Training; increasing the skill set ;)

[Tin Pot]

So no luck in five months so far, so I'm devising a cunning plan to increase my skill set, but I'd like advise on accreditation particularly those favourable in the UK public sector;

Architecture: TOGAF?
Projects: Prince2?
Security & Compliance: ISO?
Databases: MSSQL or Oracle?
Programming: C# or Java?

If I'm way off here I don't mind being laughed at, but some constructive criticism would be useful too But no I don't care that I'm covering several subjects.

Cheer, and happy new year.

[cojak]

It rather depends on what you're doing at the moment and what you contracts you want to go for in the future...

You may be wasting your money if you're nowhere close to your intended role...

[wurzel]

Programming: C# or Java?

I was having a conversation with some Java people in my team the other day and a couple of them pointed out that these days there is increased competition in this area just by virtue of the fact that the various Java development environments are all (or mostly) open source meaning that every man and his dog from Bangalore to Vladivostok can learn it. Unlike the .Net dev environment which, last time I looked, was around 500 quid for an enterprise licence.
I suppose this may have more relevance if you are going to put yourself around on sites like Rentacoder.com etc rather than it affecting your marketability in the contract market.

[Francko]

Unlike the .Net dev environment which, last time I looked, was around 500 quid for an enterprise licence.

Or 0 quid with a good cracked version. The only systems that make you safe are the ones that you can't learn without a full scale implementation in your hand. Do I have to remind all of you everytime? Just 3 words....

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[VectraMan]

I was having a conversation with some Java people in my team the other day and a couple of them pointed out that these days there is increased competition in this area just by virtue of the fact that the various Java development environments are all (or mostly) open source meaning that every man and his dog from Bangalore to Vladivostok can learn it. Unlike the .Net dev environment which, last time I looked, was around 500 quid for an enterprise licence. .

Visual C# Express is free. And there are open source C#/.NET compilers (there must be for something like mono to fly).

[Liability]

Or 0 quid with a good cracked version. The only systems that make you safe are the ones that you can't learn without a full scale implementation in your hand. Do I have to remind all of you everytime? Just 3 words....

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very true

[Pondlife]

Or 0 quid with a good cracked version. The only systems that make you safe are the ones that you can't learn without a full scale implementation in your hand. Do I have to remind all of you everytime? Just 3 words....

.

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t

tis true you know.

[Tin Pot]

Well rather than asking whether the skills are right for me, I'm asking which certifications are most valid in their field, and if there is variance for the public sector.

E.g. Is TOGAF the best accreditation for architecture to have in the public sector?

[DiscoStu]

Well rather than asking whether the skills are right for me, I'm asking which certifications are most valid in their field, and if there is variance for the public sector.

Try and find a gig that will get you SC cleared. Numerous public sector contracts will await, and most agents don't seem to give a tulip whether your skills match up to the gig or not, provided you've got SC clearance you're in. Probably one of the reasons why so many government projects go tits up.

[Liability]

Try and find a gig that will get you SC cleared. Numerous public sector contracts will await, and most agents don't seem to give a tulip whether your skills match up to the gig or not, provided you've got SC clearance you're in. Probably one of the reasons why so many government projects go tits up.

this really does irate me. The whole SC clearance tulipe - they are willing to put contractors forward who have it but dont have the skill - yet cant wait for the right person WITH the skill....tossers.