Dale Bogle
Network Manager
MCP (Windows NT 4.0 Workstation and Server); CompTIA A+
Annapolis, Maryland
Years in IT: 20
Salary: $79,304

Like many IT professionals, Dale Bogle got his start in the U.S. military, as an Army electronics technician. When he retired from active duty, Bogle got himself certified and embarked on a new career - one that eventually landed him a position as a network manager with the U.S. Military's Joint Spectrum Center.

"Definitely, certification helped me advance my career. I started at Help Desk and with certification have risen to Network Manager," he says. "Certification was a bigger factor in my promotions than education."

Some older IT professionals tend to dismiss certification as little more than a piece of paper, but Bogle - with 20 years of IT experience - feels it's a good indication of a person's aptitude and desire to improve.

"[Certification] shows the ability to learn and willingness to improve," he says. "You can never stop learning and trying to better yourself."

As if to prove his point, Bogle recently began exploring information security certification. "I once focused on Microsoft certs, [but] now I feel it's more important to study and understand how to better protect networks."

Bogle is happy working in IT and relishes the challenging problems he encounters as a network manager. All things considered, Bogle believes that he's "fairly compensated for [his] level of work and expertise."

- by Stephen Swoyer, a freelance technology writer based in Athens, Georgia.

There are more certifications in this year's survey than ever before, reflecting Microsoft's trend of adding new titles and breaking down old titles into more specific categories. Here's a thumbnail guide to the acronyms:

• MCP: Microsoft Certified Professional. This is the lowest level certification. Anyone with a higher-level Microsoft certification is also an MCP.
• MCDST: Microsoft Certified Desktop Technician. MCDSTs often work on help desks, and are skilled at troubleshooting client operating systems.
• MCSA: Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator. MCSAs normally have responsibility for taking care of the Microsoft servers in a shop.
• MCSE: Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer. MCSEs generally have duties related to designing and implementing systems.
• MCDBA: Microsoft Certified Database Administrator. MCDBAs are the Microsoft SQL experts in an organization.
• MCAD: Microsoft Certified Applications Developer. MCADs primarily write code, and deploy and maintain software.
• MCSD: Microsoft Certified Solution Developer. MCSDs also write some code, but usually have higher-level responsibilities, including analysis and design of new programs.
• MCT: Microsoft Certified Trainer. MCTs also hold a premium certification like MCSE, MCDBA or MCSD, but their primary function is training and educating users of Microsoft products.

Note also that MCSAs and MCSEs have the option of specializing in either messaging or security, but it's not a requirement. More information on the certification program is available at www.microsoft.com/learning/default.asp.

Luke Edson
Consultant
CCIE, CCNP, CCNA, CISSP, MCSE (NT4.0, Windows 2000 and 2003), MCSE Messaging, MCSE Security
Dallas, Texas
Years in IT: 14
Salary: $150,000

Few IT professionals have more certifications than Luke Edson, a self-employed consultant.

At last count, Edson had three Cisco certs (including the all-powerful CCIE), a CISSP, and five Microsoft certifications, including his Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003 MCSE, as well as his MCSA. And he's not finished by a long shot: "I take a cert test every two or three months. That way, I can stay ahead, and I don't have to cram when my certs expire."

Edson got his start in IT as a computer technician, which helped him become intimately familiar with the innards of computers. By the mid-1990s, he'd moved on to consulting. Along the way, he'd started collecting certs.

"I started accumulating the certs, as I'm generally not satisfied with staying where I'm at and always need to get better at what I do," he says. IT is an intensely competitive field, especially for an independent consultant, and Edson believes that his armada of certifications has made the difference on more than a few occasions. "Certification has been a huge reason for all of [my success], especially being able to stand out above my peers when new jobs come down the pipeline," he comments.

Edson is excited about working in IT, in spite of the recent downturn. "Whether companies like IT or not, they've got to keep putting money into it," and says. "There will always be work, whether there's an economic downturn or not."

Nevertheless, Edson admits that he's troubled by the offshore outsourcing phenomenon, which has hit uncomfortably close to home on a few occasions. "The whole outsourcing issue has been a sour note, and in my opinion, will weaken the United States in the long run," he says. "I can definitely say it's affected my job prospects, and desire to stay in IT, but it hasn't hit me as hard as less-skilled workers I know."

- S.S.

Jennifer Mocherman
Network Administrator
MCSE (WinNT 4.0 and Win2K), MCP+I, MCP
Bryan, Ohio
Years in IT: 15
Salary: $50,000

Many certified IT professionals got their start in the late 1990s, drawn by promises of good pay and job security. There was a time though, when folks were drawn to the field because they couldn't imagine doing anything else. Call Jennifer Mocherman a throwback.

"I have pretty much always wanted to work with computers. I started in high school when I decided to go to a vocational school my junior and senior year," says Mocherman, who is now a supervisor of data and voice communications with an Ohio-based manufacturer of heating and air conditioning products. "Since then, I have continued exploring different areas of IT."

She obtained her first certification (a Windows NT 4.0 MCSE) as one of the conditions of employment on her first job, in networking. Since then, Mocherman has kept her certification "mostly up to date." She says that being certified has helped to win her raises, obtain job security, bolster her confidence and make her a more competent IT professional. "You tend to learn a lot when you study for the exams," she says.

Times were tough during the economic downturn, but Mocherman never thought about switching careers. "No matter what happens with the [economy], companies still need someone to run their networks," she says. No matter what the economic climate is like, keeping up with certs is a must: "You definitely have to work at keeping up with all the new technologies that come along in IT."

Mocherman feels that she's fairly compensated, even if she's not earning as much as some of her peers. "The cost of living in a smaller town is much less than larger cities," she notes.

- S.S.

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