Hello,

Can anyone please tell which one of the following would likely be the more profitable certification to obtain:

Novell Certified Linux Engineer or
RedHat Certified Linux Engineer

Thank you.

Akinwale ijaseun

Moved: This thread is more suitable in Linux-Certifications and has been moved accordingly to help your thread/question get the exposure it deserves.

Good question.. Guess it depends on which OS the company you are looking to work for has ? ...

One reason I'm looking at LPIC vendor neutral certification, as opposed to a vendor specific certification. (went down that path once with Microsoft.. promised myself never again to do vendor specific certs.)

LPIC is also financially an easier burden on the individual as far as test costs, etc.. Suse is pretty close in pricing to LPIC. I can't seem to find exact pricing or exam locations for the redhat certs.

I started down the LPIC track to broaden my Linux knowledge with topics I was not using fully or in day-to-day operations. As it turns out, LPIC's being vendor-neutral will pay off, because we've got RH EL and Ubuntu in our lab. I need to be able to work with both Red Hat and Debian distributions.

From what I've heard the Red Hat certification process is very good and has a practical component to its exam process. I can appreciate that because most of the time it is how you get something done without blowing things up that is more important.

If a potential employer requires certification, then you will get it for that reason. However, I believe what you put into acquiring the certification may pay off more than the certification itself.

I'm thinking of doing the NCLE or RHCE now, but am unsure about which one to take.

What I've heard is that RH is more for North America and SUSE is more for Europe. So RH is more for me. However the cost of the RHCE test is expensive and I have to travel to a test center 300+ miles away just to take it. NCLE exam I can take in my own city.

Anyone have suggestions? (Is RHCE more reputable than NCLE?, Is it worth it to take the RHCE exam for that kind of money and time, or is NCLE just as good at a cheaper price.

Whenever possible it is best to obtain non vendor specific certification like the kind that is offered by the Linux Professional institute, or LPI for short. LPI is well recognized on a worldwide scale and they have many opportunities to take the certification exams at a discounted price. Some employers may have a bias against a particular type of vendor supplied cert. LPI cuts thru all of that for you.

http://toptechcertifications.blogspot.com/

Whenever possible it is best to obtain a certification that employers actually want... it's irrelevant to talk about a logic saying that an agnostic way forward is best if the employers don't recognise it nearly as much as RHCE for example. RHCE isn't cheap, but i would be really quite sure that a SuSe / Novell shop would, on average, prefer an RHCE to an LPIC qualification.

This is a case where employer research would not hurt. If you know a perspective employer, perhaps better a group of employers so you are not betting the farm on one employer, are all running Red Hat, then a Red Hat certification probably makes sense.

If you plan on working for someone who is using a lot of mixed stuff, Red Hat, Suse, or Ubuntu, then roll the dice. I was certified by LPIC, and it would not surprise me that there are strengths and weaknesses with all the certifications.

If you are planning on dealing with schools, there is growing chorus of Edubuntu, at least now in greater Boston.

In the end, there are other factors in being hired. I believe the mere acquiring the certification may positively affect how you interview, no matter which certification it is.

Why not just grab all the certifications you can get and keep your options open? My employer pays for my certifications so I am in a more fortunate situation.

I'm doing my RHCE next, and then will look into doing SuSE. once you know the fundamentals to Linux, it's not too hard to pick out the distro specifics.