A problem with the RHCE, MCSE, NCE credential is that in almost all states, Red Hat, Microsoft and Novell have no authority to certify engineers, just like they have no authority to certify medical doctors, lawyers or airline pilots.

Many states and countries regulate the use of the term "Engineer" and if you use that title in advertising without being properly licensed by the state, you may be subject to prosecution.

That said, getting some sort of certification is certainly a plus. All else being equal, someone with a certification will win a job over someone without a certification.

As an IT manager, I can't say I am enthused about a return to the days of the 'paper CNE'. I've seen too many programmers, admins, and others hired because of impressive certifications. Few had the skills to back up the certificate(s). Vendor administered certifications are a terrific marketing tool. But, they are not an objective measure of ability.

I dunno', it's kind of tough now. With the economy, less enterprises are sending people for training. Thus, requiring you to go it alone. At almost $3k a whack requiring three separate classes/certs, that's pretty hefty.

We all know about paper CNEs and MSCEs. However, RHCE is one cert that really means something. You can be a good "test taker" who can navigate around multiple guess questions and get a CNE or MSCE, but RHCE requires you to actually show what you do. In other words, they put you in a room with the network and let you "have at it". So unless you have real experience with Red Hat you will not know where to start.
RHCE is the hardest cert to get and therefor you don't see a lot of people who have it. And the ones that do have it? They really know their stuff.
DCA - I totally agree with you. Companies want certs but don't want to pay for them and they don't pay people enough to where they can get them on their own.

Mars: I think if you dig around on the web sites of the various companies offering whatever-certified-engineer credentials, you'll find disclaimers intended to address that concern. Generally speaking, those laws are specific to attempting to pass yourself off as a member of a regulated profession, and for good or ill computer and network administration isn't such a profession.

dca: If you already have the skills, you certainly don't need to take three classes to get an RHCE. I assume you are talking about the RH033, RH133, and RH253 sequence. Those classes start with no expectation that you have ever used Linux or Unix before and take you from there through having seen everything an RHCE is expected to know at least once. For someone with significant Linux experience, the likelihood that you can skip at least one of the three is high.

For those with sufficient expertise and confidence, there are also the "rapid track" one-week review class or test-only options. As a practicing Linux admin before I ever got the certs, I took the review class the first time around, and just sat down for the test the second time.

If you want to earn RHCA, you need to earn an RHCE and then pass an additional five exams. (only three for either RHCSS or RHCDS) The exams can be taken without the classes, and in fact are always sold as a separate SKU.

True, even just the exams will certainly cost you more than multiple-punt tests delivered at some commercial testing center. Running performance based tests with real hardware and software costs more. But for that extra money, you get a cert that is based on real performance.

[These comments are my own, and not an official statement from any party. I do have various financial interests in Red Hat's continued success]

I would support the term Paper Certificate. These
days RHCE has become one of those. I am an IT
manager with 14 yrs of exp.(worked as Unix Sysadmin for 8+ years)and I have seen these freshers having
no clue about Unix/Linux(forget the services running
on top of RHEL)attend a 3 months training somewhere
and become RHCE. I have a similar opinion about CCNA
too. Kids with no experience in networking can easily get it.

tjo,

Not a chance, "kids" with 3 months experience have lpi or other non-hands on certs like CCNA. CCIE and RHCE are in a different class.

would support the term Paper Certificate. These
days RHCE has become one of those. I am an IT
manager with 14 yrs of exp.(worked as Unix Sysadmin for 8+ years)and I have seen these freshers having no clue about Unix/Linux(forget the services running on top of RHEL)attend a 3 months training somewhere and become RHCE. I have a similar opinion about CCNA too. Kids with no experience in networking can easily get it.-tjo

This is total BS, in the first place Redhat certs are hands on. Either you can or can't. Your 14 years of experience depends on your level of usage (eg are you a programmer who only use linux for directories, filing,paths etc),or is your 14 years of experience is on utilizing linux to its full potential.

RHCE & CCIE are undisputable. End of story.

LPIs are actually pretty good too and I know of a couple of experienced pros who failed LPIC-2.

They are way better than any of the other CBT exams I have taken, especially the Microsoft ones which all the monkeys cheat to get through.