The adobe digital video collection products (premiere, photoshop, after effects, illustraor) really has an interest for me...as well as 3d Animation. I wouldn't mind going through a career change completely. But I don't know if I'd want to sacrifice salary.

What kind of work can you get into say if you were an Adobe Certified Expert in the above four products I mentioned? And somewhere on the East Coast. And what's the average salary range?

That's probably a good question to pose to Adobe. Such brand certification programs are often primarily customer loyalty marketing devices. In technology areas such as some at Microsoft, Sun, Cisco, Novell certification represents some degree of knowledge guarantee to prospective employers. But having hired (and fired) IT staffs for most of the past 20 years I cannot recall putting significant weight on such certifications in the IT realm. Many, many other qualities were far more important to me.

You should cruise some of the employment sites to see if anyone is specifying "Adobe certification" to answer your question.

Ken,

You should have guessed that someone would follow up with this comment...

<<But having hired (and fired) IT staffs for most of the past 20 years I cannot recall putting significant weight on such certifications in the IT realm. Many, many other qualities were far more important to me.>>

...so I'll take the bait. Having been in a hiring and firing position for so many years, what would you say are the top qualities you've looked for?

(Hope that's not asking for too much!)

The greatest ability I learned to look for in a new-hire was DEPENDability. Certainly if I needed someone with a specific skill set I would check for some competence in that set. But the value of specific skills (in IT and anything relating to software) DEPRECIATES, often very steeply. In contrast, the value of someone with strong character not only appreciates but can be infectious to everyone around him/her. I had no use for someone who may have been sharp but who could not be trusted, who had a bloated self-image or who was not interested in continuously learning. Such people would inevitably precipitate problems with staff climate. Example of strong character: I had immense respect for someone who, regardless of position or politics or personal inconvenience, would step forward to offer special assistance when the going got tough.

I'm happy to report that I have retired from people-management <g>.

I'll throw my .02 in as I've delt with creative types (Photoshop, Illustrator, Freehand, etc) nearly my entire professional career.

Certifications don't (didn't) mean spit to me. Now things may be different as we speak but give me an eager creative type with an over-active imagination with a solid and progressive portfolio over any certification, any day.

Next question is, what can they do with what they create? Do they know which tool (program) is best suited for which task? Do they know compatible file formats? Are they well versed in "the system"

I advise those with entry level to beginner experience to become multi-dimensional in your skills with one area of expertise. i.e. a Photoshop guru who knows his way around Illustrator, FCP, After Effects, Flash, Quark Xpress, etc.

My pet peeve were the local (Dallas) kids coming out of the Art Institute with the illusion that a Creative Director position was waiting for them with a corner office, big salary and the ability to work on the "cool accounts"

Fact is, what they got was a desk in a bull-pen, a crusty old coffee machine, long hours and an Art Director who rode them like a cheap bicycle.

Hey, if I can start over at 45, then anyone can.

Thanks for the comments. Let me clarify. I'm actually in the IT field right now and I do not have any certificates. Although I am in a senior level position now after only 2 years...all from experience and college education. I too believe that certificates don't carry much wait...they only help to build on top of experience and education. They are also good if you are in the consulting/government contracting area. Clients do like to see that certification. They are also good for personal goals. It's nice to shoot for a goal and test how much you know.

That aside, let me rephrase my first question. Certification aside, what kind of work can you get in to say if you had a knowledgable background in adobe digital video products (premiere, photoshop, after effects, illustrator)? I just mentioned certification because adobe has a certification track specifically for digital video...and I wanted to get an idea of what jobs those are geared towards.

Reason being, is I wouldn't mind going through a career change. I did some browsing and found one possible company around my area but they don't have any job openings. I'm having trouble searching too which is why I'm asking the question what type of jobs? So I know what I might like and what I should be looking for. Then there is the idea of salary...Am I willing to sacrifice salary...I don't know. I don't know what the average salary is for somebody with this type of background?

Can anybody give me some tips?