Hi,

I have no Linux/UNIX certifications, though I do have a degree in Computing Science. The funny thing is that the degree basically turned out to be useless, for me anyway. I realised very early on that what I wanted to do was sysadmin rather than dev work, and a comp sci degree in the 1990s was purely focussed on hardware and software engineering. The landscape for University-level sysadmin stuff is far better now, but was nonexistent then.

What I did learn from though was the part-time job I had while at Uni, which was doing weekend and evening customer support for a small local Internet Service Provider. The guy who started the company had a DEC background, so most of the Web, e-mail and FTP kit were VAXen running VMS, with a smattering of MIPS boxes running Ultrix for NNTP and a few SPARCstations for RADIUS authentication. So it was a really great place to pick up the basics of all kinds of things. And it was what I learned there that got me my first proper full-time sysadmin job rather than the degree, no question.

As it happens I too had an MS certification forced upon me - I had to get an MCP in Windows Server 2003 ten years ago so that our company had its quota of certified staff for its Gold Partner certification. My job had for years involved a pretty even mix of *nix and Windows senior sysadmin work, which is why I was one of the people picked to go and sit the exam for the thing since the outcome was pretty much a foregone conclusion. I can't say my MCP was totally useless to me though - I ended up keeping the little laminated proof-of-MCP card in our car, so my wife could use it to scrape ice off the windscreen on cold mornings.

So personally, I value experience first and foremost, and any certifications, degrees or other qualifications come second. If two candidates were both sitting at the top of the pile then the certifications could be a decider in a tie-break, certainly. But for me, it's all about the experience rather than the paperwork.