Justin Parisi

So, you know, like Rory said, he's in town to work on the exams that NetApp does.

So let's talk a little bit about what these exams are and how people can get a hold of them.

Who would like to start off with that?

So let's talk about certifications in general.

So what sort of benefits do I get out of being certified for NetApp or anything in particular?

So what do I get out of that by getting a certification?

Yeah, some companies actually won't even talk to you unless you have certain certifications.

And if you do have certifications, they'll look at you first because they think that you're going to have more of the expertise they're looking for as opposed to someone who doesn't have them.

Yeah, and really it's actually a faster road to getting to where you want to go because if you don't have certifications, you have to put in years of experience with working with a product or a technology.

Certification will at least get you into the door so you can display what you know.

Now, having a certification doesn't guarantee you a job because you may get into that door and get asked interview questions and you have no idea, right?

Maybe you didn't actually learn the material or maybe you forgot it over time, but it at least will get you the interview to begin with.

Yeah, it is.

It is, actually.

Two years ago, just NetApp, for example, we were running ONTAP, what, 8-something?

Probably 8.2.

8.2, 8.3, and it's leaps and bounds different now.

So if you have a certification in ONTAP 8.2, you are probably not going to be very good at ONTAP 9.2.

Yeah, so let's talk a little bit about that.

How is that six-month cadence of ONTAP releases, how is that affecting how you do your day-to-day with this exam and question creation?