Re: "IBM i 7.1 Associate System Administration" cert -- MIDRANGE-L

Thanks, guys, for the replies.

Given my "experience", I hadn't even looked at the full "IBM Certified System Administrator - IBM i 7.1" test yet. I'll look more thoroughly at the outline and see what I can do. I just looked at the "Recommended Prerequisite Skills", and the list does not describe me yet.

Where I am at in my career right now is a turning point, but that's another story. My office does not use IBM i at all; and so far my experience has grown from using the old 170 I picked up last year that lives in my garage. Sure I've picked up some (old and outdated) books to help me along the way... and of course the friendly folks here on the Midrange list have been quite helpful as well.

Although my employer does pay for education, it's only for education that is related to our work. As an ISP that uses Linux, that could be any telecommunications related class or Linux admin type class; so I'll be footing the bill for any of these certifications myself.

All in all, I think I'll go for the Associate certification for now. I guess it can't hurt, right?

Thanks again guys,
Clay Carley
Sonic.net/ Sonic Telecom

On 08/26/2013 05:02 AM, Jim Oberholtzer wrote:

" a bit more in depth than I though it would be"

All the questions on the Associate exam were referenced right back to
the educational materials provided by IBM to the colleges/universities.
This year the content of those classes were updated and reviewed by
educators and a couple of SMEs from the administrator exams ( I was part
of that course content review ).

IBM does provide much of the educational curriculum needed by the
schools to teach IBM i, and there are many schools teaching it.

The level of depth that the Associate level goes into is a direct result
of the quality of the educational materials provided by IBM and the
educators that teach it. There are at least 5 schools in the Upper
Midwest ( USA ) that use this material and are turning out very high
quality students.

As a matter of note, all the questions on all of the IBM exams now are
referenced back to documentation of some type that provides the
answers. We spend almost as much time doing the cross referencing as
actually writing and reviewing the questions for accuracy.

Jim Oberholtzer
Chief Technical Architect
Agile Technology Architects

On 8/26/2013 6:33 AM, rob@xxxxxxxxx wrote:

My employer paid for me to take the full "IBM Certified System
Administrator - IBM i 7.1" vs your "IBM Certified Associate System
Administrator - IBM i 7". They actually encouraged me to take it.

I'll admit, the overview of associate one leads me to believe that it's a
little more in depth than I thought it would be.

If I was spending the money, and I thought I could handle the full one
versus the Associate one, then I'd take that one instead. If, however,
you are a little newer and don't think you have the necessary experience,
then go for the Associate one.
I think being certified would give you a leg up with my boss.

http://www-03.ibm.com/certify/certs/ps_index.shtml

ps: If you paste the text as is from the web site versus what you have in
the heading it would really help out google and IBM searches. I noticed a
vast difference.

Rob Berendt
-- IBM Certified System Administrator - IBM i 6.1 Group Dekko Dept
1600 Mail to: 2505 Dekko Drive Garrett, IN 46738 Ship to: Dock 108
6928N 400E Kendallville, IN 46755 http://www.dekko.com From: Clay B
Carley <cbc@xxxxxxxxx> To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
<midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>, Date: 08/25/2013 07:33 PM Subject: "IBM i
7.1 Associate System Administration" cert Sent by:
midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx Is the "IBM i 7.1 Associate System
Administration" certification something that a prospective employer
would look favorably on? I just took the assessment test today, and
passed. So I'm wondering if it will be worth the $200 for the
certificate? I suppose if nothing else, I will be the only one in my
(current) office with that certification, and an interesting addition
to my email signature... Thanks, Clay Carley
--