VCP or other certification, how much help has it been?

Grimlaking

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I know in my environment the difference with some of the longer term Vmware administrators has been night and day. They don't get why we do some things the way we do. (not giving them access to our VM infrastructure.) But at least now they don't try to step on me when I tell them how I want to do things.
 
When I first got the VCP3 it didn't help at all. My company had a lot of favoritism and because I was newer others got to focus on VMware even though I knew much more than they did.

When I was laid off the VCP did help me get a job at a VAR as a Virtualization Engineer.
 
Child of Wonder, have you bothered keeping up with your VCP over the iterations? (Or when it expires every 2 years.)
 
Yeah, but only because my current employer pays for it and gives me a bonus for it.

Otherwise I would let it lapse.
 
Lol, yea I just got my 6.0. Now 6.5 and 6.7 are out and I'm like... really? lol. at least now I'd only need a 5k class before the next test. And work buys it so... meh.
 
I got my VCP just under 2 years ago, the VCP class had some ok information, but if you have several years of working with VMware under your belt you have alot of the knowledge and information already.
You can take the test anytime you want and pass it, but you don't get the VCP certification until you attend the $4k class (a bit crappy IMO) ~ best to attend the class first for the sake of process.
That being said both the class and test have alot of information that isn't likely to be used in small-medium business environments.
For me the studying of the VCP was alot of knowledge cramming of the pieces I didn't use on a regular basis. (most of that knowledge is lost in the ether now)

VCP is nice to get under your belt for showing a company you have the skills and a benefit if the company is a TAP or EA partner as they generally require a certain number of certified employees.
Its really only worth it if you can get your current company to pay for it, that's solely because VMware requires you to take both the class and the test.
In the world of IT, experience is generally acceptable equivalent to certifications, degrees, and training.

Once you have that initial step VCP certification you can do self study on the VCAPs and work towards VCIX or just renew your VCP with the latest version every couple of years.
The big thing to note is, if you do get the VCP, NEVER let it expire (its only $250 to retake a new version, or $450 for a VCAP).

As long as you take one of the VMware exams and pass every <2 years your certification gets renewed with each cert.
If it expires you then have to take the class and test over again, I'm brushing up on my VCAP for next month as my VCP expires in August myself.

Good luck, try to get that company funding!
 
Oh yea I already have my VCP just wanted to gauge impact of the VCP for others as well.
My company actually was pretty good about it. They want me to learn Datapower or another Technology this year and are willing to pay for it. (Engineer level.. kind of like level 3 but more project focused targeted to go to Architect in my personal goals.)
 
If anyone is looking for a cheaper alternative to the official VMware sessions, Mesa Community College in Arizona will be offering the following vSphere 6.7 distance learning classes:
I'm registered for the ICM class this Fall, total cost is just under $700.

This was brought to my attention since I am one of the leaders of the Houston VMware User's Group.

More information is available here at the MyVMUG Site (Registration Required)

I encourage everyone to get in touch with your local chapter and get involved - your network and career will thank you! (y)

-Steve
 
If anyone is looking for a cheaper alternative to the official VMware sessions, Mesa Community College in Arizona will be offering the following vSphere 6.7 distance learning classes:
I'm registered for the ICM class this Fall, total cost is just under $700.

This was brought to my attention since I am one of the leaders of the Houston VMware User's Group.

More information is available here at the MyVMUG Site (Registration Required)

I encourage everyone to get in touch with your local chapter and get involved - your network and career will thank you! (y)

-Steve
Good info! Thank you for sharing!
 
Cert usefulness really depends on whether or not you are looking for a job. That can come at any time in life so it helps to have the recruiter/hr beater lines on your resume. A lot of places you would be a great fit for will simply toss your resume aside if it doesn't have x/y/z listed.

I let mine expire, as my career shifted more towards management than systems administration.
 
Yea work wanted me to get mine. And I did. So there is that. But beyond that I was just curious as to impact. Thanks for everyhing. It did help me get a Vmware Insider subscription and then win a pair of noise cancelling headphones. So there is that!
 
Experience/knowledge will always trump certifications, but the certifications can help get certain jobs, especially when entering into a virtualization career. I have worked on a few large scale VMWare environments and I have zero virtualization certifications, but what I do have is over 20 years working with various virtualization technologies. Started using VMWare specifically back in 2007. What I have definitely learned is that it is never enough to know just one technology, it helps to know how to use numerous technologies. I would highly suggest people in the virtualization arena to learn Xen well, as that can garner you a lot of money, especially considering it is what AWS and Google Cloud systems are based off of. After that, learning various DevOps tools to auto-building is must going forward.

Certifications are great, I do recommend getting a few, but breadth and depth of knowledge will always trump it.
 
If anyone is looking for a cheaper alternative to the official VMware sessions, Mesa Community College in Arizona will be offering the following vSphere 6.7 distance learning classes:
I'm registered for the ICM class this Fall, total cost is just under $700.

This was brought to my attention since I am one of the leaders of the Houston VMware User's Group.

More information is available here at the MyVMUG Site (Registration Required)

I encourage everyone to get in touch with your local chapter and get involved - your network and career will thank you! (y)

-Steve

Does this qualify as taking the class though to be able to get the cert? or just knowledge to assist in passing the test?
Thats the only reason you "need" to take the class if you have the knowledge and experience already.
 
Does this qualify as taking the class though to be able to get the cert? or just knowledge to assist in passing the test?
Thats the only reason you "need" to take the class if you have the knowledge and experience already.
Qualifies for the exam.
 
Does this qualify as taking the class though to be able to get the cert? or just knowledge to assist in passing the test?
Thats the only reason you "need" to take the class if you have the knowledge and experience already.

It has to be "VMware authorized/certified training" (which this is the case)
There is another online option for this , but as with stuff in demand, there is a waitlist
 
It has to be "VMware authorized/certified training" (which this is the case)
There is another online option for this , but as with stuff in demand, there is a waitlist
Good to know, the way they word it sounds like it has to be their class.
I have my VCAP6-DCV Design test tomorrow morning, at least worst case if I fail it and VCP expires in august its not 4k worth of cost to get back to par (though I'm sure I'd pass the VCP6.5 test fine before then).

This 6 design test is a scary mofo though, supposedly has a first time failure rate of around 40% (which is super high for a certification test, they corrected it somewhat in the 6.5 design test supposedly).
I've been studying for 2 months and I'm still jittery on taking it tomorrow.
 
Some places put test questions you really have no business needing depending on where you started using vmware. I hate to say it but sometimes a brain dump is a nice insurance for you.
 
The only exam I ever worried about was the CISSP and tbh it wasn't warranted. One of the easiest ones I've taken, although to be fair it's the only one I actually studied for so maybe that's why
 
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