From Certified to Certifier
The current Global Program Manager for Ericsson's certification program started out by earning a few designations of his own - more than twenty.
By Pat Suarez
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Picture a man, the subject of this month’s IT certification portrait, sitting on a couch as he strums a guitar and sings. Picture him joined on that same couch by a wife and two young children, one of them not older than a couple of months. The man in the picture could be an American living in New York City, or a Japanese in Tokyo, but it so happens he’s Polish and lives in Sweden.
Krzysztof Szarkowicz (pronounced Kristoff Sharkovich, with the accent in the last name on the first syllable) is the Global Program Manager for the Ericsson Certification Program. Ericsson is the Swedish multinational giant whose name adorns millions of cell phones worldwide. The company's range of tele- and data communication products includes systems and services for handling voice, data, images and text in public and private fixed line and mobile telecommunications networks, power equipment, defense electronics and telecommunications and power cables. Ericsson has subsidiaries and branches or representative offices in more than 140 countries.
Szarkowicz is responsible for certifying Ericsson’s global IT staff, no small task given Ericsson’s far-flung presence. He attained his impressive position in great part because of his extensive certification history. In a stunning display of will and ability, Szarkowicz earned more than twenty certifications in a four-year period (1996 to 1999) while living in England, Hungary and Sweden, in succession. In addition to his eye-popping certification count, Szarkowicz speaks six languages and holds two masters degrees.
His certifications include CNI, CNE, MCT, MCSE, MCPS and Certified Technical Trainer, which is a key certification for him. When asked if certification changed his goals, Szarkowicz responded, “Yes. I wanted to be more than an instructor so I started to work on creating certification programs for Ericsson.” The company was sufficiently inspired to allow Szarkowicz to begin training people toward their certifications. Once they saw him in action, the promotion to his current position happened.
Szarkowicz prefers hands-on certification test preparation. “Usually I prepared by self-study and gaining experience in the lab by 'playing' with the products in question. Sometimes I attended related training, but I think the most important part of preparation is real, hands-on experience. It is most important, more important than the course. Taking the course only (without hands-on preparation) doesn't guarantee success in certification. I studied manuals, online help, training material, etc. And after strong preparation the exam itself was no surprise for me. I've never failed an exam.”
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