Benefits of Obtaining Vendor-Neutral Certifications

Have you been looking for a way to increase your marketability to employers? Vendor-neutral certifications might be the answer because they focus on a technology and not a specific product from a company. These certifications also do not become obsolete as quickly as vendor-specific certifications will.

When a vendor-neutral certification is obtained as a complement to vendor-specific certifications, it shows your flexibility and diversity in handling different scenarios. This means that you will have a broader knowledge base which can be very appealing to employers, because you are not limited to working with one specific product. Vendor-neutral certifications prove that you can use your knowledge in a variety of situations and are well rounded. Sure, you can specialize in a certain direction, but when a problem arises that is outside your area of expertise, do you want to look like the guy who can’t adapt, or the one that can solve everyone’s problems?

Where Microsoft and Adobe are both the vendor and the certification body, CompTIA (A+, Network+, Security+), and Certiport (IC³) are examples of vendor-neutral certification bodies – one certification will cover a variety of topics. CompTIA is considered the largest of the vendor-neutral certification companies, with many tech support and IT jobs requiring at least an A+ certification.

Side-note/plug: LearnKey offers training for a variety of certifications – whether you choose vendor-specific, vendor-neutral, or both. Check out what we have to offer at learnkey.com/products

Whichever direction you choose, remember that you have options. Vendor-neutral does not mean less credible, but having a vendor-specific certification allows you to narrow your focus to a certain specialization.