Hello to everybody and a quick question (CLAD - CLD)

[LAVA 1.0 Content]

QUOTE (didierj @ Aug 8 2006, 12:10 AM)

It depends if you're going to use LV in the near future, e.g. find a job that involves LV.

The LV-certificates have an expiry date. After 3 years you loose your certificate. To keep it you'll have to redo the exams.

Is it 3 years or 2.? I remember reading somewhere as 2 years....

[Daklu]

QUOTE (krypton @ Aug 8 2006, 12:05 AM)

As far as job hunting is concerned, it is better to get a wider range of selection. Get a certificate to get a job, or get a job and then get a certificate, which is better?

Certificate before a job, or job before a certificate? My personal experience is there's no way to predict what will impress a prospective employer, especially coming right out of college. For instance, when I graduated college my first boss hired me in part because I had earned my private pilot license after 11 months of training. He thought that demonstrated perseverance and dedication. He was primarily looking for someone with good work habits and certain personality characteristics. Everything I needed to know I learned on the job.

Once you've been in the industry for a while certificates may be useful or even expected if you are looking for a Labview specific job, but I think they have limited value when looking for your first job. Rather than getting a certificate, I'd do projects, write a one page summary about each one, and give those to your prospective employers. When documenting your projects be sure to include what problems you had and how you solved them. *Every* interview I have been on has asked me about how I overcame challanges.

My $.02

[Edit]

However, there's nothing wrong with getting the CLAD if the cost is not prohibitive. You can also purchase the course kits for intermediate training. They are expensive for a student budget but much more affordable than instructor-led training.