Be CERTIFIED

One of the most in demand jobs nowadays is Information Technology or as we simply call it IT. My husband and I (before I decided to be a stay at home mom) are employed in one of the leading IT company in the world. Its a tough job especially for my husband since he was always on call just like a doctor.

Being in the IT fields has its own advantages and disadvantages. More often that not IT jobs are high paying. But to make your market value go higher and to be sure you won’t be left behind you also need to upgrade yourself by taking trainings and different certifications every year. In fact, in our previous company each engineers are asked to put around two or three additional knowledge they should acquired in the current year and this are documented in what we call personal business commitment (PBC). At the end of the year, based on what is written on the PBC there would be year end assessment and the evaluation will be the basis of your salary increase.

I remember way back 2005, hubby’s group (which consist of engineers tasked to repair printers, tape drives, servers, AS400 etc) were asked to take the Cisco certification exam. As part of the preparation for the certification they attended classes during weekends which was spearheaded by CISCO certified professional. There where also given reading materials and reviewers for it. During that period I was there by my husbands said reviewing him. He jokingly told me at that time to take the exam with them since he thinks I am more prepared than him. lol!

Unfortunately, he did not pass the exam along with his groupmates. I think only one made it. Maybe, the cramming did not work for them. The lack of experience with CISCO (since at that time we only have few CISCO clients and not all of them are tasked to repair it ) and they can’t focus on the exam because of all the customer calls they have to attend. 100% of their time is dedicated on visiting clients and being on the field. They cannot find the time to sit and review. But all of them vowed to take the exam again because they know that certification will help them climb up the IT ladder and land another high paying job, which of course we all know is true.

Almost if not all, or about 90% of those who took the exam are no longer connected with our previous company. Most of them have found employment in the Middle East, with a salary that range from Php 80k to Php 300k. Its a lot higher that what they are receiving here in the Philippines. About 50% to 90% higher with housing and transportation allowance (car and airfare). But those CISCO certified have much higher demand and have higher salary.

Right now, I am still encouraging my husband to make sure he maximized the training program his company is giving him. Not only is he gaining knowlegde he can also travel. Along with this training he also wants to be Cisco certified in the near future. Since as an IT professional he needs to have career growth every year. Which if you can to think of it, that is also applicable to me. But right now, my opportunity is to be a mother. But when the little girl start schooling I would also start relearning and build up my IT career again.