By T.J. Ripley, AIRS Staff Writer

A few years ago, if you thought about professional certification at all, you probably thought about physicians, nurses, counselors, and CPAs. But nowadays, professional certification encompasses many different fields, not the least of which is the computer industry.

Certification in the computer industry offers a way for employees to prove they have the necessary skills to do the job. For employers, it offers a way to pinpoint specific skillsets. However, in order to make certification a useful keyword, you need to understand what it means.

When looking for candidates you've probably already seen the names of a number of different certifications, such as Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) and Microsoft Certified Solution Developer (MCSD). But do you know what it takes to get such certification? Is it simply a matter of taking a quick online test or do candidates need to pass a rigorous all-day hands-on exam? What other comparable certifications are offered in that field?

To answer these questions you need to do some research. Obviously, the companies that offer the certifications are good sites to visit. But there are a number of less partisan sites you can visit to help you learn more about certification. About.com, which maintains a network of sites overseen by professional guides, offers a site all about computer certification called http://certification.about.com. Here you can read feature articles, check the latest news, subscribe to a newsletter or link to the vendors' offerings.

GoCertify offers an extensive site that categorizes the types of certifications that IT professionals will be interested in. Here you can get information about certifications for professionals involved in a variety of specialties, including application development, databases, ERP, hardware, Internet, networking, operating systems, security, and training. There are hundreds of certifications listed here with extensive details about what it takes to get them, what they cost and what value they have. There are also discussion boards where IT professionals (or wannabe IT professionals) talk about certifications. There's even a newsletter so you can keep up on the latest certification offerings and removals.

Another good resource to check out is the Institute for Network Professionals which contains links to lots of resources for network professionals.

There's even a magazine for certified IT professionals called Certification Magazine. In addition to its feature articles, the online version contains links to resources, events and certification programs.

By sorting through these sites you can gain a better understanding of which certifications are valuable, build a bigger and better list of search keywords and explore the sites your candidates are likely to visit.