Sun Certifications or do my Masters?

japanpaul

Hi
Does anyone in here have any Sun certifications in here?
Do you think they are worth the effort? I did the Sun Certified Java Programmer exam when I left college just to show potential employers that I can do a bit of programming.
I'm in a good job now but I am thinking of going back to do my Masters in DCU(graduated from there in 2002). Only problem is I'm getting married in the Summer and I don't think the financial situation would allow giving up work for 10 months.
I'm thinking about getting the rest of my Sun Certs instead as I really enjoy java programming. The 3 exams I would do are on the Sun page below. If I put in the work I would have them done in the same time as my Masters at a cost of about E800 including books, allowinh me to stay in work at the same time.

http://www.sun.com/training/certification/java/java_web.html
Sun Certified Web Component Developer
Sun Certified Business Component Developer
Sun Certified Developer for Java Web Services

Do Irish companies take certifications into consideration when hiring and giving pay rises?
Do they take whether or not you have an MSC into consideration when hiring and giving pay rises?
Any answers or experiences much appreciated.

Hobbes

Certs + work experience over Certs. Masters on the other hand would probably trump the Certs on thier own.

The certs you are doing are also specialised as well. Personally if I had the time I would go for the Architect one as it is seen as better unless your going just for coding type job. Although you would want some real world experience on that too.

japanpaul

I brought it up in a company meeting that we should encourage employees to get certs under their belt to keep them up to date with modern programming ideas but nothing really came of it though. Do Irish companies care about certifications at all? American and Japanese companies lap it up because it shows that even outside work you are teaching yourself more skills.
I'm 26 and have nearly 4 years experience now, 2.5 years in Japan and 1.5 in a good company in Ireland. Now I'm at a crossroads. Getting married wil realistically close the Masters route unless someone will pay my rent, etc for the next year. Planning for a baby aswell so I think certs is the way to go for me.
The architect certification is a good years work in itself from what I've read an is something that I will aim for further down the line.
Out of the 3 certs I listed, Sun Certified Developer for Java Web Services sounds the most interesting, encompassing XML, SOAP, JAXP, JAXB, and SAAJ and general design. I am already a good J2EE programmer so this one would broaden my skill set the most.

timeout

Well I think you can do a part time masters but as its part time it takes 2 years to complete. Positive is you don't need to give up job.

egan007

You could apply for a job in SUN and get the certifications free....

p.pete

Considering the finances of it and the time off needed for the Masters I'd advise the Sun route (you could do the masters later if you wanted).
Also if you're enjoying your Java then the Sun certs will focus more directly on what you're doing and what you want to do - a Masters could have less focus (though possibly more recognition).

In the work I'm in I reckon a cisco CCNA and possibly a CCNP have more respect then my honours degree, my company sucks though I don't know how the Sun certs compare for recognition but personally I reckon I'd be further along in my career if I skipped the 4 year degree, did a CCNA and went straight into what I'm doing.

japanpaul

timeout wrote:

Well I think you can do a part time masters but as its part time it takes 2 years to complete. Positive is you don't need to give up job.

Do you know any colleges doing part time masters in Dublin, preferably the southside that have a good rep?(Courses with a good rep, not colleges)

timeout

No idea about dublin but the one in the IT in Galway is friday afternoon and evening only : http://www.gmit.ie/prospective_students/propectus2006/science/Msc_computing/index.html

And the one in the Uni Galway is actual a distance one : http://www.it.nuigalway.ie/onlineITMSc/
OR
http://www.nuigalway.ie/postgrad/taught-progs.html#IT-prog
The last link at the bottom of the page.

nuttz

I guess it's the software engineering masters in DCU?, it's a decent enough course. Look at the modules in the degree, see if it interests you and ask the secretary for updated module descriptions.

Some of the topics covered in the modules range from test-driven dev/ design/ refactoring/ advanced algorithms/ concurrency /JEE(EJB2/3) /Service Oriented Architectures(Web services) /secure dev etc.
Out of 6 modules this semester 5 include java/c/c# coding and the sixth coding in promela.

From a fees point of view the DCU masters is heavily subsidised, and if you can fall into the category for a grant there are no fees.

You could do always do the Sun certs in your own time. Without dev experience, you might find it hard to get the right job with only sun certs, but if you have that's different.

japanpaul

timeout wrote:

No idea about dublin but the one in the IT in Galway is friday afternoon and evening only : http://www.gmit.ie/prospective_students/propectus2006/science/Msc_computing/index.html

And the one in the Uni Galway is actual a distance one : http://www.it.nuigalway.ie/onlineITMSc/
OR
http://www.nuigalway.ie/postgrad/taught-progs.html#IT-prog
The last link at the bottom of the page.

The last course you posted looks interesting but the price is a bit off putting. E12000 in 2005 means probably E15000+ next year. Still you would finish with a very solid MSc.
I think I'm leaning toward the certs since nobody here has anything bad to say about them. I think when I get 5+ years experience having a MSc wont be so important to potential employers.
Anyway, if house prices keep going the way they are I will probably move back to Japan in the next few years. I think the certs will be looked on more favourably over there.

cousin_borat

DIT have introduced a new MSC in Computing (Knowledge Management). I reckon this course could be very interesting. http://www.dit.ie/DIT/study/graduate/courses/knowledge.html#course

One of the persons joining the faculty is Ronan Bradley who used to be CEO of PolarLake so there should be some scope to do some really interesting and industry relevant research in SOA and Web Services if that's what you were interested in.

At the moment I am researching for my MSC, personally I'm glad of the decision to persue the MSC two years ago. I'm 26 now and have 4 years of workplace experience since I've done my MSC part time.

japanpaul

I like the sound of the DIT course, very flexible course.
Does anyone know if you qualify for a grant if doing your masters? As I said, getting married this year, and probably a baby on the way next year so it would be hard pulling together the E4000 plus laptop for the masters on top of wedding, etc. It's still a 3rd of the price of the Galway course.

nuttz

japanpaul wrote:

I like the sound of the DIT course, very flexible course.
Does anyone know if you qualify for a grant if doing your masters? As I said, getting married this year, and probably a baby on the way next year so it would be hard pulling together the E4000 plus laptop for the masters on top of wedding, etc. It's still a 3rd of the price of the Galway course.

I don't know what the limit is on income is to get a grant. The less you earn in the last year the more the grant is. Contact your local authority directly.

japanpaul

Thanks for all the assistance:)
I'm going to have a lokk over everything with my girlfriend and try and make the right decision.
I got a reply in another thread that I created by mistake:o and the guy said once you have a few years experience the certs don't mean much. I would have to disagree with that personally, but if that is the way people hiring think then you have to make the right decision to make yourself an "in demand" professional

bpmurray

One other route is to do an MBA instead - it's very tough indeed, but it's worth more than a truckload of Sun certs + "ordinary" MA's.

cousin_borat

I did not qualify for any grants but I got a tax refund for the course fund.