Certifications vs Experience in the Tech Industry

Are you hiring a new technician or looking for more technicians in your company? Or are you an unemployed technician looking for work? Maybe you’re a self employed technician and you’re wondering whether or not you should go get certifications or not, to either impress clients or maybe increase your knowledge about the field or certain sectors of it.

The question has been hotly debated across forums and articles, but there are some serious considerations that factor in on the decision you make in this regard, and I think I could safely say without fear of contradiction that nearly everyone’s circumstances are different in one way or another.

Do They Need It?

If you’re looking for a technician to fill a need in your company, when you see a candidate with certifications, it may indicate a willingness to learn and indicate a measure of discipline, but certification isn’t everything. You can cram for certifications and not necessarily be good at tech work, so hiring on certification status alone isn’t the best move.

You may find another candidate with 20+ years of experience and no certifications who is more than qualified for the job and will be a much better worker than someone who only has certifications and no experience whatsoever. If you’re looking at hiring on technicians for your company, take a look at some of the tips here for some suggestions on finding a good fit for your company.

Do You Need It?

If you’re an unemployed technician looking for work, and you’re wondering if you should get certified, here’s a few questions to ask yourself. Look through the job search websites for positions you’re qualified for or for positions you’re interested in qualifying for. How many of them ask for certifications? Have you applied for any of them? If you have, when it became known that you weren’t certified, and that was a red flag to the potential employer, did you ask if certification would make a difference?

If it has become obvious that for any job openings in your field, you need certifications, regardless of your experience, then it’s time to look at the tests and go over practice tests, if available for the type of certification you need. Then you need to ask a few more questions. Do you have the time and resources to put into getting certified at the moment, including study materials and the cost of the certification? Do you have the time and resources to continue updating those certifications?

I don’t recommend going into debt to get certified. If you can find another position, even in another field, to get you where you can financially focus on what you want to do, you’ll probably pick up a few more skills along the way, and that’s not bad. Meanwhile, it can’t hurt to just look at the practice tests for the certification type, either. That can give you a basic idea of what you’re missing or what you already know.

I’m sure we’re all familiar with some of the recent studies about the very low percentage of college graduates getting jobs related to their degrees, and so many technicians wonder the same thing about the certifications. If you’re just starting out in the repair business you’re probably wondering if it’s worth it or if you can just pick it up as you go. Many do pick it up as they go, and within a few years they go from basic computer user to heading up a repair business and then managing a large company with many employees and technicians under them.

If your tech business is on the small side, the cost of the certifications might seem out of proportion to the estimated value of the certification to your potential clients, and if you already have a sizeable client base, you might wonder if you really need the extra certification or not. In many cases, you might realize that your client base trusts you and passes more business to you because they already know you’re capable and can handle anything they throw at you. Certifications may not help your business much, if at all, in that case, especially if you already have the experience to handle your job.

However, if you feel like you just don’t know enough or that maybe you’re not qualified enough for some of the work you’re seeing, take a look at those practice tests, they could improve your knowledge and skills. If you’re dealing with the business sector more than residential clients, and your competition has certifications and they advertise it, it might be a good idea to look into getting certified, but as I mentioned above, is the cost of maintaining those certifications worth it to your business, or are you already well established with a good client base? Would you be able to raise your rates because you are now ‘certified’ and justify that extra cost?

In the end it’s up to your own personal circumstances whether you want to reach out and get certified or not. Ric Chapman has written two good articles on why technicians should or should not get certified, check them out, and drop a comment below if you have an opinion on it.