---
I have an AWS Certified Solutions Architect certification that was sponsored through my work. It was due to lapse on Tuesday, but after some scheduling headaches, I was able to take the certification exam just under the wire on Monday. Fortunately, I passed the exam, so my certification is good for another few years.
I received word from my boss recently that current leadership has not expressed any interest in expanding our AWS presence beyond the services we already run there. I've confirmed this with other managers as well. Further, it's possible that HR will not compensate me for the AWS exam fee, as it's not strictly part of my current role as a Red Hat administrator.
It seems I've been encouraged to develop a skill, paying money to do so, with the goal of one day bringing those skills into our shop--only to be told after the money was spent that those skills will not be used after all.
Now I'm being told I might be well-served by receiving a Red Hat Certified Systems administrator certification. I'd love to obtain one, but recent actions of other parts of the department seem to indicate that RHEL administration is not a priority. We've had some rather spirited discussions about the health of our current RHEL environment, and we seem to be getting nowhere with them. I must admit that I feel some skepticism as to whether pursuing a related certification while remaining in my current position is worth my time.
These frustrations--along with others I won't mention here--have been building for a while, but they especially sting after the effort I put into recertifying. It's part of the reason why I've been less active on Gemini in the days since. Sometimes I worry that the effort I put into my own capsule will be for naught too.
---
[Last updated: 2022-02-24]