Top 10 IT Certifications for IT Administrators, Networking and Security Personnels

Information Technology field is getting wider & specific day by day so there it demands an expertise in certain areas and just to fullfill that part Top IT Solutions providers have re-invoked thier Education Pattern in terms of certifications, these certifications specify the one's ability on a certain technology or domain.

IT certifications have always been popular amongst IT folks all around the world since it guarantees some preferance over others those are not certified, these preferences could be in terms of your Salay Hike, Job title etc.

Now a days even a mid sized IT company demands someone who holds certification with in the required technical area like as; Oracle Database Administration, SQL Server Database administration, Microsoft .Net, Sun JAVA, IBM WebSphere, Quality Assurance, ERPs - SAP, Oracle, MS Dynamics to name a few...

With the economy back in green, IT jobs too are back. Keeping this in mind, technology research firm Foote Partners recently listed IT certifications that could be considered "hot" in the coming months and can land you in a good position..

                                                               

CISA - Certified Information Systems Auditor :

CISA is a professional certification for Information technology audit professionals sponsored by the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA). Candidates for the certification must meet requirements set by ISACA.

 
                              For more information visit :- http://www.isaca.org/



VCP- VMware Certified Professional :

The VMware Certified Professional program recognizes individuals who demonstrate technical expertise with VMware’s Virtual Infrastructure, With virtualization technology becoming hot, it is little surprising that VCP program is in demand.

                              For more information visit :- http://www.vmware.com/

GIAC Security Audit Essentials :

This certification is quite essential for professionals those are planning to enter the information security industry who are tasked with auditing organization policy, procedure, risk, or policy conformance.


                         For more information visit :- http://www.giac.org/
 
Certified Information Security Manager :
 

 
The Certified Information Security Manager® (CISM®) certification program is developed specifically for experienced information security managers and those who have information security management responsibilities.

                             For more information visit :- http://www.isaca.org/

Check Point Certified Security Expert :

CCSE has been designed for more experienced security professionals, CCSE NGX certification is one of the most highly recognized and respected vendor-specific security certifications available.


CCSE NGX certification is an advanced core security certification.
                                                    
                                                       For more information visit :- http://www.checkpoint.com/

Check Point Certified Security Administrator :

This certification is a foundation of Check Point certifications, CCSA NGX certification validates a Security Administrator's ability to maintain day-to-day operation of Check Point security solutions and ensure secure access to information across the network.

                                                       For more information visit :- http://www.checkpoint.com/

Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (Security) :

MCSE certification provides an individual's skills in designing,   implementing, and administering infrastructure for business solutions based on Windows Server 2003 and Microsoft Windows 2000 Server.


For more information visit :- http://www.microsoft.com/

Certified Wireless Security Professional :

CWSP is claimed to be an advanced level certification that measures the ability to secure any wireless network. A wide range of security topics focusing on the 802.11 wireless LAN technology are covered in the coursework and exam, which is vendor neutral.


                       For more information visit :- http://www.cwnp.com/

GIAC Certified Intrusion Analyst :

GCIA is an information secrurity certification for individuals who are responsible for network and host monitoring, traffic analysis, and intrusion detection. GIAC Certified Intrusion Analysts (GCIAs) have the knowledge, skills and abilities to configure and monitor intrusion detection systems, and to read, interpret, and analyze network traffic and related log files.


                           For more information visit :- http://www.giac.org/

Cisco Certified Network Professional :

Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP®) validates the ability to plan, implement, verify and troubleshoot local and wide-area enterprise networks and work collaboratively with specialists on advanced security, voice, wireless and video solutions. The CCNP certification is appropriate for those with at least one year of networking experience who are ready to advance their skills and work independently on complex network solutions.
                                    
                                     For more information visit :- http://www.cisco.com/

This top 10 Certification category is based on scenario when someone start his or her career as a Fresher or newbie, there are many more certifications available from top companies those are also in very much demand.. however these certifications are either too costly or demands quite good amount of experience to pass.

Companies those are Hiring in 2010

After facing a Huge jobs turmoil in 2008-09 in each industry vertical, there are still couple of companies who've sustained not only to hold up on it's existing Workforce but also managed to get new projects from thier clients and thus are in a Hiring mode enthusiastically.


Here I'm going to talk about few specifics of 5 out of 22 companies which are still counting on thier Human Resources and amongst the best companies to work for.

This article is Inspired from a Series of Financially Fit posted in Yahoo Finance and adds couple of other information about these company's Strengths & Weeknesses.

These 22 Best Companies to Work For have at least 500 openings each, totaling more than 87,750 jobs. How these companies are doing? What are they looking for in a new hire? Before you apply, check out these excerpts from our interviews with HR professionals and others in the know.

1)  *** Edward Jones ***

2010 Best Companies rank: 2

Industry - Investment Services

Revenue - ▲ $3.8 billion USD (2008)
Statement of Financial Condition

Business Model -

Edward Jones financial advisors sell commission-based and fee-based financial products. Offices are usually staffed by two associates: one Financial Advisor (see Financial Adviser, a licensed broker) and one Branch Office Administrator. The one-broker-per-office model allows clients to choose their broker directly and deal with just that broker. This model also allows the firm to open offices in areas and towns where a large office staffed by many brokers would be unprofitable. This model is also the reason that Edward Jones currently has the largest number of branch offices among brokerage firms in the United States.


Current openings: 631


Financial advisors and branch office administrators.

Edward Jones' career site: http://www.careers.edwardjones.com/


What are you looking for?

For financial advisors, we look for... self-starters who enjoy working with and helping other people. For branch office administrators... we look for energetic individuals who can take the initiative to anticipate client and financial advisor needs.

Any secrets to impressing your recruiter?

For financial advisors: Our recruiters approach each candidate from a career management standpoint, attempting to ensure each candidate has a solid understanding of the work, the emphasis on putting clients' interests first and the appropriate commitment level to be successful.

For branch office administrators: Our recruiters are impressed with a candidate's past work experience and stability or loyalty with past employers. We look for an affable personality to meet and greet our clients. --Interview with Regina DeLuca-Imral, spokeswoman


2)  *** Wegmans Food Markets, Inc. ***

2010 Best Companies rank: 3

Industry  - Retail (Grocery)
Revenue - ▲$4.8 billion (2008)
Revenue Growth (1Yr) - 6.70 %

Business Model

Wegmans Inc. is a 71-store supermarket chain with stores in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia. Wegmans has been named one of the "100 Best Companies to Work For" by FORTUNE magazine for eleven consecutive years, ranking #3 in 2008. Known for its fresh produce, restaurant-quality prepared foods, artisan breads, consistent low prices and incredible customer service,

Current openings: 1,500

Mostly in store operations, including customer-service team members, chefs, team leaders and department managers. There also are opportunities in distribution and manufacturing.

Wegmans Food Markets' Careers site: http://bit.ly/bZVvR5

What are you looking for?

We look for employees [who] are food enthusiasts and passionate about providing incredible service to customers. Because we focus on helping customers make great meals easy, we look for employees willing to share their knowledge.

Any secrets to impressing your recruiter?

We focus on people who have diverse experiences and ideas, and exemplify our values by caring about and respecting others. We also look for people committed to continuously learning. --Interview with Wendy Gallucci, spokeswoman

3) *** Qualcomm ***

2010 Best Companies rank: 9

Industry        - Wireless (Telecom)
Revenue       - ▼ US$ 10.416 billion (2009)
Total assets  -  ▲ US$ 27.445 billion (2009)

Total equity  -  ▲ US$ 20.316 billion (2009)

Business Model

Qualcomm is the inventor of CDMAone (IS-95), CDMA 2000, and CDMA 1xEV-DO, which are wireless cellular standards used for communications. The company also owns significant number of key patents on the widely adopted 3G technology, W-CDMA. The license streams from the patents on these inventions, and related products are a major component of Qualcomm's business.

Current openings: 617


Engineering and business positions such as Linux software engineers, digital design engineers, 4G systems engineers, patent counsel, Smartbook architects, and product marketing director.

Qualcomm's career site: www.qualcomm.com/careers/index.html

What are you looking for?

Candidates that have a passion for technology, a desire to innovate, and the skills to exceed the expectations of our customers.

Any secrets to impressing your recruiter?

An impressive candidate does their research on the company and on individuals they are going to interview with. They are also self-aware: confident in their strengths and honest about areas where they can improve. --Interview with Talia Tortora, corporate communications

4) *** CISCO ***

2010 Best Companies rank: 16

 
 
Industry        - Computer Networking
Revenue       -  ▼ US$36.117 billion (2009)
Total assets  -  ▲ US$68.128 billion (2009)[1]

Total equity  -  ▲ US$38.647 billion (2009

Business Model
 
Cisco (CSCO) is the leading supplier of networking equipment and network management for the Internet. Products include routers, hubs, ethernet cards etc. In late March 2000, at the height of the dot-com boom, Cisco was the most valuable company in the world, with a market capitalization of more than US$500 billion.In July 2009, with a market cap of about US$108.03 billion, it is still one of the most valuable companies. CSCO was voted stock of the decade on NASDAQ 
 

Current openings: 595

45% are in Cisco's engineering and design organization, with job roles requiring networking, software, and/or electrical engineering expertise. 25% are in services, with roles for engineers (advanced and technical services) and project managers. Most opportunities are in sales, finance, marketing, IT, manufacturing, supply chain and HR.

Cisco's career site: www.cisco.com/web/about/ac40/about_cisco_careers_home.html

What are you looking for?

First and foremost, strong collaborators. Candidates should have a focus on execution; they should be able to accelerate delivery of a product or project in a manner that meets quality standards while emphasizing speed and impact. We look for people with a track record of continuous learning who have been innovators -- and even disruptors -- within their respective disciplines.

Any secrets to impressing your recruiter?

Know the needs of the organization for which you're applying. Listen well and ask good questions. Chances are, if a candidate is being interviewed, Cisco already has a sense that he or she possesses the requisite knowledge, skills and experience. The interview team is assessing "organizational fit," and whether the candidate will be successful leveraging his [abilities] to make a sustainable impact. --Interview with Jennifer Ho, HR communications manager

5) *** Ernst & Young ***

2010 Best Companies rank: 44

 
 
 
Industry  - Professional Services
Revenue - $24.523 billion USD (2008)
 
Business Model 
 
Ernst & Young (EY) is one of the largest professional services firms in the world and one of the Big Four auditors, along with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Deloitte and KPMG.Ernst & Young is a global organisation of member firms in more than 140 countries. According to Forbes magazine, as of 2008[update] it is also the 9th largest private company in the United States.
 
Current openings: 622


Opportunities in a wide range of areas, including finance, taxes, supply chain, customer, strategic direction and program management; IT, people and organizational change consulting. Skills in demand include finance transformation, business performance management, procurement, logistics, pricing as well as Oracle, SAP, Hyperion and other technology platforms and tools. Experience in restructuring, valuation, transaction integration and transaction tax also is in sought.

Ernst & Young's career site: www.ey.com/US/Careers

What are you looking for?

In addition to having the requisite technical experience, we want candidates who are truly proactive, strong team members. [They should be] highly adaptable to change and have a high amount of intellectual curiosity.

Any secrets to impressing your recruiter?

Have a positive and enthusiastic attitude, be passionate about what you do, and describe specific experiences and results you've achieved [as well as] what you want to achieve. --Interview with Larry Nash, recruiting director

Conclusion -

Required Skills on which Recruiters of hiring companies are counting on Job Seekers are;

• Candidate's past work experience and stability or loyalty with past employers.
• An affable personality and commitment towards continuous learning.
• Self-awareness: confident in strengths and honest about areas where you can improve.
• Be clear about why you want to work here and always ready to answer situational based questioning
• Positive and enthusiastic attitude, be passionate about what you do.
• Consider jobs outside of your area of study, be open to relocation, and refer a friend to a recruiter if the job is not right for you.
  

 
 

Recruitment using LinkedIN

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Google experimenting with it's UI (User Interface), is that the BING feel?

Google is currently experimenting it's make over, the user interface part after being in relatively static interface for so long (approx for more than 10 years)...Now,the first curious case comes in my mind.. how would it be experiencing a new face? after getting habitual of old & simple classic look since it's launch in year 1997, it sounds really challenging for it's users to adopt it easily, that's why this new UI look is still being experimented and currently in it's Beta Phase.

You can also participate in this experiment and can easily play around while putting more color on the google homepage and can also allocate your search result with permanent sidebar like we've in BING (A Search Engine from Microsoft)....

Let's find out how you can install this new version.

• You just need to visit www.google.com (make sure it shouln't be country specific and user must be signed out from any google services)

                                               (Image 1) - Before

• Than paste the following into the address bar of your browser opened up with google.com

javascript:void(document.cookie="PREF=ID=20b6e4c2f44943bb:U=4bf292d46faad806:TM=1249677602:LM=1257919388:S=odm0Ys-53ZueXfZG;path=/; domain=.google.com");

After performing this task, you instantly become a new participant of google's latest and more all en-compassing prototype test- the one with a new logo, buttons, and always visible left hand sidebar with results... I'd mention again (LIKE BING) :) lol


if your above script executes successfully, you would experience a brand new User Interface like following.

(Image 2)

(Image 3)

Screenshot Source - Special Thanks to Philipp at Blogoscoped

Your results may vary based on your browser type since this script appears to work only in Firefox
As an experiment, I tested the search string on various browsers:



Results:

Chrome: Fails, uses old layout

Firefox: Works, shows new layout

IE: Fails, uses old layout

Opera: Fails, uses old layout

Safaris: Fails, uses old layout

(This was done on a 64-bit version of Vista with SP2)
 
This new look got mixed response from all users around the world, Some of them really liked the new look and some of them just didn't .... the people who don't like this new face complain about the colours and find it quite similar to BING, few of them said if they want to use a Bing like interface they would use Bing then however they like GOOGLE the way it is. some of them think that Google is facing tough competition from Bing and that's the reason Google is following up the Bing's way to save it's monopoly in Search Engines category.... and at the same time other bunch of people find it really cool and classy since they were sick and tired of looking at the same page for over 10 Years....

Well, in my view Google has it's own look and identity which makes it very simple and classic for any average user, i think it's good to have a change but users should've freedom to opt for any kind of User Interface based on their comfort level like; google is already providing this kind of combination in it's E-mail Service (Gmail) and Social Media Website (Orkut.com) where user can opt for Old Classic view or recently launched new User Interface (Quite similar to Facebook)

Let me know what do you all think of this experiment and How did you like this peace of Information.

Any comments or suggetions will be highly appreciated.