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Ask HN: Any certification that is worth it? Legitimately helped your career?

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Re: Ask HN: Any certification that is worth it? Legitimately helped your career?

#161

Post by robcohen »

jcims wrote: post #133
typhonic wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A co-worker once told me he had two of three certifications for fireworks. I forget what they were exactly, maybe one for manufacturing, one for transportation, and one for operations.

I believe these can vary by state in the US but there’s some ATF requirements as well. ‘Operations’ are called ’exhibitor license’ and there are two of them. I’m getting my assistant exhibitors license now, which is the entry point. Once I have demonstrated sufficient proficiency, a lead exhibitor will sign off on my application to become a lead exhibitor. This will likely take a few years. There is a separate certif…

Thanks for sharing the info. Super helpful!

Re: Ask HN: Any certification that is worth it? Legitimately helped your career?

#162

Post by MichaelMoser123 »

robcohen wrote: post #11

I collect a lot of certs for fun, but most have not been helpful. I still like to collect them anyway. I think OSCP was the most legitimately useful in tech https://www.offensive-security.com/pwk-oscp/ PMP has been useful to take on Project Manager roles, but really PrM roles aren't all that exciting to begin with. Still helps when you want to run your own projects. I'm currently studying to be a certified parliament…

just out of interest, what do you do with the offensive security knowledge?

Re: Ask HN: Any certification that is worth it? Legitimately helped your career?

#163

Post by ethbr0 »

mjul wrote: post #141
ethbr0 wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Might the above be generalized into "The best use of certificates is to reduce uncertainty, for the hirer"? I.e. A SWE with a SWE cert says nothing, because you'd expect them to know it. But a SWE with a DevOps cert says something, versus just claiming knowledge.

I remember someone back in the day - perhaps Microsoft - advertising their certs as “so THEY know that YOU know”.

My impression is that every cert seller markets as though the world believed "You dont know it, unless you're certified in it."

My impression is that the world actually believes "You can be certified in something without knowing it."

So at best, from an applicant / employee's perspective, certificates are a slightly stronger suggestion that you might know the thing you claim to know.

Which is a useless reinforcement for something for which you already have demonstrated experience via work history.

But might be useful for something for which you do not.

Re: Ask HN: Any certification that is worth it? Legitimately helped your career?

#164

Post by robcohen »

LurkinGrue wrote: post #37
robcohen wrote: post #11

I collect a lot of certs for fun, but most have not been helpful. I still like to collect them anyway. I think OSCP was the most legitimately useful in tech https://www.offensive-security.com/pwk-oscp/ PMP has been useful to take on Project Manager roles, but really PrM roles aren't all that exciting to begin with. Still helps when you want to run your own projects. I'm currently studying to be a certified parliament…

How do you keep up with CPE requirements across all of the carts? Just the CPA cert alone requires a minimum of 40 hours per year.

Webinars usually get CPEs in most prof orgs, so it's easy to just put on a webinar during lunch.

Also once or twice a year you can attend a conference and rack up all your CPEs.

Re: Ask HN: Any certification that is worth it? Legitimately helped your career?

#165

Post by robcohen »

fat_cantor wrote: post #45
robcohen wrote: post #11

I collect a lot of certs for fun, but most have not been helpful. I still like to collect them anyway. I think OSCP was the most legitimately useful in tech https://www.offensive-security.com/pwk-oscp/ PMP has been useful to take on Project Manager roles, but really PrM roles aren't all that exciting to begin with. Still helps when you want to run your own projects. I'm currently studying to be a certified parliament…

no teaching certificates?

I've thought about it, but teaching is such a long commitment. I almost signed up to be a teacher at my local community college in CS, but I just don't want to commit my schedule to something like that.

Maybe someday.

Re: Ask HN: Any certification that is worth it? Legitimately helped your career?

#166

Post by leeoniya »

NoOneNew wrote: post #105
robcohen wrote: post #11

I collect a lot of certs for fun, but most have not been helpful. I still like to collect them anyway. I think OSCP was the most legitimately useful in tech https://www.offensive-security.com/pwk-oscp/ PMP has been useful to take on Project Manager roles, but really PrM roles aren't all that exciting to begin with. Still helps when you want to run your own projects. I'm currently studying to be a certified parliament…

Past CDL holder here. Fyi, you are then a "professional driver" even in a normal car driving to the grocery. If you get a ticket, many states will instantly double the fine because as a pro, "you know better". Plus there's the medical aspect and other bullshit. Unless you're going to actually use it, dont get it. Learn to drive an 18 speed with air brakes etc, sure. Just dont get the actual cdl.

to add to this, if you dont actually use your SCUBA or first responder or pilot skills on a regular basis, those certs are worthless at best, and dangerous at worst.

Re: Ask HN: Any certification that is worth it? Legitimately helped your career?

#167

Post by MichaelMoser123 »

eranation wrote: post #5

As a hiring manager, I treat AWS certification (professional especially) as relatively a good heuristic. It does not replace hands-on experience of course, but it has good correlation with good hands-on ability. Another one that will catch my eye is any Kubernetes certification. Both are great additions to experience, the certification itself has much less value standalone, but it might be the edge that will help som…

As a hiring manager, what is your course of action if someone doesn't have any of these? Do you reject a candidate due to a lack of certification?

Re: Ask HN: Any certification that is worth it? Legitimately helped your career?

#168

Post by nsheridan »

prepend wrote: post #95

MCSE really helped me. In the late 90s, 98 I think, I worked for an internet startup that didn’t end up being huge. We were on Novell and a bit if solaris and had just launched a product that used windows nt and server side activex. I was a college dropout web dev/web master making $50k. They had a hard time hiring devs who knew nt and could design and automate server farms. I learned on the job and did an ok job run…

> I always thought it was funny that I did the same job before and after the certs.

It’s often more advantageous for the company to have people with certs (it was with MCSE and such in the 90s anyway) - more MCSE etc on staff meant it was possible for the company to attain higher partnership levels with Microsoft which often meant more lucrative contracts and so on.

So while you may have been doing the same job as before, just by having the getting the certs you added more value to the business.

Re: Ask HN: Any certification that is worth it? Legitimately helped your career?

#169

Post by gurchik »

akudha wrote: post #43
robcohen wrote: post #11

I collect a lot of certs for fun, but most have not been helpful. I still like to collect them anyway. I think OSCP was the most legitimately useful in tech https://www.offensive-security.com/pwk-oscp/ PMP has been useful to take on Project Manager roles, but really PrM roles aren't all that exciting to begin with. Still helps when you want to run your own projects. I'm currently studying to be a certified parliament…

Wow, that is quite a collection. What kind of work do you do? One thing I am wondering is how much these certificates cost. For example, quickly glancing through your OSCP link says the minimum is $1499, it is not cheap! Thank you for mentioning NAP, I didn't know this was a thing (I suspect most people don't) Fun certs - I did this last year https://www.pearsonpte.com/ and thoroughly enjoyed it. Unlike many tech cer…

A pilot's license can easily cost over $10k. I can't afford it right now but flying is a dream for me that I'm working towards.

Re: Ask HN: Any certification that is worth it? Legitimately helped your career?

#170

Post by pcmoney »

Larrikin wrote: post #104
pcmoney wrote: post #75

Imagine choosing between someone with a CS degree vs someone without a CS degree and think which you would prefer to do SWE work for you all else equal. CS degree every time right? Now imagine both candidates had the exact same career trajectory. Say 6 YOE, couple years at a FAANG recently, but the non-CS candidate was promoted there etc. which do you prefer now? Probably the non-CS degree holder. They have proven th…

I've never heard of a CS degree being a negative in any situation outside of someone with a chip on their shoulder about college degrees in general. The person in your example with the degree would still win out in most situations. The person with experience versus a new graduate degree holder is the actual head to head where the non degree holder has a much better chance.

So the person who has proven they can do the work and get promoted in the same career path is less valuable than the CS degree holder (who in this example, did not achieve as much over the same time period) just because they have a degree?

This has never been the case in any org promo committee or hiring committee I have been a part of (100s of candidates).

I would say in most orgs after 3 years of proven track record the degree benefit has fully depreciated. Unless the degree is an advanced degree and related directly to a niche subfield that is the job.

Not saying the degree is a negative just that its signaling factor is dwarfed by experience. n^2 vs cn

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