Are you certified? Has it made a difference?
A few years ago, the word “certified” was all the rage in IT and development circles. It wasn’t enough to know one’s stuff; one also needed to own a piece of paper that showed one had taken an online test, too. Back when I was hiring developers for whichever Dot-com-o’-the-Day I happened to be working for, it seemed everyone had a folder full of “certifications” to prove they were the best person for the job.
In my experience, such certifications are more for the benefit of human resources people than the techies themselves: Developers don’t really seem to care one way or the other (I know I didn’t), but the convenient silver star on top of the report card made it easier for HR types to weed through piles of otherwise identical resumes when searching for new applicants to pass onto the hiring manager.
Regardless, I don’t hear as much about certification as I did in the past. Perhaps it’s because there were just too many of them for a while — it seemed everybody and their brother was offering to certify me for something back then. Still, every once in a while I can’t help but wonder: Would getting certified in Flash development (my current bread and butter) enhance my commercial viability? Or at the very least, would studying for such a certification test help sharpen my skills in areas I’d otherwise ignore (but which may, in fact, help me learn new tricks)?
Anybody out there got any input? Are you certified in something? Was it worth it? What do you really think of Adobe’s Flash certification programs (and why they have not updated the program to include Flash 8 yet)? Let us know through the following poll, or in the comments section below. Thanks!
jal_democracy(8);
I have done a fair few certifications in my time (Macromedia and Microsoft). I don’t think it makes that much or a difference to your professional viability if you have an track record of established work to cite. However I do think it is was worth it for a number of reasons.
1. It makes you stretch you skills a bit. When you study for the exam you are forced to learn about areas of the software / systems that you don’t necessarily use in your everyday work.
2. It shows potential employers you are ‘serious’ about your chosen profession and personal development.
3. As you said it gives a bit of comfort to employers that you know what you are talking about or at least have demonstrated a minimum level of proficiency at whatever. Web development is full of people who are ‘self-taught’ (which is great), but when you are an interview situation and you have 6 people telling you they can do the job and their skills are great, unless you make them all sit down and develop something as part of the hiring process (which is not a bad idea if you have the time) then a cert says ‘well I know that his guy at least knows the software to a certain level.
Does it mean that you are a great developer, no.
I do think it is worth it though just from the personal development and satisfaction point of view. As long as the certs are legit (i.e. Adobe/Macromedia vs. Brainbench)
Barry
What’s with all the question posts lately? Are you this, are you that….sounds to me like someone is getting a little desperate for posts. And where’s our new monthly game? I mean, when someone says Turdhead, you know they’re talking about top-notch, high quality entertainment with timely and insightful commentary on the day’s events. I demand to be entertained!
I kid, I kid! I kid because I love.
Seriously, to answer the question…no, no certs, although I’ve always toyed with the idea of the A+ exam cause I think I could ace it.
Yevgyeni, as for the questions (heh, I actually hadn’t noticed!), it could be the new year — time to take stock and see where we’re heading and why. On the other hand, it could also be an evil conspiracy on the part of the Turdhead.com marketing army to test its new multijillion-dollar-investment, the poll capabilities now embedded in Turdhead.com (thanks to the nifty Democracy WordPress plug-in (which in no way costs a zillion dollars!). Or it could be simply that I like to ask a lot of questions — and find out what’s on readers’ minds.
Yeah, ok, it’s probably the zillion-dollar poll thing.
I meant to also add that I’m not certified in anything. And presently have no desire to be, although, as Barry states, I’m sure it “looks good” to people who don’t know any better, and quite possibly would stretch you, which would be a good thing.
The company I work for doesn’t even look at certifications. They are interested in previous work experience, and how long you’ve been working in your field. They want evidence of time tested experience. Whether or not this is a trend I cannot say for certain, however.
i waana writ flash certification exam so i need the some sample question. is there any specfis website adress for this .