Do things like MCSE (click me), A+(click me), Cisco Cert. and things like that carry any value here?
On a related theme, I wonder is it possible to take classes here (in English) in Microsoft Office and/or to get certified?
I don’t know about finding classes in English (hmmm…), but you should be able to take the certification tests in English or any other language that would suite you.
Taiwan’s Microsoft Certifaction site, but it’s all in Chinese.
Taiwan has slightly lower requirements than Canada (which is not allowing the title “MCSE” any more because that “E” stands for “engineer”), so basically any kind of certificate is welcome, even if it only states that you’re wearing the same watch as many Cisco employees…
Having said that, a “real” certificate still has its value at certain (where people really know what that sheet of paper is actually saying) places.
You can take classes in English and be certified in Singapore.
I kind of doubt that the certifications have any value (monetary at least). Employers aren’t really aware of them yet and if they are, they just say, “oh, that’s nice”. That might also explain why sysadmins in Western countries tend to diss their Asian counterparts.
Are you saying they don’t have any value in the U.S. or Taiwan?
Certifications are more valuable if you have the related work experience.
Some of them are only valid until the next upgrade of software. ie WinNT 4.0 MCSE only applies to WinNT so you need to upgrade and take more tests for Win2000 and so on. It is an expensive cycle. Best if a company can pay for it.
Mainly Taiwan. Although in the US, some certifications are beginning to lose value. It appears that these days, if you’re going to be a computer repair technician, you’re expected to have A+. Although it’s quite a joke because you can pass A+ by cramming for 2 weeks and have no clue how to do anything when you actually see a computer.
I’ve recently been looking into http://www.giac.org certifications. The certification requirements are much, much more stringent that just passing a multiple choices test.
At the last company I worked here, the sysadmin (with his MCSE certificate displayed proudly on the wall) didn’t know the difference between a firewall and anti-virus software. 