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Computer
Certifications... The NEWER Funny Money!
William Nett
 I've been balking at
computer certifications for the last few years now, and more importantly
"Certification Schools." Seems my crystal ball wasn't wrong. This
week the Associated Press is reporting that these often grossly expensive
cert mills are closing up shop by the score... and only about a quarter of
the closing schools are giving notice to students.
We've all seen these
ridiculous ads on television claiming $40K - $60K a year jobs for graduates,
and that the need for certified personnel is booming... in reality, the
schools are rather imploding, just like all the dotbombs of the 90s. And the
jobs that these grads are getting? Mostly, entry level helpdesk... $35K a
year if they are lucky.
Some feel that the reason
for certifications becoming so worthless is that they are not regulated well
enough, consider this:
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1. Frugal certification
seekers can still pay a paltry fifty bucks to Test King, and get the
answers for each of MicroSoft's certification tests, which have no
'hands-on" examination requirements.
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2. Most of the
"Certification Schools" have absolutely no accreditation with
any US Department of Education accrediting agencies, yet continue to
charge University prices upwards of five thousand dollars for
enrollment.
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3. About a fifth of
Michigan's 100 computer schools closed in 2002, as did 10 of the 59
schools in Texas.
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4. Recently, eight year
old Mridul Seth in Bangalore, India was awarded an MCSE certification...
oh boy, here come the overseas Tech-Sweat-Shops. How do you
say,"Developers, developers, developers" in Hindu?
Some of the common
complaints from Cert-Mill students include:
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1. "They went
through instructors like water, We always got apologies."
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2. "We spent one
week learning how to install Red Hat, and four weeks learning how to
interview."
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3. "I'm paying $XXX.XX
a month for classes that I didn't get to take, because my school went
bankrupt."
And what of employers?
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1. "Several
bachelor's and master's degrees work for me, as well as several
non-degree people with strong skills, but as far as I know, no
"certificates", which is the way I like it. - CIO
[Confidential]"
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2.
"Certification/education gets you an entry-level job with an
entry-level salary. To advance past that, you need experience and
accomplishments." - Director of Network Operations [Confidential]
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3. "Certifications
are difficult to evaluate, do I reject a candidate who gets six
certifications in six months for attending a cert camp? Or do I reject
the candidate who gets two certifications a year because he/she might be
too slow? Experience and or College gets my interviews. Show me the
bullets and back them up." -
CTO [Confidential]
So, boys and girls... just
as I thought, Cert-Mills are going the way of the Dodo bird. A good idea
with great intentions, but littered with money making expectations, overly
simplified curriculums, and zero accountability. Now to get back to my SuSE
updates... go away, there's nothing more to see here.
William
Nett
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