I am interested in advancing in .NET MVC, I started looking for certificates that I can take to empower my knowledge and skills, I came across several including Microsoft Certifications and I wanted to discuss with you all the following:
What are your believes on I.T. certificates?
Do you think that taking certificate would help in a career advancement?
Would they really open up new opportunities?
Are they worth the time, effort and money?
What kind of certificates would you recommend?
Latest comments (20)
Hey Sean!
Thank you so much for pointing this out, I really appreciate it.
I am a girl myself yet using phrases like "Hey guys" or "I have a question for you guys" comes to me and most people subconsciously, and we have to be more aware of it :)
P.S. I edited my post
Totally fine! It's a small experiment I'm trying. I appreciate you being so receptive to it! Thanks a lot.
I hold several - 19 or so. None of which I got by choice. My degree is from an online university, and their curriculum uses certificates heavily. One of them I was asked to be certified by my employer.
Here’s my take:
Certs can help get you a job in IT, but aren’t very useful in development.
The only thing the CIW has updated in their certification materials is the copyright date. The certs specifically mentioned Adobe flash as the gold standard, html tables for layout, and Netscape Navigator. Shudder.
I should note my university removed the CIW completely from their curriculum since I left.
The A+ family of certs can help get a entry level position in support or helpdesk, but don’t hold any weight in Dev.
What certs do show is your ability to follow through, as they are self paced study.
Despite all my rage, I am employed because of those certs. When I had about 12 of them, I applied for a job in tech support with the stated goal in the interview to become a developer. My certs and my moxie landed that job, was promoted a year after that, and in September will celebrate my third year as a dev.
And because I did them, when the business needed someone certified by a business partner, I was selected because studying for cert exams was my jam in college, so they do open opportunities.
If having certificates motivates you, knowledge is never too much.
As everything depends on our market, there are companies that value them, and others do not.
But don't forgot that every company values what do you know.
If do you think is important, go for it!
I wouldn't go for a certificate. To me they are just a way for the guys that came up with the certification to make money, specially the Agile related ones.
I would rather focus on courses if you want to learn something new. To this day I haven't come across a job posting where a specific certification is a requirement to apply. (I've seen far more requiring a Master's degree).
If you want to advance your career in a more academic way, I would suggest to get a degree in CS, specially if you don't have one. Some people consider them a waste of time, but I think there are basic, abstract, and important concepts that you need to learn in order to be a really good developer. These topics will never be covered by just developing web apps.
Certification in general is good as "filler" on a resume as a substitute for experience, and might help get you past the initial screening process.
Certification is not a good substitute for actual experience. So if you are deciding between taking an entry level job in your field (gaining experience) and holding off on a job and focusing on collecting some certifications instead, take the job. Every time.
If you're stuck in an entry level job and your employer is willing to pay for certifications as some kind of ersatz job advancement -- take advantage of it. You might learn something, and it can't hurt.
If you want to transition from one job (say helpdesk) to another (say networking, or security) then pursuing a certification on your own time is a good indicator to your current or future employer that you have an interest and might be a good hire in the different role.
If you're deciding between a 4-year degree and some kind of sequence of advanced certifications -- do the degree. A bachelors degree, even in an unrelated field, carries far more weight with HR departments than a bunch of obscure IT certifications.
Often this is a chicken-and-egg problem -- you can't get a job without experience, and you can't get experience without a job. Sometimes certification can help get over this hurdle.
If you are mid-career and already employed at or near the top of your range, certification is unlikely to be a gateway to advancing your career. However, pursuing personal interests and "having something to show for it" might be worth it. Especially if your employer will fund it...
If you have significant experience with a unique system -- For example, a specific medical record system or manufacturing control system -- getting certified by that vendor in that product may open doors for future contract work. Note that this would not apply to horizontal certifications like Microsoft or Cisco -- while those certifications have their own uses, they are generally too broad. I am talking about the company who needs an expert with XYZ system to keep on retainer -- these people can command a comfortable hourly rate.
Finally, if you work for, or hope to work for, one of the consultancies that hire you out for short term contracts -- one where they have to sell you over and over again to potential clients -- then having an exhaustive list of certifications might be helpful or even required.
I.T. certificates only benefits certification centers and certificate authorities. If you don't have any dev experience whatsoever it might help you to show your employer that you have a potential. Otherwise it dosn't really worth.
I have a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science & Engineering Technology - I went to college to get the paper so that I would be seen as belonging in the field. But, having that piece of paper isn't necessary nowadays. With the growth in coding bootcamps (and yes, there are legitimate ones!) and other alternative learning sources, it's easier to get into the field by showing what you can do - create a GitHub repo with samples to show your capabilities as you learn.
The easiest way to determine the value of a given certification:
Some certifications do open up new opportunities like Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) has more value then Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH). CISSP is definitely worth the time when you paired with a genuine interest to excel in the InfoSec field, but that is in part due to 0% unemployment in the CyberSecurity.
There's no one answer fits all. Some certificates provide value to you but not as much to your resume. That doesn't mean they can't get you a job. You could ace an interview with the knowledge you learned in such a course.
Soft Skills: The Software Developer's Life Manual has a good section on creating a learning plan that may contain the best advice. Plan what you want to learn and how that will further your goals. Don't chase certificates because of their token value unless they further your learning plan and career goals.
Personally I do not believe that the certification part is important. What's more important is the knowledge behind the certificates. Certifications such as LPIC-1 and 2(linux) cover subjects you otherwise may have skipped. If you only 'google' the necessary information, you might miss the essentials. Especially in startup environments this can be potentially dangerous(we optimized product X for speed, but forgot all about maintainability/security is something that can happen then).
Of course LPIC is networking/server management and not programming, but I guess it works the same for programming ;)
The only certifications that immediately come to mind that may increase market value are Cisco certifications. That's for computer networking rather than software dev. Otherwise I don't put much stock in certs.
Another in the corporate IT world would be certification in one of the major CRM or ERP applications like SalesForce, Oracle NetSuite or SAP. These aren't technically programming either but certification can lead to commanding big money for those who are willing to travel frequently and have a way of convincing clients to hand over a lot of cash.