IT certification. What's the hottest certification?

A certification is one of the most valuable weapons in your job-hunting arsenal. A college degree and some experience -- and maybe a brother-in-law who's the hiring manager -- doesn't hurt either. But companies eager to hire specialists turn to certified candidates, in hopes that those candidates will be able to hit the ground running, and will require no training period. Although a bachelor's degree in computer science is always a plus, it doesn't necessarily prove that you know how to run a Microsoft network. An MCSE does.

"Two areas of focus I see as very attractive is any sort of networking-based technologies, and the other is software engineering disciplines," Beyond the most common certifications (Microsoft, Cisco, Novell), though, there are plenty of other designations that may be just as valuable. If you want a career in Linux, get the RHCE (Red Hat Certified Engineer) certification. If you want to cash in on the increasing concern over network security, the SANS GIAC (System Administration, Networking, and Security Global Incident Analysis Center) certificate will show potential employers that you can protect the corporate goodies. To gain even more leverage, combine this vendor-neutral security certification with a vendor-specific one. Almost every firewall-equipment vendor has its own certification program, and a generic security certification combined with a CCSE (Check Point Certified Security Engineer) or a Cisco Security Specialist certificate would make for a quick path to employment.

This question assumes some certifications are better than others. Certainly some are quite popular. Popular certifications are the Oracle Certified Professional, Microsoft Certified System Engineer (MCSE), CompTIA’s A+, Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) and Sun’s Java certification. But saying a certification is the best is stretching it too far. Can you say the CCNA is better than the MCSE? Or vice versa? That would be like comparing oranges and apples. It makes no sense. Assessing the quality of a certification is best done in relation to your needs. A certification that is good for your career may be useless for mine. Aiming for a certification without a career plan or focus is nothing more than gambling.

I’m interested in comments you might have.