What are some good certifications?

I'm interested in taking tests to become certified in certain areas, what are some of the most important certifications that most major cooperations are looking for?

Background about myself if it necessary for knowing which certification programs to recommend:

I've been programming since I was 10years old (20 now), and I am familiar with most every language out there ... not because I had to but because I loved to. I don't wanna go through the bull**** of acquiring a BA in CSC as it is a complete waste of time, from my prespective, since there isn't much more that a college can teach me.

• 
  COMPUTER SKILLS
  Languages
• Proficient in: C++, Delphi, Visual Basic
• Familiar with: C, Java, Perl, Python
• Web Programming: html, DHTML, asp, ActiveX, vbscript, jscript, PHP
  Software
• Database: Microsoft SQL Server, Visual FoxPro, Access
• Microsoft Office Products: Excel, Access, FrontPage, PowerPoint, Word
• Graphics and Animation: Macromedia Flash, Adobe Photoshop, Jasc Paint Shop Pro
• Troubleshooting and diagnostic tools: NMAP, Iris, traceroute, ping, nslookup
  Operating Systems
• Windows: 9x, ME, NT, 2000, 2000server, XP
• Linux: SuSE 8.1, 8.2, RedHat 7.2, 7.3

I want to be able to get a good paying job for a few years which will set me up with enough money to make my own company. Problem is that I don't think any major companies will agree to pay me a good salery since I can't have that BA written on my resume. So in place of the BA I am interested in taking a few tests to get certified.

Any Suggestions?

Thanks.

-sk

Well, unfortunately most companies like to see the letters after your name just to get you in the door.

You could try freelancing for awhile, and that might get you in the door based on performance.

Indeed check that other thread about degrees vs. certs. Most companies want to see the degree not as a sign of technical expertise (as IMHO a degree rarely equates to practical experience), but as a sign of personal commitment.

For example, at my last job we hired a bunch of undergrads from local colleges (mostly Caltech, but some from LMU, UCLA, Occidental) and it was a mixed bag. There were some really outstanding knock-your socks off programmers who had no intention of finishing college if things worked out. Relatively few of these people had the self-discipline to stay focused and stick with the. Despite their apparent brilliance, they grew rather bored and would burn out on a project pretty quickly once they got past the newness factor and actually had to get down to optimizing/debugging. Conversely, the ones that did intend on staying in school even if everything went well were more dependable (and no less intelligent) and often needed less managing and direction.

This may not apply to you, or may not even be the norm, but I suppose some people may see it as one way of determining if an individual has the will to see a project from beginning to end.
That being said we had some really terrible workers with degrees and even PhDs.

Still, I'd say your certs should depend on what you want to do (programming, networking/telecom, sysadmin, etc.) and also what OS. Those should narrow some things down, what are you particularly interested in?
For instance, if I was in your shoes (basically 5 years ago for me, except I was in college) and had the foresight to plan for the future I would've applied to an internship for a game company, or applied for a degree from one of the new gaming academies/colleges (although they weren't around 5 years ago, heh). Nowadays, I know it's very easy to try and think there's a way to jump into a high paying job especially after seeing so many unqualified people benefit from it during the dot com boom, but realistically it's not going to be easy (especially without a degree or previous experience).

Just my 2 cents...
-b
-b

Thanks guys for the replies.

I'm interested mostly in programming and any o/s will do.

I went to college for 2years but I can't stand to show up to class to learn the if statement day in and day out.

As to prior experience, I interned 2summers at AIG trading and can get good recommendations from there ... but that's about it.

I also wrote some of the programs I wrote on my resume, in hopes that it will help with the position. I believe my hardest task is being called to the interview, after that it shouldn't be too hard.

Any suggestions on what to get certified on if interested mostly in programming and not so much networking or system admin stuff?

Thank you.

-sk

Well if you definitely want programming then I guess you can do things like Brainbench or try getting an MCSD if you want to go the MS route. Other than that I'd say your best bet is to choose your programming language/area of expertise and try and get as much contract work/samples that you can and showcase those to employers.

Still if you can stick it out in college while you're building up your samples/portfolio it may be worth it to you. If you're really a self-learner and can't handle the classroom just skip class and go take the tests, that's what I did... How about that company you had the internship with, they're not willing to give you a shot at full time development?

Unless you can come up with something original and significant to really differentiate yourself from the new graduates and already out of work programmers then I'd try going the traditional route and try and pay your dues with whatever you can get. Sadly, we're currently in the wrong industry for trying to be choosy about jobs.

-b

Thanks for your help, i'll look into Brainbench and MCSD.

The company that I was working for directly is, sadly, not in a good position to hire me right now as it is going through major changes. I might be able to apply there in half a year if everything goes allright.

-sk

I have programmed for 8 years in a business environment using RPG on the iSeries (AS/400). This is not a glamourous language, but I have made a great living at it.

Now IBM is pushing websphere on all platforms, so I'm doing JSP/JAVA as a front end to RPG logic, which turns out to be beneficial to me.

But my advice is do whatever it takes to get some relationships going, even if it's FREE work. (I made my initial connections working at a PC hardware shop). In my experiences, business connections, and business knowledge has been way MORE IMPORTANT than what platform you work on. So for that you can make whatever choice you want.

One word of advice (and this may be just MY EXPERIENCE) is that technologies that are not used in large business environments, ussually have less chance of making money with at a 9-5.
eg: you may make millions on your own with a PHP based website, but companies offering 9-5 jobs pay more money for J2EE experience.