Certificates, certificates!
Some time ago, a very well-known person jumped like crazy on a stage and shouted “developers, developers!”. I try to believe there was a hidden message in this, but I still cannot find it. Maybe because I am not a developer ;)
Anyway, Steve Balmer’s performance is the base for this article and its title.
I already went to a “mental war” against those who collect certificates like magnets from different places. And believe me, I am a collector as well, I have more than 5000 unique chocolate wrappers, so I know what I am saying :)
Today certifications have been losing value. They are not necessarily achieved to prove somebody’s knowledge, but just to add them to a collection.
I heard crazy things, like someone has a goal to pass certification exams once per month. Another passed all professional exams regarding AWS and now… went for associate and even… foundations… Why??? if I may ask… Others are setting cert badges like puzzles. And the most amusing is to see the whole list of certificates just under their names (or even as a part of their names!) on LinkedIn. Seeing this, the picture below strikes my mind immediately.
In my humble opinion, IT certificate should validate not only your ability to learn what is the proper answer, but actually validate your expertise. Of course, it is important how fast you can learn. It means you are able to gather more knowledge in shorter time. But still, you cannot learn expertise. This is something that you build dealing with real cases. Real issues. And mainly during real disasters.
Look at this picture:
What is your first thought about those soldiers / generals (or whoever those guys are)? Yeah, this is a meme. But if those guys can be defeated by giant magnets (joke), the truth is, many of those “certificates collectors” can be defeated by only one question during interview. By a real case or problem.
Don’t get me wrong. I really appreciate people who are able to pass many exams. Those exams are hard. So, being prepared to pass them fairly is a long, hard path. I passed AWS DevOps Professional exam, I know what I am saying :) The truth is, many, too many people use dumps and shortcuts.
That is why I am saying that certificates have been losing value. And people who are really good are not that visible.
