The April BenchPress Interview - with Alan Cheung

This is the second in our series of subscriber interviews. If you have experiences or stories to share about using Brainbench to further your career, and would like to be a BenchPress interviewee, please e-mail me at editor@brainbench.com. If you are selected, we will extend your Brainbench subscription for 6 months at no charge.

John Nicholson: Alan, thank you for agreeing to be the subject of our BenchPress interview this month.

From what you told me in your e-mail, it’s clear that you are something of a fan of Brainbench – with 214 certifications! What led you to take so many?

Alan Cheung: I find that Brainbench exams are very challenging. I use these exams as a measure of how much I know or don’t know. The ‘three minutes’ limit has made me a very fast researcher on the Internet or on a software application. This is how you learn and solve issues in the real world. My suggestion to other members is to try as many Brainbench exams as you can, and you may be surprised by how much you really know.

JN: It seems that you have used Brainbench a great deal in order to improve your knowledge and skills base, on an ongoing basis. Beyond that, has it made a tangible difference to your success as a professional?

AC: I was laid off from my job last summer. I had two job offers out of the four interviews within the two months after I was laid off. At every interview, I was asked questions that I recognized from the Brainbench exams.

For example: During the interview for the company I’m with now, my manager and my team leader hit me with many questions about Project Management, which was something that was not emphasized at my previous job. However, passing the Brainbench Project Management exam two days before gave me confidence in the answers I provided. They didn’t even question me about my MUMPS programming after I told them I’m a Brainbench certified MUMPS Programmer. I really want to thank Brainbench for opening these doors for me.

JN: Something else you said in your email really struck me. You talked about how Brainbench Certifications gave you confidence to attain other certifications, like those from Microsoft, Sun, and CompTIA. Can you tell me a little about that?

AC: My first professional certification was the Brainbench MUMPS Programmer Certification back in September of 1999. I had always wanted to get a Microsoft Certification, but I was afraid the exam was too hard and I was just going to waste my time and money.

At that time Brainbench had about 60 exams. So after my first Brainbench Certification, I started to try some of the Brainbench Microsoft NT exams. Taking their exams gave me a great deal of confidence.

On January 12, 2000 I finally took the Microsoft NT 4.0 Workstation exam and got an almost perfect score. From then on it was like a mission.

Now I am now a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) – NT4, Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator (MCSA) - Windows 2000, Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP), CompTIA A+, CompTIA i-Net+, CompTIA Network+, CIW Professional, CIW Master Site Designer, Citrix Certified Administrator (CCA), Sun Certified Java Programmer - Java 2 Platform, and Pervasive Software, Inc. - Certified Pervasive Professional (CPP).

JN: From your point of view, what are the main differences between Brainbench and these other certifications? What are the advantages of each?

AC: Well, vendor certifications such as Microsoft are more familiar to the IT industry than Brainbench. But Brainbench is catching up pretty fast.

A big disadvantage for vendor certification exam is its exam fee. The vendor certification exam fee costs about four or five times more than Brainbench’s certification exam.

I strongly believe using Brainbench certification as a credential demonstrates that I possess the knowledge required to effectively to do the work.

JN: I see from your transcript that you already have a number of Brainbench's new job role certifications. Do you find these new certifications beneficial?

AC: Yes I do. I am planning to show my manager a few of my Brainbench Job Role Certifications. I want to show her that I am qualified for certain projects, with a complete array of skills needed for success.

JN: I also see you are a member of the ‘Unofficial High Brainbench Certification Counts’. What is that?

AC: The Unofficial High Brainbench Certification Counts started about three years ago. At that time Brainbench had around 150 exams. About 10 Brainbench members, including myself, started a discussion forum trying to see who would be the first one to attain 100 different Brainbench certifications. One of the members started the Unofficial High Brainbench Certification Counts web site to keep track of Brainbench Certification counts. I see memberships for the HCC increase every time we have a discussion about it.

It’s fun and challenging trying to attain as many different Brainbench Certifications as you can. It’s a great way of learning also. Many of the HCC members would like to see Brainbench include an official High Brainbench Certification Counts on their website. Here is the URL for those interested in the HCC:
http://www.ob-d.com/bb.asp

JN: Do you have any other recommendations for our members that might help them get the most out of Brainbench?

AC: I believe that as employers today become more aggressive about embracing new technologies, the greater the value they see in certifications. Employees need to keep up with their employers by exhibiting an inclination for continuous learning. Brainbench provides this opportunity and all members should take full advantage of what they have to offer.

Alan Cheung is a software developer with Quest Diagnostics in Pennsylvania. He has 214 Brainbench Certifications and numerous other professional certifications. In addition to extensive skills in information technology, Alan has an MBA in marketing and international business. You can view his Brainbench transcript here.

Read last month's subscriber interview with Canadian college professor of the year Rob McCormack.

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