[Gllug] LPIC certification.

[Bruce Richardson]

On Sat, May 29, 2004 at 12:33:33PM +0100, Subirats-Duran, wrote:
> Dear friends,
> I am new to Linux comunity although I use it as a personal operating system
> together with windows(the last I have being using 90% of the time).
> I want to do the jump to Linux by getting the LPI1 and 2 certification.The
> purpose is to get enough knowledge so that I can become both employable and
> experienced.

The LPI exams are designed in such a way that they are not easy to pass
if you do not have real (and wide) experience.  Some people have the
mistaken belief that they are easy to pass if you simply have a good
memory and read the right books.  They seem to base this on the fact
that most of the questions are multiple choice and that there is no
practical test.  In fact, a significant minority of the questions are
designed to test your understanding of the function and purpose of
particular elements of a Linux system.  These questions are difficult to
answer without the kind of knowlegde that comes from direct experience.

Even many of the simpler questions would defeat a Mr Memory approach,
because they offer a range of plausible (and unlikely) tools to perform
a particular task and ask you to choose the most appropriate.  Again,
this requires more understanding than you can gain from a book, however
exact your recall.

In addition, the scoring is carefully weighted.

What I am saying is, you really need to devote some serious time to
researching and using Linux before you can consider taking the exams.
There is a big leap in skill required from LPIC1 to LPIC2.  You really
cannot just read up a bit and then take them both.   I do know people
who have acquired both qualifications over the course of a few days but
that was because they already had the right level of experience and
knowledge.

> As I have some Unix experience through a module in my Degree in Computer
> Science I thought that it would be very useful to be accreditted by LPI.

Unfortunately, not only might an LPI certification not help you gain a
job, it might actually make it harder with some employers.  Attitudes to
certifications in the industry are very mixed.  IT is still in many ways
a craft as opposed to a regulated career with standardised practices.
Many IT staff are suspicious of these certifications.

As it happens, I have just recently secured a new job.  I didn't even
mention my LPIC certifications on my CV, because I had no idea how they
might be received.  As it turned out, I don't think that it would have
done any harm but I also now know that it wouldn't have given me any
significant advantage (with this particular employer).

I still think it can be worth taking the exams but I would regard it as
a way of proving to yourself that you can do it and not count on it
offering you any quick route into a job.

-- 
Bruce

Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
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