Object Mentor Blog: Certification: Don't Waste Your Time!

Certification: Don't Waste Your Time!

Uncle Bob — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 15:11:00 -0500

As I have said before, there’s nothing particularly wrong with the current mania for certification. If you want to be certified at the cost of a 2-day course, by all means get certified. If you want to certify people for attending your 2-day course, by all means hold the course and hand out the certificates. It’s all good. Make money! Be fruitful and multiply!

But be careful not to waste your time.

How could certification be a waste of time? That depends on your motive.

If you are getting certified in order to impress someone, like a hiring manager, or a recruiter, or your peers, you are wasting your time. Nobody worth impressing is going to find this certification impressive. Indeed, the people you really want to impress are likely to find it a bit mundane.
If you are getting certified in order to get hired, you are wasting your time. Nobody is going to hire you simply because of that “C”, and nobody worth working for is going to require that “C”.
If you have decided to hire only certified people, you are wasting your time. The population of certified people is not richer in talent, skill, or knowledge. Indeed, it may be poorer. Remember, those who have talent don’t need certification as much as those who don’t.

What part of certification is not a waste of time?

The primary benefit you are getting is the instruction; but be careful: There are lots of pretty mediocre instructors out there. Some of the instructors teach pretty good courses, but others are just hoping that all you care about is the certification.
So do a little research and find the best instructors. You may, in fact, find that some of the best instructors and courses do not offer certification. That shouldn’t stop you from considering them.

But wait, aren’t the instructors certified as trainers?

Sure. They paid the money and took the course to become a certified trainer.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean that they:
- are a good instructor.
- know what they are teaching.
- have done what they are teaching.
- are qualified to teach you.

OK, but isn’t there some benefit to the certification itself?

Sure. A nice piece of paper.

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Mon, 12 Jul 2010 02:06:47 -0500

The primary benefit you are getting is the instruction; but be careful: There are lots of pretty mediocre instructors out there. Some of the instructors teach pretty good courses, but others are just hoping that all you care about is the certification.

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Wed, 07 Jul 2010 12:40:42 -0500

Same argument (for better or worse) can be applied to college credentials.

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Thu, 24 Jun 2010 04:06:58 -0500

important. There are some question bank on net for java certification people read those and getting above 90%

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"Certification: Don't Waste Your Time!" by Robert

Thu, 03 Jun 2010 11:00:03 -0500

What a great topic!?

I recently obtained my PMP certification at the request and via funding of my current employer. As a PC technician early in my career and then years of Project Management work, I have always said that certifications were a waste. I had worked with technicians that could open the registry or PM’s that couldn’t manage a hot dog stand. Those experiences, along with the fact that some of my greatest mentors didn’t have their certifications either didn’t have me rushing to the next boot camp.

However, since taking a week long class in preparation for PMI’s exam, I did learn a great deal of information that I am leveraging on projects today, so I am very grateful to my employer. I also feel certification like the PMP that require course work and documented experience (2500 hrs) to supplement the exam provide. In my case, I only have an Associates Degree and needed 7500hrs of documented PM experience. These requirements help round out real-life experience with the theory learned in class settings to provide a relatively balanced candidate for potential recruiters.

As for the certifications as a screening tool…in today’s age of internet job postings and 100’s of resumes per job opportunity they need something to get the candidate to a manageable number to move into the interview stage. I have been left off many lists because I don’t have my BA Degree…what a physical education elective has to do with Project Management is beyond me, but they need something. (I am going to finish my degree this fall)

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"Certification: Don't Waste Your Time!" by Dr. Edward Wallington

Sun, 23 May 2010 05:30:58 -0500

Dear All,

A lot of interesting and lively debate – always the sign of a pertinent topic, and certification certainly is currently!

There are many posts and comments on this thread that I agree with. In particular re: the motivation for certification – in my view the route to certification is one that a person undertakes due to their interest in the topic and desire to learn in a structured and expandable way (with many certifications being hierarchical, e.g. APM, PRINCE2, PMI etc). This allows the individual to learn the basics, apply in the real world (i.e. not just theory) and then progress to the next stage in the learning process. I also agree that self-taught, rounded reading is essential – another demonstration that the learner is interested and passionate about their subject, and is willing to spend time improving their range of skills and understanding.

I also agree with comments re: gatekeepers to job vacancies etc, and the requirement to tick the box against job evaluation criteria – this is a fact of the modern world, we need to have a level of certification to satisfy recruiters. I think it also demonstrates to recruiters that the individual has taken the effort to undertake learning in a relevant field.

In my view we require certification, but not as just a piece of paper, but as a evidence based body of learning and knowledge, supported by practical experience.

Best regards,

Ed Wallington

"Certification: Don't Waste Your Time!" by Miguel Insaurralde

Thu, 20 May 2010 10:29:18 -0500

I agree with most of the content.

Normally being ‘certified’ by taking an exam does not mean you are a talented skillful guy but at least guarantees a basic background.

Getting certification just by attending 2-days course not even provide a minimum ground.

Maybe some kind of well-oriented exam or proven experience with an presentation of paper/real case or something like that may contribute to make people study, research, investigate and understand better the fundamentals of Agile. And could be also complemented with a kind of Agility Assessment of the companies.

For sure there will be many problems to implement those things in an efficient manner, avoiding side-effects like certification/assessment-oriented culture instead of excellence-culture

But anyway, regardless those well-known issues, I think it could contribute for a solid spread of Agility and, in the end, to the software industry. Otherwise we will see many ad-hoc ‘agilities’ out there misleading companies and frustrating talented colleagues.

Is it too crazy? Could we think in a new worldwide efficient organism able to survive bureaucracy and administrivia and provide real help to work better, to be proud of the way we work? I mean: providing formal agility assessments and agile certifications (as mentioned above)..

Agile regards :-)