Musings on Certification

One of the terrible things about being an IT professional is the constant certification and recertification. I have my share certifications. I have recently embarked on my recertification effort for SharePoint 2013 and O365. Just as I start the recertification path, the next version of SharePoint is going to be released and I will need to start it all over again. In addition to the two paths – developer and administrator, this year, I must complete the 60 PDUs to maintain my PMP credential. When I interview for jobs, I am asked if I am a certified ScrumMaster or have Agile certification. An employer can always add a certification to the job description and I find myself a nickel short. I have Security +, but I do not have CISSP. I know security would be good to have these days. COMPTIA has a Security certification as well. I have seen positions asking for Certified Knowledge Management (CKM). Microsoft Certified Trainer.  What about CISCO network certifications, virtualization, and storage area network (SAN) engineer.  Do you go out and take that certification? I want to know the Return on Investment (ROI) for a certification. I have concluded that it is not a simple number crunch that a certification leads to x amount of more money. It is usually trivia on a resume that may or may not be considered. I am surprised by how many people get positions and do not have certifications. It is not “I have two equally qualified candidates and one has certification, the certified candidate wins.” In the job interview process, there are so many variables and rational decision-making is not designed into the selection process. I see lots of determinations on candidates without considering certification at all, it just goes to show the weight of the credential. It may be used as a filter in the overwhelming barrage of resumes in the in-take process by recruiters and recruiting firms, but if that is your path into a company, you are already at a disadvantage. So, if employers value certification, how come I have never seen it in my annual pay raise. I have put the goal in every one of my annual goals and I have always achieved it by passing 3-4 exams when the goal was 1. One year, I passed 12 exams. It is clearly measurable – I get the certification or I don’t. I am still waiting on that raise. Since pay raises are relative, I can only guess that there are a lot of people with much more certifications than myself. I pay for my certifications. It is an out-of-pocket expense. I have used employer paid training and certification funds in the past and when I leave, they will deduct what they paid for certification when I leave. The last thing I need is when I leave a company, they are taking money back. That is when I need all the money I can get. So, I have spent $2,000 this year on certification and plan on spending the equivalent amount through the rest of the year. It is not just the cost of the exam, but the time spent preparing for the exam. I know I am not very efficient in my preparation. My approach for certification is to pass the certification and focus on mastering competence and skills and a later date. The studying for the examination and studying to master a skill or competency are separate activities in my mind. I try to go back after or before taking an exam to gain competence in the topic area. I think skills and competence are far more valuable than certification. There was a time when certification was the ticket in IT to hot job. I know the boom days are long past (20 or 30 years past) , but as a creature of habit, I still spend weekend after weekend studying for exam. Can someone help me off this treadmill?