I just read your 10 Quick Steps to Interviewing For Tech Jobs. In it you make no mention of Certifications. Are they not important? Let me put it this way: they're "nice", but for the real in-the-trenches programming positions I was hiring for, I'd have a hard time saying they were important, at all. Let me explain why... I have mixed feelings about certifications. When I interviewed people I rarely looked at or for them. I was more interested in accomplishments and abilities. What can the person do. The problem is that it's unclear to me how well certification maps to abilities. Knowledge, maybe, but abilities? A lot of people think that they are fantastic programmers because they know a lot. But knowledge alone doesn't make for an engineer that can actually do anything. And certainly it says nothing about what they can, or cannot, do in a production environment. A sharp interviewer will look for abilities - remember that a good interviewer is looking for what you can do. Knowledge contributes, but at the end of the day, knowledge alone doesn't produce results. Now, all that being said, some folks do look for certification as a checklist item - sometimes it's a requirement to get past the Human Resources resume screener. Sometimes it's one way of demonstrating certain knowledge. And it can certainly be a reasonable and structured way to educate yourself for yourself. But ultimately I don't think they're truly important, unless your prospective employer or segment of the industry typically requires them to get in the door. And admittedly, they certainly don't hurt. Related:
Article 6787 | Posted May 2, 2005 |
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I think you are wrong. Certifications are always important. You are only focusing on "programming." However, all the rest of your articles appear to be on the "tech" side. Certifications are always important in getting the job.
You never interview with 1 person for a high level job. For example, in my position, I interviewed with 4 people over the course of three weeks. Two people believed that the certifications were important. One because he believed that someone who took time to achieve certian certifications on their own showed a more "get up and go" attitude. The one other believed that it showed a higher quality of base of knowledge.
So when it came to hiring me or the other guy, I was chosen becuase of my skills *AND* because of my certifications.
Posted by: Bill Girge at May 18, 2005 08:03 PMI think you're right. There are so many graduates out there who don't know much. Then there are some hobby programmers who know much more and can do much more than those who hold a diploma in IT.
Posted by: Holly Johnson at April 9, 2006 02:34 PMIn Nigeria scenerio, certifications are very important.No certfication no Job.
Posted by: deji at December 13, 2007 01:53 AMgoogle requires qualifications (eg B.CS. or B.Eng.Sp) for the managerial positions as well as experience. This is not required for careers with less responsibility (and less salary).
Posted by: Kieran at April 18, 2008 10:31 PM