From: Austin Ziegler Date: 2007-12-10T00:36:18+09:00 Subject: Re: ruby certification On 12/9/07, Jim Clark wrote: > I think a cert like any degree is a talking point. I have a B.S. in > Computer Systems Engineering and an M.S. in Computer Science and will > add my UW certificate experience to my resume because it opens a line of > conversation with the interviewer. If I were a job seeker, I would want > them to know what I've done and for them to ask questions about my > experience. If I am applying for a Ruby programmer position, why would I > want to shoot myself in the foot by not listing including my UW Ruby > certificate? I want the HR person to say, "Check this resume out." > because they are the ones screening resumes and are looking for degrees, > certs, and other "keyword" matches. This gets me in the door. Now any > smart company will perform due diligence with a true technical interview > that will assess knowledge, abilities, personality, fit and anything > else relevant. If they don't do their due diligence and hire someone not > really qualified, well then they get what they deserve. Let me try to state this a different way. We recently had someone who interviewed where I work and he claimed to be (among other things) a Ruby expert. Since I *am* a Ruby expert, I was involved in the interviews with this guy. (We've since hired him, because he checked out.) But you know the very first thing that I did? I Googled him. I was able to find examples of code that he'd written (not Ruby, but other languages). I went into the interview armed with knowledge about him far better than any certificate would provide. The 90 hours of classroom work that you're spending for a certificate could be spent working on an open source project and contributing code that would help others and help you forge something even more valuable than a certificate: a reputation. And that is something that will matter to me when I'm involved in hiring far more than any certificate ever will. I think your UW cert will be better than most crap certs out there, based on what you've described, but I still don't think it's the best use of your time or money, compared to *shipping* open source projects. -austin -- Austin Ziegler * halostatue@gmail.com * http://www.halostatue.ca/ * austin@halostatue.ca * http://www.halostatue.ca/feed/ * austin@zieglers.ca