Hiding Behind Certification
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Since this has been brought up in the lounge quite frequently - and anyone who knows me knows I've been saying what this article covers for a long time - I thought I'd post it here. Just something to think about when evaluating if you should get certified or - if you're hiring - how much you should really care about certifications. http://www.cio.com/archive/061504/itwork.html[^]
Microsoft MVP, Visual C# My Articles
To say first I am Linux+ Certified. I would say it depends on the certification company. The company I am certified with is CompTIA/Prometric they have huge credentials, and testings security. I studied for a whole school year before taking it, using trancenders to guage where and how prepared I was. When I went down to the testing center they had at least one in the waiting room/front desk. They had me sign a standard agreement saying that the test woudl not be distrubuted/copied five minutes after I walk out the door, and I would not cheat. They held on to my PDA/cellphone and placed it in a locked cabinent to insure testing confidentiality. (I didn't mind this) The testing room had at least the amounnt of cameras per cubical. I'm pretty sure the PC was monitor with something similar to VNC. The test was not a test that you could read "Linux+ In Depth" (which I used) once and walk in there (after paying $200) and pass the test with a nine hundred. It had sanario questions, A+ hardware questions, IRQ questions (not many hardware problems require the tech to know that), general security questions (password quality), and basic definition type questions. Are certifications bad? It just depends how the person is tested. I have a suspicion that the guy has not passed one of the certifications or is too cheap to put is money where his mouth is and take the test. My Score: 815/900 COMP001002861019 -Steven Hicks
CPA
CodeProjectAddict
Actual Linux Penguins were harmed in the creation of this message.
More tutorials: Ltpb.8m.com: Tutorials |404Browser.com (Download Link)
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Since this has been brought up in the lounge quite frequently - and anyone who knows me knows I've been saying what this article covers for a long time - I thought I'd post it here. Just something to think about when evaluating if you should get certified or - if you're hiring - how much you should really care about certifications. http://www.cio.com/archive/061504/itwork.html[^]
Microsoft MVP, Visual C# My Articles
Nice article, I wonder if the certification boards are doing anything to level out this negative image and truly identify quality knowledge in a subject prior to distributing a certificate. - Nick Parker
My Blog | My Articles -
Since this has been brought up in the lounge quite frequently - and anyone who knows me knows I've been saying what this article covers for a long time - I thought I'd post it here. Just something to think about when evaluating if you should get certified or - if you're hiring - how much you should really care about certifications. http://www.cio.com/archive/061504/itwork.html[^]
Microsoft MVP, Visual C# My Articles
In a prior life I was an accountant, which has a similar level of dependency on certifications. The certifications standards are high (Set by an Independent Board) and are coupled with the work experience, which makes them more reliable. A CPA has passed a very difficult set of exams and has to work as a candidate for a period of years for a licensed CPA who has to attest to their skills. If the IT community had certifications that were structured like other professions instead of being managed by the companies selling them it would help. I would prefer to see certifications that could be relied on and that came with work experience tied to them. I cannot take a test to save my soul so asking for tougher testing standards is cutting my own throat. Yet covering the industry in a confusing array of certifications that may or may not be relevant without some basis in hands on experience is not helping anyone. Managers are going to make hiring decisions based on certifications and it's not going to stop but as a IT professional I want the certifications to demand respect from my peers.
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Since this has been brought up in the lounge quite frequently - and anyone who knows me knows I've been saying what this article covers for a long time - I thought I'd post it here. Just something to think about when evaluating if you should get certified or - if you're hiring - how much you should really care about certifications. http://www.cio.com/archive/061504/itwork.html[^]
Microsoft MVP, Visual C# My Articles
I'm not certified in anything (I don't think lunacy counts), but I believe I'd still kick 90% of all MCP asses. I've met so many "certified professionals" that didn't know diddly, I've never really payed much attention to these titles. -- Ich bin Joachim von Hassel, und ich bin Pilot der Bundeswehr. Welle: Erdball - F104-G Starfighter
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Since this has been brought up in the lounge quite frequently - and anyone who knows me knows I've been saying what this article covers for a long time - I thought I'd post it here. Just something to think about when evaluating if you should get certified or - if you're hiring - how much you should really care about certifications. http://www.cio.com/archive/061504/itwork.html[^]
Microsoft MVP, Visual C# My Articles
I think another message is lost in the shuffle - we already have a certification system that stretches back from the middle ages called a "degree". Talking with my in-laws in a large corporation, and some of the get-an-education-in-six-weeks crowd leads me to believe that some of these certifications are little better than a scam, used to make money from gullible students. ----------------------------- All truth passes through 3 stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.
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To say first I am Linux+ Certified. I would say it depends on the certification company. The company I am certified with is CompTIA/Prometric they have huge credentials, and testings security. I studied for a whole school year before taking it, using trancenders to guage where and how prepared I was. When I went down to the testing center they had at least one in the waiting room/front desk. They had me sign a standard agreement saying that the test woudl not be distrubuted/copied five minutes after I walk out the door, and I would not cheat. They held on to my PDA/cellphone and placed it in a locked cabinent to insure testing confidentiality. (I didn't mind this) The testing room had at least the amounnt of cameras per cubical. I'm pretty sure the PC was monitor with something similar to VNC. The test was not a test that you could read "Linux+ In Depth" (which I used) once and walk in there (after paying $200) and pass the test with a nine hundred. It had sanario questions, A+ hardware questions, IRQ questions (not many hardware problems require the tech to know that), general security questions (password quality), and basic definition type questions. Are certifications bad? It just depends how the person is tested. I have a suspicion that the guy has not passed one of the certifications or is too cheap to put is money where his mouth is and take the test. My Score: 815/900 COMP001002861019 -Steven Hicks
CPA
CodeProjectAddict
Actual Linux Penguins were harmed in the creation of this message.
More tutorials: Ltpb.8m.com: Tutorials |404Browser.com (Download Link)
(Steven Hicks)n+1 wrote: Are certifications bad? It just depends how the person is tested. I have a suspicion that the guy has not passed one of the certifications or is too cheap to put is money where his mouth is and take the test. Apparently you've never taken a Microsoft certification test. They're really not that hard. :) Congrats on the Linux+, though. I've heard they can be difficult.
Microsoft MVP, Visual C# My Articles
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Nice article, I wonder if the certification boards are doing anything to level out this negative image and truly identify quality knowledge in a subject prior to distributing a certificate. - Nick Parker
My Blog | My ArticlesThe only thing they really could do is to make the tests harder, like giving scenarios. Study and memorize all you want, solving problems well takes experience and a good understanding of the technology for which you're being tested. You've been in the C# forum, Nick, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. :)
Microsoft MVP, Visual C# My Articles
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I'm not certified in anything (I don't think lunacy counts), but I believe I'd still kick 90% of all MCP asses. I've met so many "certified professionals" that didn't know diddly, I've never really payed much attention to these titles. -- Ich bin Joachim von Hassel, und ich bin Pilot der Bundeswehr. Welle: Erdball - F104-G Starfighter
My feelings exactly. There's a lot of these MCPs in the programming forums asking simple questions that anyone who truly understands the technology and/or has some experience can answer without even thinking about it. It's not about knowing - it's about understanding.
Microsoft MVP, Visual C# My Articles
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I think another message is lost in the shuffle - we already have a certification system that stretches back from the middle ages called a "degree". Talking with my in-laws in a large corporation, and some of the get-an-education-in-six-weeks crowd leads me to believe that some of these certifications are little better than a scam, used to make money from gullible students. ----------------------------- All truth passes through 3 stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.
Well put!
Microsoft MVP, Visual C# My Articles
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I'm not certified in anything (I don't think lunacy counts), but I believe I'd still kick 90% of all MCP asses. I've met so many "certified professionals" that didn't know diddly, I've never really payed much attention to these titles. -- Ich bin Joachim von Hassel, und ich bin Pilot der Bundeswehr. Welle: Erdball - F104-G Starfighter
I am sitting here reading the Exam Cram for 70-316 (I need the certification to get higher paying contracts) and you would not beleive how light it is. It talks about the IDE, Globalization and Deploying an application but never even talks about Interfaces, inheritance, patterns, Collections or the C# keywords. I guess that must be covered in another part of the exam but passing this test is more about knowing the answers to questions about the IDE. I would suggest that nothing I have read so far would be of much use in a real life situation.
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The only thing they really could do is to make the tests harder, like giving scenarios. Study and memorize all you want, solving problems well takes experience and a good understanding of the technology for which you're being tested. You've been in the C# forum, Nick, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. :)
Microsoft MVP, Visual C# My Articles
;) - Nick Parker
My Blog | My Articles -
(Steven Hicks)n+1 wrote: Are certifications bad? It just depends how the person is tested. I have a suspicion that the guy has not passed one of the certifications or is too cheap to put is money where his mouth is and take the test. Apparently you've never taken a Microsoft certification test. They're really not that hard. :) Congrats on the Linux+, though. I've heard they can be difficult.
Microsoft MVP, Visual C# My Articles
Well I haven't taken a MS exam, probly what employers are confused is by the MS name. Some people believe that success is how far you make it in the business world. These people really do worry me. One of the guidence counsolars at my high school, which I graduated from a month ago, was giving me tips on a scholarship I was about to have an interview for. It was about shaving my goatee as I mentioned that the hard core Unix genious were long haired etc. and she replied "well you not there yet those people have made it" (in a business sense) I'm glad I've graduated... i really am. -Steven Hicks
CPA
CodeProjectAddict
Actual Linux Penguins were harmed in the creation of this message.
More tutorials: Ltpb.8m.com: Tutorials |404Browser.com (Download Link)