I believe as someone who did the original front end certificate you should consider the following few items:
The vast majority of employers won't look at the FCC curriculum. The vast majority of the time employers ask for a degree in any field is because they don't have time or inclination to discern whether a candidate is capable or not and so they jack up the requirements to many multiples higher than is needed to reduce this burden. There is no HR system that substantially impacts this problem. So you and I are always going to have to find ways to give them overt and obvious proof they should consider us.
All paper is based on reputation. No rational person should actually believe that Stanford or Harvard has a lock on the best education. Their reputation merely allows them to recruit the best candidates and these candidates are inherently more skilled and talented than most, which means they will succeed at a higher rate than all others. This applies to FCC. If thousands continue to graduate and go into the workforce and deliver good results then the value of your paper will rise. Like any brand really. So talk it up as much as you can and whenever you can, as it's in your benefit to market it.
I hate to say it, but I don't think the new FCC curriculum is nearly as challenging as it once was, nor is it as self limiting. Don't get me wrong as you said the more put in the more you get out, but by breaking it down as they've done they've made it more accessible, which waters down the graduating pool. With less determination and grit will come lower quality graduates. It's sad, but likely to be true. I'm basing this on my background as a meeting professional who has to understand human behavior to an extent. I would hope I'm wrong about point #3 though.
I kind of agree with your third point. I've been using FCC on and off for about 3 years now, and I 100% agree that the previous Front End, Back End and Data Viz certifications are a lot more difficult. They required a lot more projects and much more time.
However, while the new 6 certificates are somewhat easier to obtain, I don't think it's causing that many "lower quality" people to graduate. I follow the freeCodeCamp twitter account and the #100DaysOfCode hashtag and often see people tweeting their certificates. Most of the certificates that are posted are the Responsive Design, and less often the JavaScript Algorithms and Data Structures, and rarely the Front End Libraries. So I think it just made it easier for people to start learning and get that first certificate, but there still remains the self-motivation and determination that a lot of people can't find.
Thank you for sharing your observation on this matter, because I did worry very much about the credibility of the curriculum after the change.
Side point:
In my heart of hearts I do wish they'd bring back the certificate for the front-end; maybe once you have those three certificates you get one 'super' one that declares you front end capable... Why? Because it would then go on supporting my previous efforts.
If FCC is successful in the marketplace, then these new certs will be understood and it'll obfuscate the value of my very. Then I'll likely have to explain and justify it, because no one will understand it. Bringing it back in some form would allow for some form of continuity. Thoughts?
I don't think they'll bring back the old certificates. I read some news a few weeks ago that they'll start working on a new version of the curriculum. The new curriculum will try to group certain challenges (like CSS for example) into a series of steps so that the user creates a small app by the end. This is supposed to help students transition from the challenges mentality where they just do what they're told to understanding how to structure and create their own projects from scratch.
But you can still get the old certificates! When you go to Settings, you can see each project required for the legacy certificates and submit them to earn the Back End, Front End, or Data Viz.
I've never been asked about the significance of the certificates in an interview but I personally care more about having the projects in my portfolio rather than the certificate itself.
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I believe as someone who did the original front end certificate you should consider the following few items:
The vast majority of employers won't look at the FCC curriculum. The vast majority of the time employers ask for a degree in any field is because they don't have time or inclination to discern whether a candidate is capable or not and so they jack up the requirements to many multiples higher than is needed to reduce this burden. There is no HR system that substantially impacts this problem. So you and I are always going to have to find ways to give them overt and obvious proof they should consider us.
All paper is based on reputation. No rational person should actually believe that Stanford or Harvard has a lock on the best education. Their reputation merely allows them to recruit the best candidates and these candidates are inherently more skilled and talented than most, which means they will succeed at a higher rate than all others. This applies to FCC. If thousands continue to graduate and go into the workforce and deliver good results then the value of your paper will rise. Like any brand really. So talk it up as much as you can and whenever you can, as it's in your benefit to market it.
I hate to say it, but I don't think the new FCC curriculum is nearly as challenging as it once was, nor is it as self limiting. Don't get me wrong as you said the more put in the more you get out, but by breaking it down as they've done they've made it more accessible, which waters down the graduating pool. With less determination and grit will come lower quality graduates. It's sad, but likely to be true. I'm basing this on my background as a meeting professional who has to understand human behavior to an extent. I would hope I'm wrong about point #3 though.
I kind of agree with your third point. I've been using FCC on and off for about 3 years now, and I 100% agree that the previous Front End, Back End and Data Viz certifications are a lot more difficult. They required a lot more projects and much more time.
However, while the new 6 certificates are somewhat easier to obtain, I don't think it's causing that many "lower quality" people to graduate. I follow the freeCodeCamp twitter account and the #100DaysOfCode hashtag and often see people tweeting their certificates. Most of the certificates that are posted are the Responsive Design, and less often the JavaScript Algorithms and Data Structures, and rarely the Front End Libraries. So I think it just made it easier for people to start learning and get that first certificate, but there still remains the self-motivation and determination that a lot of people can't find.
Thank you for sharing your observation on this matter, because I did worry very much about the credibility of the curriculum after the change.
Side point:
In my heart of hearts I do wish they'd bring back the certificate for the front-end; maybe once you have those three certificates you get one 'super' one that declares you front end capable... Why? Because it would then go on supporting my previous efforts.
If FCC is successful in the marketplace, then these new certs will be understood and it'll obfuscate the value of my very. Then I'll likely have to explain and justify it, because no one will understand it. Bringing it back in some form would allow for some form of continuity. Thoughts?
I don't think they'll bring back the old certificates. I read some news a few weeks ago that they'll start working on a new version of the curriculum. The new curriculum will try to group certain challenges (like CSS for example) into a series of steps so that the user creates a small app by the end. This is supposed to help students transition from the challenges mentality where they just do what they're told to understanding how to structure and create their own projects from scratch.
But you can still get the old certificates! When you go to Settings, you can see each project required for the legacy certificates and submit them to earn the Back End, Front End, or Data Viz.
I've never been asked about the significance of the certificates in an interview but I personally care more about having the projects in my portfolio rather than the certificate itself.