on certification

on certificiation : EasyCoded

on certificiation : EasyCoded — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 16:41:13 GMT

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Formalized Apprenticeship

DavidBH — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 20:46:30 GMT

I totaly agree that a certification doesn't mean squat if all you have to do is sit through a class and take a test.

The question is why aren't there more Apprenticeship programs? Laziness (we want our piece of paper now)?

re: on certificiation

lnuanez — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 23:22:41 GMT

Some good points are made. However, any test or qa manager that would hire someone based purely on their ability to obtain a certification is probably not even bright enough to pass said certification class. A certification shows that someone sees the value of testing. It isn't an 'anyone can do it' type of activity. Does that mean that they can do it? No. No more than getting a drivers license makes someone a good driver. I agree that certification is a term that is misapplied in several areas including testing. But if by obtaining it you can cause your resume to stand out and can show your testing acumen in an interview then it has shown value. Some testers aren't James Whittaker and have to fight and claw for a job interview. So any little advantage can help. I don't believe someone should be penalized for having a certification.

re: on certificiation

Philk — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 00:04:37 GMT

The situation can get farcical - when I was trying to get a job as a tester I struggled as my resume lacked the magical letters 'ISEB' - until a friendly recruiter advised me to put a phrase like "studying for the ISEB exam" on it

( and James, maybe you should use a spell checker on your blogs, what is 'certificiation' ? )

re: on certificiation

oremuna — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 10:28:48 GMT

There are always shortcuts for getting passed in exam. That is even true for dev certification, admin certification and test certification too. Looking at certification as starting point of learning (or some mid point) but not the end makes more sense for somebody looking at a serious career in test with less to show in resume but have lot of interest, passion in testing.

At one point you are correct recruiters not to be blinded by just some CAPS letters in resume :) whether it is testing or plumbing! But getting certified is not completely useless, there is some learning it it. Do we need advanced certified tester :)

re: on certificiation

Paul Darby — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:33:00 GMT

Certification is not the key to being able to do the job, but much of the time it is the key to getting the interview. But isn't that really the main thing in most education? It gives you the tools enough to get your foot in the door at which point you start to learn to do things properly. School gives you the tools to get your foot in the door of higher education, the higher education gives you the tools to get your foot in the door of a specific proffession (in theory), but doing the job for real is where you learn to really do the job.

re: on certificiation

brennang — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 15:44:27 GMT

A really clever friend of mine told me to do the certifications because the prep work (which involved reading books of note) would help fill in blanks in my knowledge. He was right, I have done many MS exams and in each one I learnt valuable things about the tools of my trade that I probably wouldn't have done had I not prepared for the exam.

re: on certificiation

strazzerj — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 15:48:52 GMT

"I don’t think these certifications are really certifications at all. It’s just training."

For most of the certifications, it's not even training. It's just passing an exam.

Certification in the US hasn't seemed to amount to much with regard to job requirements. A while back I did a quick check of some job sites to see if anyone was requiring certification of their candidates. Sort answer - basically none. See http://www.sqablogs.com/jstrazzere/985/Software+QA+Certifications+-+An+Aid+To+Gaining+Employment%3F.html for more details.

Perhaps in other parts of the world tester certification is meaningful. As far as I can tell, here in the US it isn't.

re: on certificiation

Paul Darby — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 16:10:32 GMT

In the UK, ISEB in particular is looked for these days.

re: on certification

James Whittaker — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 18:39:35 GMT

Wow. It seems that like it or not, certification is a very hot topic. Clearly it is here to stay.

The next discussion topic: how can we _make_ it valuable?

re: on certification

JeffreyFredrick — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 00:29:14 GMT

Of course certifications for Scrum masters is an ENTIRELY different story... ;)