"You may know what you work on day-to-day very well, so for instance you might work on Web pages and be familiar with Apache, but not know anything about clustering, so in this way Red Hat gives you an in-depth knowledge of all aspects of Linux."

Ice Systems technical director and Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) Neil Smith agreed says Red Hat stands out among the HP, Citrix, Juniper, Brocade, Checkpoint and Microsoft qualifications.

"Some [certifications] are more for show because you do the course and are run through the questions and answers so every player gets a prize, but employers know this and therefore their value is a lot less," Smith said

"A lot of other certifications such as old Microsoft [courses] have been tarnished by brain-dumps (pre-designed recycled questions) because they are essentially multiple choice exams.

"For some you buy the answers on the Internet so their value diminishes - this is where Red Hat stands out because you are in a lab for a whole day going through gruelling scenarios where you are tested very comprehensively - not everyone survives because the casualty rate could be almost as high as the pass mark!"