too many certifications? That's a thought! ;-)
If you think that is happening to you, nothing could be simpler than to drop some of the certifications off of your CV/resume. If reservations are expressed about a covered area during the interview you can always bring up the certification as evidence that you know what you're about. The knowledge you gain as part of passing the test will show through even if you don't mention the certification, however.
I think your comment about fearing too many certifications points up something about the job market today; It's tighter than a bull's heinie in fly-time. There is a wealth of qualified candidates available, and selectors are going to absurd lengths to find so-called weaknesses. Another way to cull the list is to bid a low salary, even if that builds inequities in the team. It also means that the moment things improve the people they spent so much time interviewing will be off for greener fields and you will be hiring another replacement...
In times like these a difference can appear to be a weakness, particularly if one or more of the interviewers has a bit of an attitude about certifications. This can happen among 'senior' people, but I think much more likely to occur when the senior has a knowledge gap than with a truly good senior type. You aren't going to be a threat to a good senior but could well be a threat to a lesser one.
Understand also that jobs are a numbers game. Keep improving your skills and keep going to interviews. Sooner or later you will score, believe me.
Go ahead and do the additional certification(s), and omit to mention them on your CV if you wish (for now). I would suggest making several tailored versions of your CV for different job markets and/or titles.
 
Al Newman
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Things perking up a bit? I live in London and have been off work for 6 months, though not actively looking all of that time. The last 3 months I've been actively preparing for and passing certification exams and not pushing too hard on the job front. Letting old contacts come to me.
I've had a couple of consulting jobs fall through at the last minute, so I know there is interest if not a market out there.
Even without beating the bushes I've been getting some traffic lately. Last week I was a finalist on a Weblogic administration gig in Leeds, yesterday I had a face to face on a Weblogic team lead job and have gone to the final two, and now an excellent consulting company I know in the financial district is hiring. The green shoots of a recovery?
I hope so.....
 
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Hi Tony,

What is your commercial experience history? A strong possibility for not successfully obtaining a J2EE job is commercial experience. You could have all the certifications in the world but if you have no commercial experience - then they have insignificant value to a employee! You are probably thinking how do the hell do you get experience when you can't get a job to obtain experince with java?!?

To get experience, I strongly recommend doing IT consultancy for a local charity organisation. It is overseen by many people to obtain experience. Majority of charities will take you with open arms. Charities have to refer to commercial IT business for their IT systems, so they are charged rates that they can not afford within their tight budget. A lot of charities are wanting web-based information systems as they are not always in one location and can access it 24/7. Most charities are lookin for web-based Project Management Systems; which is what I am developing for a local charity at the moment (J2EE/MySQL/XHTML) for my disseration.

Once you have designed and implemented the system, you can include it to your portfolio to present to employees. The most important and essential part of the system is documentation. The documentation is to show the interviewer how you was presentated a hypothetical problem and how you solved it.

Good luck.



Originally posted by Tony Walters:
Can anyone offer any suggestions on what would help me get a job! I've just completed SCWCD, but little work on the horizon. Should I consider other certifications? Getting a little disheartened by it all.

 
Don't get me started about those stupid light bulbs.
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