Linux skills are hot, but Linux certification isn't,
according to USonline IT job board
Dice.com.
Of the 49,000 IT jobs listed on Dice.com recently, about 2,200
requested applicants with Linux experience, said the company's
chief executive and president Scot Melland. "That's up 190% from a
year ago. It qualifies as a hot skill set that's really growing in
demand."
More than half the Linux-related jobs advertised are developer
or programming positions, and about a third are located in
California.
Perhaps more importantly for job seekers with Linux skills,
Melland said that employers didn't usually require Linux
qualifications. "Linux certification has not taken off as a
must-have. I really don't know if it will."
Instead, employers seem to prefer real-world knowledge. "The
mantra for the past 12 or 24 months has been experience," Melland
said.
The most common Linux certification specified in Dice.com's job
listings was Red Hat Certified Engineer, but only 10 of the 2,200
Linux listings required it.
Joe Poole, technical support manager at a US chain store that
makes heavy use of Linux, said that Linux certification could help
an applicant get an interview more quickly, but that it wasn't
essential.
"If you're hiring from the outside, you really don't know if an
applicant is qualified, even if they're certified," he said. "Book
learning and practical experience are two different things."
To find out more about an applicant's training, Poole gets his
IT technicians to talk to them. "You can see whether that generates
nods of approval or blank stares."
Brian Dewey, a network engineer at a US retailer that uses Linux
in its operations and data centre, agreed. He said his company
didn't require certification in any operating system for its IT
hires. "If you work for a retailer, it's not really
necessary."
Instead, he grills applicants with technical questions to try to
trip them up and separate the qualified candidates from the
rest.
Todd R Weiss writes for Computerworld