Re: ruby certification

On 12/9/07, Jim Clark <diegoslice@xxxxxxxxx> 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@xxxxxxxxx * http://www.halostatue.ca/
* austin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx * http://www.halostatue.ca/feed/
* austin@xxxxxxxxxxx

.

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