[geeks] The old certification debate....

[Nadine Miller]

hike wrote:
> On Jan 18, 2008 11:57 AM, Jonathan Katz <jon at jonworld.com> wrote:
> 
>> Mr Bill wrote:
>>> I'm RHCE-certified for RHEL3, got it in '04.  I took the one-week
>>> course;
>>> four days of refresher and one day of testing.  Even though I'm
>>> primarily a
>>> Solaris person that just dabbled in RH before then, I managed to
>>> pass with
>>> a 97%.
>> That sounds do-able. I may be able to go for a job by saying I'd do
>> that w/in 3 or 6 mos. of employment.
>>
>>> From what I've heard, the SELinux stuff makes the RHEL4/RHEL5 tests
>>> a bit
>>> more difficult, but I'm still planning on upgrading my
>>> certification this
>>> year.
>> Gotcha. I get to go study and RTFM. If I can pass the CISSP and my
>> Private Pilot Written exam I should be able to nip this one (I hope.)
>>
>> -Jon
>> _______________________________________________
>> GEEKS:  http://www.sunhelp.org/mailman/listinfo/geeks
>>
> 
> 
> RHCT & RHCE are performance based tests.
> you have to do things so you need experience as well as memory.
> with 10 years of solaris admin experience and some red hat (3&4) in college
> and some RHEL setup at work and "playing around" with RHEL at home, i was
> able to pass the RHCT after the 4-day course and 1 day test.
> it was not easy.
> (i am hearing impaired and the class was difficult to hear.  i am a slow
> reader, a slow typist, a slow hearer.)
> 
> you can create an account on RHEL and download the current RHEL OS (v5).
> do that and practice, practice, practice.
> the test is harder than what i have run into in true-life.
> Christopher Negus' "Red Hat Fedora and Red Hat Enterprise LInux
> <current_version> Bible" is a good book to go over (cheap on amazon and
> better than the o'reilly books at this level).
> 
> RHEL is a differenct mindset.
> Lots of what i can "windows style" commands: "--" real (non-crypt) words,
> etc.
> 
> know the system-config-* commands!
> 
> the RHCT will get people to talk to you; the RHCE is get you in the door!

You can also take their exam which evaluates your current 
knowledge/gaps, and they will suggest which class(es) you should take. 
It was suggested to me after I too the evaluation that I take the same 
crash course that Bill did.  My impression (about 2 yrs ago) was that if 
you have "big picture clues" the 4 day class (or if you are focused 
enough to study yourself) on the "Red Hat way" should be enough.

A junior sys admin I know took a simulation practical test sponsored at 
his work--he'd been building Solaris and Linux systems in their data 
center.  The impression I got from him was that the hands on 
trouble-shooting was the real problem for him--he just couldn't pull the 
steps out of his brain fast enough to get through it in the time limit 
of the practical.

=Nadine=