The crossroads of technology: chasing technology certifications
By: Francisco Perez
Tags: Career Advice, Storytelling, Certification, Reflections

Right after I got out of university in 2001, I didn’t know what type of jobs my future will hold. At that time, I had the opportunity to work for a telephone company as a system administrator; this was in the early beginnings of the internet. Soon I realized, that I had spent four years of studies for something that wouldn’t help me get my dream job, and if I landed this sysadmin job was due to the things I learned on my own. I quickly resorted to the alternative of chasing technology certifications instead of continuing with higher education.

Preparing for certifications was hard; it required a lot of personal sacrifices and time. I spend almost two years for each certification doing anything else other than studying, day in and day out. But it was worthy; certifications allowed me to travel and explore the world for the first time. I visited places like San Paulo, Atlanta, New York, Boston, Toronto & Silicon Valley. It also helps me gain a reputation back home; I became one of the two only people in the DR with an expert certification in networks and among a group of only 50 people in Latin America. A few years later, building in that success, I will later land my first job outside my country, and a few years after that, I got my dream job in the same technology company that certified me. Call it irony, destiny, or pure coincidence.

Technology can get outdated pretty quickly, and the same is valid for certifications. I can now see that. One of the drawbacks between certifications and university degrees is that the latter gives you context. That alone won’t give you a job, as I experienced, but it provides you with the building blocks and freedom to do something else in later life.

One of the less obvious advantages of having a formal education, is that creates awareness of a wide range of topics: Economics, Sociology, Philology, Logic , Ethics, Grammar, and even Religion.

Yet, how do technology companies kept me believing I was still worth something, even if what I learned yesterday might not be relevant today? — Well, for a fee, I will end up taking more re-certification exams or, after some time, pay an annual fee that will keep me title valid. After all, why wouldn’t I want to do that? — I spend at least four years of my life preparing for all this; what are 450 dollars to keep the memory of that hard-earned effort and my knowledge alive?.

There was a flaw in the decision I made ten years ago. Still, I couldn’t see it, or maybe I decided to ignore it and covered with the opportunity and success I had in my early career, until, at some point, technology changed, I changed, and my dream changed.

On November 28 this year, it will be that time of the year where I, once again, need to renew my vows to my knowledge and sacrifices. This time, I decided not to do that and effectively-becoming “inactive”, in the end; what are the consequences?.

Instead, I decided to donate my renewal fees to support the Farmworkers in California.

Farmworkers are working twice as hard during the heatwave and fires while getting paid less. They are paid per piece and much of the harvest has been ruined by ash and smoke. When asked what items they need most, their first response was: basic school supplies for their children.

I was very fortunate to have parents who had the modest resources to pay for my education; I now have the choice to go back and scrutinize the intersection between technology and the subjects I have always been passionate about.

If becoming “inactive” means that I could allow a child to put together the building blocks of his/her life and make a choice. That’s an option I’m delighted in supporting.