Sacramento Help Desk Institute

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Sacramento Help Desk Institute

• Cardinal Health
• October 24, 2002

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Certification

• Sacramento Help Desk Institute

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Value of Certifications

• Help you earn more
• Set you apart from other candidates
• Help you gain experience

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What Certifications are There?

• There are more than 200 certifications you can
  earn
• Technical certs from software and hardware makers
  such as Microsoft, 3COM, Sun, IBM, Novell, Cisco,
  DEC, Adobe, etc.
• Professional organizations such as ICCP, CompTIA,
  NPA, etc.
• Vendor-independent groups such as Learning Tree,
  ProSoft, Brainbench

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Guarantee for Success?

• Passing exams instead of developing skills
• Budget tightening may cause
• Cutting salaries
• Lowering job requirements

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Most Unique and Interesting IT Certification
Program

• GeekCruises.com specializes in several Cisco and
  Microsoft certs
• 7 days for 2500 plus airfare
• Caribbean cruise with 40 hours of focused training

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Choosing a Vendor

• Ask for references
• Ask colleagues
• Check BBB
• Dont pay everything upfront
• Get guarantees in writing

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What About Non-technical Certification?

• Over and over again when the Help Desk Institute
  surveys the support industry, they tell us they
  value customer service and problem-solving skills
  higher than specific technical skills.
• Ron Muns, CEO and Founder,
• Help Desk Institute 8/16/02

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Soft-Skills Certification

• Some of the main players
• HDI
• Help Desk 2000
• SSPA

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Bottom Line

• Most acknowledge that certs can be a valuable
  asset, when coupled with experience.

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Certification

• Sacramento Help Desk Institute