How Important Is Certification?
Emmett Dulaney
As soon as somebody says "certification", a flood of responses usually follows.
Most of the views expressed are typically along these lines:
- Is there any value in that?
- Are people still doing that?
- Isn't that for people who don't have experience?
- What's in it for me?
- That's just a piece of paper...
- Where can I find what's popular and get more information?
- Will my employer pay for it?
And on they go, with people generally falling into one of two camps -- those
who think there is value in certification, and those who immediately dismiss
the idea. Those in the first camp usually feel the way they do either because
they hold certifications of their own, work in HR, or have been told by co-workers/acquaintances
that certifications are valuable. Those who fall in the second camp never have
certifications of their own, and often have many years experience on the job.
To help understand these two camps better, I want to move away from the IT
field for a moment. We have a tendency to think that the profession in which
we work is unlike anything else that exists or has ever come before. How can
anyone else understand or appreciate what it is like to rebuild a system after
a crash, to write a script that pulls out the one key piece of data hidden in
reams of numbers, or to implement a security system that allows you to rest
easily at night?
The truth of the matter is that there is a great parallel between the IT field
and many other professions. Consider automotive repair, for example. There are
mechanics who have learned everything they know through trial and error; they
have little to no schooling in the trade but are naturals at what they do.
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