Building a certification and skills roadmap

Building a certification and skills roadmap…and taking it seriously

There are posts after post daily on LinkedIn regarding various topics on certifications. Whether it is people posting that they passed a certification, the latest and greatest AI certification being launched, or opinion posts about why certifications are or are not important. As an educator, mentor, and professional, I want to provide my insights to these areas in this post. This is my opinion and thoughts from discussions with others in the field and posts/comments that I have seen. Hopefully, you will find value in these thoughts and use them to choose your own adventure when it comes to skilling up in your continued journey through technology. Let’s look at three key areas when it comes to certifications, training, and building a roadmap of skills.

Certifications – what is the value?

This is a topic that gets a lot of attention on LinkedIn. There are generally two very opposite opinions about certifications. There is a group that believes in them and sees their value, and another that feels that those with certifications are just collecting paper and don’t have any real skills. I’ll cover more about the second opinion in the next area on training. Let’s discuss why certifications are valuable and the way that hiring managers should view them on a resume.

Many organizations put specific certifications within a job description. As a job seeker, this helps to get through the initial phase of the AI Agent recruitment process evaluating and removing those that do not comply with what is deemed a required certification. This is not the primary value of the certification as it would pertain to the organization.

As a hiring manager, you should look at these certifications as a positive. You want people that are continuously finding ways to get better at what they do and have a thirst for learning. Technology changes rapidly, you do not want someone on your team that is happy with the status quo, you want analytical thinkers that are always finding ways to improve. I have seen posts and comments where professionals have said, “I don’t want to hire someone with a bunch of certifications because they will come in wanting me to pay for their certifications, explode my training budget, and then use these certifications to get a new job that pays more”. That is a very static way of thinking. If an organization is not supporting your willingness to get better and not rewarding them for doing so, you are building a very unmotivating work environment.

The last point that I want to make in this section is about how many certifications are the right amount. If you look at my LinkedIn profile, I have dozens of certifications. There is a reason for that, I am an instructor by trade, and you need to be certified in a topic that you are going to teach. So, I have obtained these certifications to build my value in the instructor community. I also have a bit of an obsessive-compulsive personality and tend to collect them like trading cards or Pokémon. 😊 The last section of this post will provide some guidance in terms of a roadmap that you may see valuable. The point that I will make here is to think about the role you want and make it something that you are passionate about. Once you have that target, determine the training and certifications that are required or would be helpful in you executing that role. Which gets us to the training and education discussion topic.

Training and education – how do you get maximum value?

I am particularly passionate about this area as it is my profession. Across my career, I have taught live instructor-led courses, provided live in-person and virtual training sessions, developed on-demand video content, created text and video courses, written exam prep books, and contributed to certification courseware. Each of these are different modalities that learners use to absorb content and concepts, some extremely technical. So, how do you decide what is best for you? Training and education needs to align with value. And for you, it is the value of the content and your goal as a learner.

This is where I want to be clear on what that goal should be. Yes, you want to pass the certification exam, but this should not be your primary goal. You should be targeting a structured training that teaches you the concepts and provides you with the tools to apply them to your professional role, or the role that you are going to target. Watching YouTube videos that give you tips on passing the exam without teaching you the concepts, or drilling yourself on hundreds of practice questions may help you pass the exam, but they will not help you get past an interview.

Something that live instructor-led training provides that YouTube videos, on-demand text content, practice questions, and even AI-generated content will not give you is interaction. A live instructor has experience, most have done the job, and they have insights that help to relate concepts to real-world situations and scenarios. In addition, you have other learners that bring their own experiences to the course and provide even more perspective. This builds comprehension of the topics and concepts that strengthen your understanding and ability to apply in your role within an organization.

Avoid falling into the trap of “what information do I need to pass this exam”, this will get exposed in a technical interview. Evaluate the training provider and make sure that they are qualified and permitted to deliver the content. “Tips and Tricks” are great for last minute what to expect on the exam information but should not be your sole means for preparation. Learn the concepts and understand how to apply them in real-world scenarios. Which brings us to the final topic of building a certification roadmap.

Certifications – which ones are right for you?

Depending on your area of focus, certification exams can be expensive. Therefore, you should be structured and guided in the ones that you choose. I mentioned in the first section that the path you choose should be one that you are passionate about, something that makes you excited to want to continue to learn and engage.

Where do you start? This is a question that I get all the time. As mentioned previously, exams get expensive, but there are many extry-level, foundational, and fundamental exams that reputable certification organizations provide that give you an entry point into your path. Whether it is ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity, Microsoft’s catalog of Fundamentals exams for Security, Azure, AI, and Data, AWS Cloud Practitioner, or Google Cloud Digital Leader or Generative AI Leader, these provide a broad look into the technology and can assist you in finding the next direction in your path.

What next? Once you have gained that first level, your next step should be to determine next steps in building practical and applied understanding. This can be through more advanced certifications or even through hands-on applied skills curriculum and assessments. Microsoft has a full catalog of applied skills training and assessments to add to your transcript. These are lab-based assessments that allow you to show that you comprehend, understand, and can apply technology in a real-world style scenario. AWS has a similar path of learning for their partners. For cybersecurity, AI security, and leadership, ISC2 provides a wide range of certificate courses that are also badged to show comprehension and understanding.

Build a budget. The previous sections were focused on entry-level certifications, and certificate/badge skills that are both low-cost. As we move to the more advanced certifications, this is where cost could become an issue, especially for a jobseeker. You should have an idea at this point about the area of expertise that you are passionate about and role that you are targeting. You should find the certifications that are being requested for these roles and what additional certifications could set you apart. It is important here to evaluate the reputation of the certification and the certifying organization.

Be careful, with the excitement around AI, there are many new certifications and certificates that are out there being created. Understand what is reputable and what is a certification versus a certificate. A certification is an exam that goes through vetted procedures and is usually taken under a proctored setting. Certificates are generally provided for completing a course and post-course online assessment that is not proctored. Do not misrepresent yourself. Reputable organizations with certifications that companies list on job descriptions are: AWS, CompTIA, Google, ISACA, ISC2, Microsoft, Oracle, Cisco, and others.
The next point to this is do you want a company specific or vendor independent certification. CompTIA, ISC2, and ISACA are highly reputable and recognized vendor independent certifications providers. Then perhaps you look as some vendor specific in AWS, Google, Microsoft, etc based on positions that are being requested.

Bringing everything together

Whichever direction that you go, you should be structured and disciplined in your approach. Depending on the hiring manager, vetting process, and job description, the path you take and how you represent yourself will be what gets you an interview and hopefully get you hired. When you apply for a position, focus on the certifications and training that you have taken that aligns with the role. Customize your cv/resume to the job description. Many AI-based tools review based on scoring to the job description. These tools also look for AI created resumes, so make sure you tell your story.

I hope that you found this information helpful. Feel free to reach out to me if you have any additional questions.

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