On Sat, 16 Mar 2013 16:01:28 -0400, Francois Labreque wrote:

> Just like the CCIE lab test.
> Day 1: Here's a pile of network gear*.  Here's a Visio diagram of a
> corporate network (with missing info, of course).  All the cables and
> all the manuals are over there on the shelf.  You have 8 hours.
> 
> Day 2: Guys, there, was a major incident on your network last night, the
> CIO has been screaming at your boss for the last half hour.  Fix it. You
> have 8 hours.
> 
> *Including some that's DOA, or whose firmware has been erased.

Which is a very good exam - one of the best in the IT industry, if not 
the best.

But it's also not something you'd do on an entry-level exam.  It's a 
fairly expensive exam to take, to administer, and requires a fair amount 
of setup to pull off.  If you fail, Cisco will charge you to review the 
results (you get the review fee back if the scoring was incorrect, 
however).

IT certification exams fall into two categories, generally:  Introductory 
and Advanced.

Introductory exams are almost /never/ practical exams (RedHat is the only 
exception to this that I'm aware of - and the guy who's in charge of 
their exam and certification programs has no interest in doing anything 
other than performance-based testing.  I've met him and he and I talked 
at length about it).  The LPIC-1 is an introductory exam.  The purpose of 
an exam at this level is to define a minimally-qualified entry level 
candidate - a first level admin, or similar.  Those certifications tend 
to be marketing fodder for the exam sponsors (Cisco, SUSE, RedHat, etc).  

They have to measure a valid candidate in order to have some validity, 
but the purpose is to build a large following of candidates who have 
familiarity with the product(s) the exams are about.

The benefit shifts when you get to more advanced exams.  Those exams are 
targeted at a smaller audience - and if (IMHO) the sponsor is doing their 
breakdown properly, the advanced exams are /not/ revenue-generating.  At 
best, they should break even.  (If you're making an "advanced" mass-
market certification exam, you don't understand the economics of 
certification programs, again IMHO).  The purpose of an advanced 
certification program is to have a small number of people (relatively 
speaking) who have advanced skills and knowledge - the "creme de la 
creme" of the mass-market certification audience are the ones who will 
take it, and they should be difficult to pass (like the CCIE).

The benefit to the candidate of a properly defined advanced certification 
is significant - demonstrably higher pay, higher regard/recognition, and 
higher demand for their skills.

Jim

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