3 ms·

Ok, the first part of your comment makes no sense to me. How do you lie your way into a certification? An interview I can understand, but don't you have to take

Ok, the first part of your comment makes no sense to me. How do you lie your way into a certification? An interview I can understand, but don't you have to take a test to get a cert? From the second paragraph down, you're absolutely right for non-software companies. They still don't have an understanding of how to build software development into their business model. They don't realize that the low barrier entry to building software does not mean it is a low-cost, low-risk endeavor, nor do they understand how to extract value from a completed software project. They go straight from "Bob the executive has a cool idea," to, "Let's hire 3 full-time devs."

vinceguidry 9y ago
I should have said cheated, he got a copy of the first part of the test and memorized it. The second part of it which requires actual coding he barely passed.
- risotto_groupon 9y ago
  1) The test itself is randomly generated from a huge set of master questions many of which are actually IN the study materials. Everyone studies "from a copy of the test". Its like saying you cheated at a spelling bee because you memorized the dictionary. 2) There are several parts to the exam but none of them involve an evaluation of how you write code, its all multiple choice. 3) The cert itself and studying for it doesn't prepare you for actually building a Magento site in any way. The Magento certification program is really just a way for businesses to get access to "leads" and get free advertising from Magento. Having more certs just helps a company look good. 4) If your buddy is experiencing a lot turnover my experience of the eCommerce industry and Magento shops specifically is that they are more inclined to put a heavy emphasis on "culture fit" and be high stress environments. They say, "If you see assholes everywhere, maybe you should look in mirror..." but it might just be your friend is experiencing the reality that eCommerce development is NOT the same environment as the Wordpress chop shops he may have started in.
Raphmedia 9y ago
You can get through a Magento certification by memorizing the answers that are all over the internet, http://magecert.com http://magecert.com ect.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
risotto_groupon 9y ago
The Magento Certification tests are so divorced from the skills and reality of developing a Magento site and the study materials are so, so, so bad that most organizations just send a couple of canaries to take the cert expecting them to fail, then based on the questions they saw the org will put together their own memorization based study materials and train other devs using their own internal docs. THIS IS INTENTIONAL on the part of Magento. They want a high fail rate. It ensures that only orgs with lots of money (who can afford a couple failures) will get a large number of certs and become official Magento partners, and since you pay for each test more failures means more money. They have carefully structured the cert so that about 1/2 the questions are actual general skills and useful knowledge for working with the framework and about 1/2 are rote memorization such as, "What is the EXACT class name and Method Name that does X?" where options are My_Basic_Class_Car::doThing() My_Basics_For_Class_Car::doThings() My_Class_For_Car::doThing() My_Class_for_Cars::doThings() You need like 75% to pass... so if you're really lucky you can guess your way through the memorization portion but 90% won't pass on their first try. If I were a hiring manager looking at a candidate with a Magento cert I could glean 1 of 2 things: 1) This person took the cert independently and cared enough to cheat or pay a lot of money to get it. 2) This person worked at an org with enough institutional knowledge of Magento and their payola process that they probably learned SOMETHING while they were there.
scardine 9y ago
Most certification programs can be gamed. Generally there is a simulator - if you play enough with it and memorize the questions you will nail 60% or more in the official test. Take the test a few times and luck will kick-in. Last year I worked with a certified LPIC-3 system administrator and deploying a trivial wordpress website at AWS took him 1 week. He was fired 1 month later. His CV is very impressive with lots of certification badges (I checked the codes of several badges and he is really certified).

vinceguidry 9y ago

I should have said cheated, he got a copy of the first part of the test and memorized it. The second part of it which requires actual coding he barely passed.

risotto_groupon 9y ago
1) The test itself is randomly generated from a huge set of master questions many of which are actually IN the study materials. Everyone studies "from a copy of the test". Its like saying you cheated at a spelling bee because you memorized the dictionary. 2) There are several parts to the exam but none of them involve an evaluation of how you write code, its all multiple choice. 3) The cert itself and studying for it doesn't prepare you for actually building a Magento site in any way. The Magento certification program is really just a way for businesses to get access to "leads" and get free advertising from Magento. Having more certs just helps a company look good. 4) If your buddy is experiencing a lot turnover my experience of the eCommerce industry and Magento shops specifically is that they are more inclined to put a heavy emphasis on "culture fit" and be high stress environments. They say, "If you see assholes everywhere, maybe you should look in mirror..." but it might just be your friend is experiencing the reality that eCommerce development is NOT the same environment as the Wordpress chop shops he may have started in.

Raphmedia 9y ago

You can get through a Magento certification by memorizing the answers that are all over the internet, http://magecert.com http://magecert.com ect.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

risotto_groupon 9y ago

The Magento Certification tests are so divorced from the skills and reality of developing a Magento site and the study materials are so, so, so bad that most organizations just send a couple of canaries to take the cert expecting them to fail, then based on the questions they saw the org will put together their own memorization based study materials and train other devs using their own internal docs. THIS IS INTENTIONAL on the part of Magento. They want a high fail rate. It ensures that only orgs with lots of money (who can afford a couple failures) will get a large number of certs and become official Magento partners, and since you pay for each test more failures means more money. They have carefully structured the cert so that about 1/2 the questions are actual general skills and useful knowledge for working with the framework and about 1/2 are rote memorization such as, "What is the EXACT class name and Method Name that does X?" where options are My_Basic_Class_Car::doThing() My_Basics_For_Class_Car::doThings() My_Class_For_Car::doThing() My_Class_for_Cars::doThings() You need like 75% to pass... so if you're really lucky you can guess your way through the memorization portion but 90% won't pass on their first try. If I were a hiring manager looking at a candidate with a Magento cert I could glean 1 of 2 things: 1) This person took the cert independently and cared enough to cheat or pay a lot of money to get it. 2) This person worked at an org with enough institutional knowledge of Magento and their payola process that they probably learned SOMETHING while they were there.

scardine 9y ago

Most certification programs can be gamed. Generally there is a simulator - if you play enough with it and memorize the questions you will nail 60% or more in the official test. Take the test a few times and luck will kick-in. Last year I worked with a certified LPIC-3 system administrator and deploying a trivial wordpress website at AWS took him 1 week. He was fired 1 month later. His CV is very impressive with lots of certification badges (I checked the codes of several badges and he is really certified).