Certs for Comp Sci Student?

[newgeneral10]

Hello,

 

I am a senior Computer Science major and I have recently begun job searching.  I was interested to see what you guys think would be good certifications that I could get to make my resume stand out more.  I am interested in Software Engineering, Network/Server Administration, and all things Linux.

 

Any advise will be appreciated!!

[SuperCoolUsername]

For network admin a CCNA, Network+ and even Security+ would be good. For Linux there's always Linux+ and a few others as well. 

[GoodBytes]

Personal project is what will stand you out.

You can also participate in a open source project (approved code is a big plus)

 

This shows that you know how to make software (and or games, if you are aiming at applying a game company), shows you passion, your energy, and originality (if it is a project that doesn't exists before). It also opens interesting interview questions like "What were you challenges you faces?", "How did you tackle this problem?". Question that an software developer/engineer will ask you at the interview. Unless you do something genuinely interesting, don't bother making a "calculator" type app. While it is better than nothing, just having university projects aren't interested, unless you played a big role, like lead a team of 12 students, and ended up with the highest grade in class.

 

Another thing to stand out, is GPA, if you apply at R&D companies like IBM, or medical field related software/device development.

 

When a company looks for a person to fill a position, the order is as follows (they are exceptions.. but in general, it works like this):

1. Internal employee that is interested in taking the position
2. References from employees (this is where LinkedIn and getting in contact with someone is key)
3. Head Hunters
4. If nothing found, now they look through the company databases via keywords (done by HR), and collect a set of individuals for interview.

 

Applying a big companies is very challenging, as it is very competitive. Everyone applies to them. So if you do, be prepared. Prepare yourself for white board coding interview questions as well.

 

 

Unless you apply to IT field, I don't think a certification have much value. Grades and theory doesn't translate with any correlation of good coding, and creative out-of-the box thinking. As a software developer myself, I don't even look at GPA (unless the position is research based, or requires a specific expertise than I would look at certification or degree specialization or specific multi-year experience). I already worked with Master student A new grad, GPA 4.0. And he could not code the length of a basic ASCII string during the interview.

[AncientNerd]

I was a manager for about 10 years and honestly hardly ever looked at certs, I preferred how people fit into the team (so group interviews over a whole day), we tried to do longer term programming tests (i.e., send you a problem before the interview, bring it in with you - at the second place I managed, the first was a mess that I couldn't fix), and references (although with the laws and corporate policy the way it is references from big companies are worth basically nothing now - they are "yes they worked here, no we can't tell you how good they were"). 

 

However, take my advice with a grain of salt since I got fed up with being a manager and went back to team lead/senior software engineer roll with my latest position so I have been out of the hiring loop for a few years. 

[TopDollar]

Being a senior, you should have a decent amount of professional experience (i.e. internships, coops, research projects, etc.) under your belt already. Focus your resume around those as well as any projects you may have worked on throughout those professional experiences.