CIW worth time $$??

[Hippo]

I recently sold my restaurant business and now look to get back into the IT profession. I have the A+ cert from 2000 and now looking for a new field. Problem is that I live in Wichita, Ks. and there just isnt much call for IT professionals.
I had a job utitlizing the A+ but it was minimal. Mostly A/S400 administration. I also used a little of NT. I only kept that job for 4 months(probably not the smartest ideas but restaurant was falling). Really I did alot of secretary work and didnt use the A+ knowledge alot. I have had classes in NT administration and HTML. Both have their respective Highs and Lows. And I have interests in both.
My question for you all is which field, be it CIW or NT or any other,is more rewarding? Can a CIW professional actually work(contract) from his home? I know getting certified is useless if your not going to be using the info. Most will not hire without experience is there a way a recommended path for experience? So are there any recommendations from you professionals? Thanks for reading my post, I appreciate any feedback have a great day!!

[Ghost_Hacker]

Since I don't have any first hand knowledge of that certification. I did a Google "group" search on CIW. What I found is that most don't regarded the certification in a good light. You should go here and do a search yourself:
http://groups.google.com/groups?group=comp&hl=en

I've found that most programmers,web developers and webmasters don't have alot of certifications. "Web" professionals seem to rely more on URLs that point to sites they have done.

Mabey someone else will have more information.

Good luck http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

[jsk2315]

In my experience, the CIW is only worth getting if you go all the way to Master-level certification. Stopping at the Associate level is worthless. As for certs - they are good to get your foot in the door, especially after a big career move like yours, but once you are in, they are not worth much. Hard skills are much more important to most employers - "Anyone can read a book and take a test, but can you actually build a killer web page that works?" Many companies do like to have their employees certified because it looks good to their clients, though.

Keep working, build a few sites on your home/lab machine, publish them, and have your prospective employer take a look. IT is a great field for those with the skills.

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CCNA, CIW, iNet+, Network+, A+, RCE