In the midst of a series of articles on Sun certification, it has become imperative to take a short break and address the question I am most commonly asked — Is it worth getting certified?

The reason it is imperative to address this issue now, as opposed to three or four months down the road, is because the current economic market in the IT field is the weakest it has been in a while. That has led many people to consider their options, and certification is one of the first things they consider.

Given the scope of this column, I am going to narrow the focus of the general question down just a bit into something more specific — Is any Unix/Linux certification worth obtaining?

The answer is the same one that would answer any question on an economics final — Uncertain with reason. In this article, I will examine “the reason” part of the answer and try to eliminate as much of the uncertainty as possible.

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