BANGALORE, INDIA: There are more than a million employees working in the IT industry and they constantly look out for moving to higher paying jobs. IEEE is one of the largest non-profit professional organizations in the world. IEEE has two certifications - CSDA and CSDP - meant for students and working professionals respectively. In this article, I provide an overview of this certification and why you should take this exam. I also share my experiences with these certifications.

Why get certified?

Deepak (name changed) is from a middle class family in Madurai, Tamil Nadu. He is a sincere student, and got decent marks in his +2 exam in 2005. Just like his friends, he dreamt of going to US and earning in Dollars by becoming a software engineer and so joined BE (CS) in a private engineering college near Chennai.

Getting a seat in an engineering college is very easy in Tamil Nadu - there are more than 300 private engineering colleges and passing +2 is enough for getting a seat there. The tough part is paying the hefty semester fees and other fees, for example, it is mandatory to buy a laptop from the college. Their parents had to mortgage ing that Deepak will get a job in campus placements when he completes.

However, in 2008, because of global economic slow-down, there were no campus placements in his college. His financial background did not allow him to opt for higher studies or join courses in reputed institutes like C-DAC for getting a job. Instead, he chose to use his time fruitfully by preparing for certification courses in his free time. With few months of preparation, he easily cleared Oracle's SCJP certification and IEEE's CSDA certification. He had to shell out around Rs.. 20,000 for these certifications, but he immediately got a job in an MNC and this amount was just half-month's salary. Today, he is doing well as a software engineer.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of students pass out of our colleges dreaming about getting a high-paying job in IT companies. Though the job market is booming again, getting a good job is becoming tougher than ever before with increasing competition. Most colleges don't equip students with necessary skills and knowledge necessary for getting employed.

Getting certified is one of the few effective ways to distinguish oneself from thousands of other job applicants looking for entry level jobs. Similarly, certifications can also help fast track the career growth of working professionals.

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