If you bought into the hype about MCSE boot camps, super-fast IT certification was the e-ticket to a higher paying job. That’s not to say that going the MCSE certification route didn’t work in the past. It’s that it just might not be the optimum way to go right now, and perhaps even less in the future. There’s an interesting article about the value of non-certified tech skills on eWeek.com …

It seems that a bunch of mad hot skillz are non-certified, these days, including the ever-fuzzy realms of training and webmastering. If you’re looking for what’s currently hot in the world of certification, you’ll do well to check into the security field, as well as the Cisco-specific certs.

Truth be told, I gave a good bit of consideration to doing the boot camp thing a while back, but balked when I figured out what I’d have to fork out. (Yes indeed, that career crossroad turned out to be a fork. I’m not sure if it was the high road or the low road that I ended up taking, but at least it got me to this place in one piece.)

Being a gainfully unemployed independent contractor has its ups and downs. Had I been an employee in a big company, I might have made the case (and had the man foot the bill) for that MCSE certification training. But I’m not and I didn’t, and all things considered, two years later I’m happier, make that much happier, that way …

But hey, that’s just me! :)