@JKWiniger John, it also depends on your organisation that you work for and their strategic partnerships, and direction. Often clients are the driving force behind, which certifications one achieves and obtains. The example I will give is an initiative driven by my own international organisation across the world. Obtain cloud certifications, regardless of whether it is IBM, AWS, Azure or GCP - just doing them and often they will provide the initiatives and opportunities to do this on a quarterly basis and then they will reimburse the examination fees, as long as you pass. This is driven by annual assessments of the individuals, keeping your growth and development on a steady basis. It up to the individual to take up those opportunities and drive their own careers. Obviously you can opt out, but they will find yourself struggling in a short period of time.
It is also about developing the soft skills, as well, so don't forget those as well, You need to be well rounded being up your experience, often this can be achieved by volunteering to challenge your own self, overcoming fears, and barriers we raise ourselves and taking risks. Only by taking risks, do we learn from our mistakes and gain experience.
Fortunately, they drive this via annual initiatives to keep you developing, and driving your own careers, by providing the opportunities to grow no matter what level you are at the present time.
The emphasis is just don't sit there, look at the strategy, look at the opportunities, volunteer and drive yourself forward. There is so much to learn, pushing yourself forward whilst balancing everything else is an art in itself.
Regards
Caute_Cautim
