Technology certifications that would lend some street cred
August 2, 2015 9:26 AM Subscribe
Are there any short certifications that would help someone a non-technical person signal that they have some knowledge of how technologies work?
My friend used to work in the tech industry in marketing and training, but left it a few years ago. She wants to get back into it now. Her tech experience is dated and she wants to seem more up-to-date. Also, she remembers how, in the past, she would meet the young CEOs of startups and they would be sort of dismissive of her because she was a woman and also not an engineer or programmer, but she frequently landed their business anyway because, unlike most of the people providing her services, she did actually understand how the database worked, what a server was, how the cloud works, etc. She asked a business school prof for some advice and prof said that she should get some certification to signal that she knows this kind of stuff. If she wanted to take finance, she could take a "Finance for Non-Financial Managers" course. Is there something like that she could take to help signal or indicate tech knowledge? She feels this would help her establish credibility against all the content and marcom people. She feels her knowledge of technology is what helps her stand out against other marketers and always has. It's just that SaaS and ASP and telecomm convergence and client/server systems aren't exactly bleeding edge anymore, so she needs to brush up.
She asked a few friends, but they don't really get it. One suggested a Microsoft Office certification and she had to try hard to contain herself. Another told her to go do a 2-year engineering diploma, which is way more than she wants - she doesn't want to become an engineer. Another told her to take an app programming certificate.
She's aware that there will not be one blanket course that establishes knowledge of all of the tech world. But any ideas for short-term courses that would help establish knowledge in even one area would help. Or perhaps even a certificate she could chip away at over time.
She tried looking around at workforce re-entry stuff for former stay at home moms, thinking that might help, but it was more "how to become an engineer again when you are already an engineer".
She also knows that getting immediate work experience will help her in establishing street cred and that is certainly a focus. But her specific question is about what she could take as a certification, so that should be the focus here.
Thanks.
My friend used to work in the tech industry in marketing and training, but left it a few years ago. She wants to get back into it now. Her tech experience is dated and she wants to seem more up-to-date. Also, she remembers how, in the past, she would meet the young CEOs of startups and they would be sort of dismissive of her because she was a woman and also not an engineer or programmer, but she frequently landed their business anyway because, unlike most of the people providing her services, she did actually understand how the database worked, what a server was, how the cloud works, etc. She asked a business school prof for some advice and prof said that she should get some certification to signal that she knows this kind of stuff. If she wanted to take finance, she could take a "Finance for Non-Financial Managers" course. Is there something like that she could take to help signal or indicate tech knowledge? She feels this would help her establish credibility against all the content and marcom people. She feels her knowledge of technology is what helps her stand out against other marketers and always has. It's just that SaaS and ASP and telecomm convergence and client/server systems aren't exactly bleeding edge anymore, so she needs to brush up.
She asked a few friends, but they don't really get it. One suggested a Microsoft Office certification and she had to try hard to contain herself. Another told her to go do a 2-year engineering diploma, which is way more than she wants - she doesn't want to become an engineer. Another told her to take an app programming certificate.
She's aware that there will not be one blanket course that establishes knowledge of all of the tech world. But any ideas for short-term courses that would help establish knowledge in even one area would help. Or perhaps even a certificate she could chip away at over time.
She tried looking around at workforce re-entry stuff for former stay at home moms, thinking that might help, but it was more "how to become an engineer again when you are already an engineer".
She also knows that getting immediate work experience will help her in establishing street cred and that is certainly a focus. But her specific question is about what she could take as a certification, so that should be the focus here.
Thanks.
is this big co. IT? because at the startup end i think you would impress people more with a github profile (ie write code and publish it). or, if that's too technical, contribute to some open source project. many startups are balancing the line between open source and commercial, and would probably love some free marketing work. but perhaps that's getting too close to working for free?
sorry for being negative, but at the startup end of things, people don't really care about certification. at least in my experience.
posted by andrewcooke at 9:37 AM on August 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
sorry for being negative, but at the startup end of things, people don't really care about certification. at least in my experience.
posted by andrewcooke at 9:37 AM on August 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
Thirding the notion that certificates probably won't solve this problem. Among technical folks, they tend to be seen as providing CYA for non-technical hiring managers who are hiring technical people but don't have any idea how to interview those folks (ie, if your new DBA takes down the database, it's not your fault because Microsoft certified him).
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 9:43 AM on August 2, 2015
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 9:43 AM on August 2, 2015
She may want to look at an entry level Cisco cert. like CCENT or CCNA route/switch. Cisco makes these hard, so they are meaningful and respected in the industry. There are boot camps and cram guides for them, but I counsel against them; a few hours study a week will give better long term results.
posted by Ecgtheow at 9:51 AM on August 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Ecgtheow at 9:51 AM on August 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
I have a different recommendation. Where is your friend? I suggest she find a local tech women's group and join them. It might be a meetup, or a Listserv, or a Facebook group. Join that, join the conversations. Answer questions. Show her expertise. Ask questions. Groups like this tend to give very generous with their expertise and good networking opportunities. Once people know her and know her experience, she will probably start to find opportunities opening up for her.
posted by instamatic at 10:14 AM on August 2, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by instamatic at 10:14 AM on August 2, 2015 [3 favorites]
If she is interested in software, a course in "Agile Software Development" / Kanban in a platform of her choice (Microsoft / TFS) or Open Source.
Another would be "Cloud" development short courses, pick any flavor(s): Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Compute Engine. Many of these have a 2-3 day class that might
For online marketing, Google Tag Manager is pretty standard these days:
https://analyticsacademy.withgoogle.com/explorer
And for a visual data display, she might catch the nearest Tufte class:
http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/courses.
posted by nickggully at 1:00 PM on August 2, 2015
Another would be "Cloud" development short courses, pick any flavor(s): Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Compute Engine. Many of these have a 2-3 day class that might
For online marketing, Google Tag Manager is pretty standard these days:
https://analyticsacademy.withgoogle.com/explorer
And for a visual data display, she might catch the nearest Tufte class:
http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/courses.
posted by nickggully at 1:00 PM on August 2, 2015
A lot depends on what kind of tech work she wants to do. Tech is a broad field, and there is no one size fits all answer. Microsoft Certifications (MCSE, MCP, etc) are common baseline certs for IT jobs but, as stated above, are not a great indication of skill.
Your friend may want to look at job listings for jobs like what she is interested in and see what type of requirements are asked for. If no specific certs are asked for, look for the most common skills and see what might be available for that skill set.
You might look at local temp staffing agencies. They can help place her somewhere to get more experience. Good ones may also have advice about what skills / certs it will help to develop since they know what gets people placed into the better jobs.
posted by nalyd at 3:35 PM on August 2, 2015
Your friend may want to look at job listings for jobs like what she is interested in and see what type of requirements are asked for. If no specific certs are asked for, look for the most common skills and see what might be available for that skill set.
You might look at local temp staffing agencies. They can help place her somewhere to get more experience. Good ones may also have advice about what skills / certs it will help to develop since they know what gets people placed into the better jobs.
posted by nalyd at 3:35 PM on August 2, 2015
Response by poster: Thanks. I think she was thinking that there was something more like a business-level kind of course that explains some current technologies. She isn't really the type to be doing Unix or running a network. She was more looking to put herself ahead of other marketers looking for marketing contracts by making herself more visible as someone who will actually understand what the technology does. (Lots of marketers run around talking about content, but they don't actually understand what the technology behind the product is.)
The Cisco certs look interesting. I am not sure if that is over what she is able to get into, but it might make sense. Agile Programming is also interesting, but it looks like she should take a few programming courses first.
The women in tech angle is interesting. Maybe women who are engineers would have a different approach to the whole thing and be more likely to refer work to her.
So she isn't looking to be able to use/apply a technology - she wants to be able to demonstrate to technical people doing hiring that she actually has half a clue what they are talking about. She tells me she ran into a (male) CEO recently who refused to show her his product when she asked some questions about it and then said, "Oh! SO you ARE intelligent after all!" when she explained how the wristband transferred data to the app on a phone. She wanted to clock him, but she says she has run into this before. One startup CEO told her women usually can't be bothered to learn anything useful. She doesn't want to work for the sexist ones, but she was wondering if there was some sort of bootcamp that would help her catch up on what she could be marketing if she starts going after consulting and freelance projects again.
posted by Chaussette and the Pussy Cats at 11:22 PM on August 2, 2015
The Cisco certs look interesting. I am not sure if that is over what she is able to get into, but it might make sense. Agile Programming is also interesting, but it looks like she should take a few programming courses first.
The women in tech angle is interesting. Maybe women who are engineers would have a different approach to the whole thing and be more likely to refer work to her.
So she isn't looking to be able to use/apply a technology - she wants to be able to demonstrate to technical people doing hiring that she actually has half a clue what they are talking about. She tells me she ran into a (male) CEO recently who refused to show her his product when she asked some questions about it and then said, "Oh! SO you ARE intelligent after all!" when she explained how the wristband transferred data to the app on a phone. She wanted to clock him, but she says she has run into this before. One startup CEO told her women usually can't be bothered to learn anything useful. She doesn't want to work for the sexist ones, but she was wondering if there was some sort of bootcamp that would help her catch up on what she could be marketing if she starts going after consulting and freelance projects again.
posted by Chaussette and the Pussy Cats at 11:22 PM on August 2, 2015
the only thing i can think of is that she tries out some online community like hacker news and try read some of the links each day / week. that way you absorb info on the latest fashion. probably avoid the comments, just read the popular links. this interface (actually a separate site) is easier to use - aim for the links with more "points".
(i can see she's in a difficult position and apologise for the cluelessness of people i work with)
posted by andrewcooke at 3:34 AM on August 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
(i can see she's in a difficult position and apologise for the cluelessness of people i work with)
posted by andrewcooke at 3:34 AM on August 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
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