Are technical certifications of any worth?
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Are technical certifications of any worth?
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Re: Are technical certifications of any worth?
#2Typically, no. In my experience, anyone who hires you for the cert over experience, you don't actually want to work for. Using the cert as a conversation tool will usually get you shunned by people who work on whatever you're certified in day to day.
Yes, the certs are often hard to attain, but for the most part experience trumps them all and the only thing a cert proves is that you had time to read the books and take the tests.
The one exception I make is for Cisco/Juniper certs, if you have a cert you can jump ahead in the support queue. This could potentially save you hours/days in the dealing with support and is generally worth it in terms of time for you and your employer.
Re: Are technical certifications of any worth?
#3Typically, no. In my experience, anyone who hires you for the cert over experience, you don't actually want to work for. Using the cert as a conversation tool will usually get you shunned by people who work on whatever you're certified in day to day. Yes, the certs are often hard to attain, but for the most part experience trumps them all and the only thing a cert proves is that you had time to read the books and tak…
I would think that certs would be useful in signaling commitment for people wanting to join that workforce.
Re: Are technical certifications of any worth?
#4Typically, no. In my experience, anyone who hires you for the cert over experience, you don't actually want to work for. Using the cert as a conversation tool will usually get you shunned by people who work on whatever you're certified in day to day. Yes, the certs are often hard to attain, but for the most part experience trumps them all and the only thing a cert proves is that you had time to read the books and tak…
I would think that certs would be useful in signaling commitment for people wanting to join that workforce.
Possible but sortof irrelevant, some of the WORST engineers I've ever hired/seen have had certs in their chosen field.
Re: Are technical certifications of any worth?
#5Typically, no. In my experience, anyone who hires you for the cert over experience, you don't actually want to work for. Using the cert as a conversation tool will usually get you shunned by people who work on whatever you're certified in day to day. Yes, the certs are often hard to attain, but for the most part experience trumps them all and the only thing a cert proves is that you had time to read the books and tak…
I would think that certs would be useful in signaling commitment for people wanting to join that workforce.
Whatever marginal value they have as a signal of commitment is swamped by their negative signaling. Top caliber talent won't usually be certified; why waste the time getting "certified" by organizations that are probably less competent than you?
Successive rounds of adverse selection produce a "certified" pool of candidates who are unwilling or unable to achieve a basic level of facility in their field on their own, which is its own negative signal.
Re: Are technical certifications of any worth?
#6Typically, no. In my experience, anyone who hires you for the cert over experience, you don't actually want to work for. Using the cert as a conversation tool will usually get you shunned by people who work on whatever you're certified in day to day. Yes, the certs are often hard to attain, but for the most part experience trumps them all and the only thing a cert proves is that you had time to read the books and tak…
In my experience, anyone who hires you for the cert over experience
But isn't that usually a false dichotomy? That is, people don't hire just for certs, or just for experience. Certs and experience are both just part of the overall equation, with each (along with other factors) carrying different weights depending on who you're talking to.
Re: Are technical certifications of any worth?
#7[deleted]
Re: Are technical certifications of any worth?
#8Typically, no. In my experience, anyone who hires you for the cert over experience, you don't actually want to work for. Using the cert as a conversation tool will usually get you shunned by people who work on whatever you're certified in day to day. Yes, the certs are often hard to attain, but for the most part experience trumps them all and the only thing a cert proves is that you had time to read the books and tak…
I would think that certs would be useful in signaling commitment for people wanting to join that workforce.
You say you're committed, I say you're desperate.
(Not you personally)
Re: Are technical certifications of any worth?
#9Even degrees don't mean much. It's not like you get to skip the fizzbuzz and trivia/whiteboard gauntlet by virtue of a fancy CS degree from Yale. Obviously certifications are worth less than Ivy League degrees, so that should give some idea what certifications are worth.
The basic issue is that there are plenty of people with certifications and degrees that can't produce, they are completely helpless. And there are plenty of people with no certifications or degrees that are top notch producers. There's no correlation. You have to test each person, you can't rely on the paperwork from some third party to mean anything.
A related issue is it is not uncommon at all to find people creating certification sets and teaching university classes who have no experience doing design or development of real projects. Their experience is non-existent, also known as academic knowledge. It's not surprising that many students doing well grade-wise in these programs can not do real world work, other than perhaps pursue the PhD and join a university themselves to pass on their academic perspective, devoid of real world capability, to the next generation of academics.
On the other hand, a portfolio of their own work and past creations is a pretty good indicator of actual talent. People know what John Carmack, Larry Wall, and Linus Torvald's skills are, and it has nothing to do with any degrees they may or may not have.
Re: Are technical certifications of any worth?
#10Typically, no. In my experience, anyone who hires you for the cert over experience, you don't actually want to work for. Using the cert as a conversation tool will usually get you shunned by people who work on whatever you're certified in day to day. Yes, the certs are often hard to attain, but for the most part experience trumps them all and the only thing a cert proves is that you had time to read the books and tak…
Yes, the certs are often hard to attain, but for the most part experience trumps them all and the only thing a cert proves is that you had time to read the books and take the tests.
Couldn't you say the same thing for an undergraduate degree?
anyone who hires you for the cert over experience, you don't actually want to work for.
Why wouldn't you want to work for them?