In my opinion certification is the best route to take if you're looking to make it big in IT. Most 2-year colleges are just getting up to speed on the networking craze. With PCs becoming more and more popular so is the basic knowledge about them that once made jobs like PC Technician, Microcomputer Specialist, and Computer Operator seem like favorable career choices. Those basic skills aren't enough anymore to make the holder of that job title feel secure in his/her employment. With the hardware and software becoming more and more reliable and user friendly the focus now is on Networking. And since a Network Administrator or Network Support person usually has those same skills as the PC Technician, most employers are skipping over the Microcomputer Specialist in favor of the more robust Network Support person.
For most employers trying to find skilled IT personnel can be as confusing as the technology itself. Certification acts a gauge that the employer can use to measure a potential employees abilities and worth. Since certification is backed by the makers, designers, and implementers of the technology an employer can feel confident that he/she has made a wise decision in hiring someone with the appropriate certification. For instance Microsoft and Cisco are two of the most widely used platforms out there today. So the certifications that Microsoft and Cisco offer are two of the most widely respected and sought after by employers.
Microsoft offers many certifications to choose from, the most popular being the MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer). This is a certification that will prepare you to manage a medium to large internetworked computer system. This is a valuable certification that will probably hold some weight for a very long time.
You can read more about the MCSE by
clicking
:
Cisco also offers an assortment of
certifications including the CCIE or Cisco Certified Internetworking Expert
certification. Holders of this prestigious certification are the most
sought after personnel in the IT field and typically command salaries in access
of $100k. But believe me, the CCIE isn't a cakewalk and probably will take 5+
years working in a LAN/WAN environment to pass. I hear that the failure
rate for those taking the exam is over 80%. You can learn more about the
CCIE and other certifications that Cisco offers by clicking here: 
Please Note: This site is in no
way affiliated with Cisco Systems, Inc.
I don't hold a certification in certifications and the majority of the information contained on this page is my opinion. I invite you to form you own by visiting a few of the links I've provided below. The route I'm choosing, which I don't recommend for everyone, is to get my foot in the door in an entry level position, PC Technician, Computer Operator, and then purchase the study materials and study for the MCSE in my own time. The reason I say I don't recommend this for everyone one is because a certain amount of computer experience is necessary. I'm one semester short of being a "Microcomputer Specialist" and I have had a lot of exposure to the hardware side of PCs.
I'll list more links in the "General Resources" section. The links here are concerned with certification:
To learn about certifications I need only list one site GoCertify. This site lists what seems like every certification in the IT/IS field. They list important details about each certification also. They tell the certs. value in the real world as well as how much it'll cost to obtain.
The links below are just a few of the sites you can visit that offer free testing and information on certifications. I highly recommend Brainbench. They're offering free testing and if you pass they'll mail you an 8x11 certificate of recognition. If you score high enough you can become a member of their MVP program.
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