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The key to whether those certifications offer any value is in setting appropriate expectations. First of all don’t ask software developers. Software has few ce

The key to whether those certifications offer any value is in setting appropriate expectations. First of all don’t ask software developers. Software has few certifications of which none are widely recognized or appreciated. This is more a factor of the unstructured nature of software employment than anything else. For software developers who have never performed another line of work there is only angst and antipathy towards any form of credentials. Generally, at least according to all commentary on HN and developers I have spoken with online, a computer science bachelors degree is super extremely important, serves as both a certification and license to operate, and nothing else matters as far as any credentials. The opinion is a bit extreme but quite common and a reflection of the distrust of credentials in the industry. As for other more established areas of technology certifications hold higher credibility. In networking the Cisco certs are widely respected. The higher the cert the more respect it carries with the CCIE having a sort of extreme reverence. In security the certs are generally used to qualify entry level employment and/or management. As for actual real world value certifications can serve as a reflection of experience. If you have to intensely cram for a certification and still only barely pass you are probably not as experienced as you might think. On the other hand if you can pass with ease drawing from professional experiences you are likely well qualified to operate.

jstx1 5y ago
> Generally, at least according to all commentary on HN and developers I have spoken with online, a computer science bachelors degree is super extremely important, serves as both a certification and license to operate, and nothing else matters as far as credentials. This is a much more contested topic than you're suggesting.
gbin 5y ago
From my experience, certs are negatively corelate with talent unfortunately. If this is a couple MOOCs between 2 jobs on general subjects like ML, it just signals some curiosity which is good. Buy if this is a plethora of 3 to 5 letter certs right after the name it becomes rare that the person understand any first principle behind the subjects. It probably comes from the fact that a cert is usually for a tool or something specific: for example, I want to hire someone that understands relational databases but not really someone that only knows every proprietary keyword for database X.
- austincheney 5y ago
  > From my experience, certs are negatively corelate with talent unfortunately. After having worked in multiple different career fields this line of thinking appears limited to software development. Ironically many junior software developers simultaneously express this and yet push their education as a form of formal certification. > It probably comes from the fact that a cert is usually for a tool or something specific Again, I have repeatedly seen software developers express this as well. Perhaps its assumptions upon things not know, such as an informal argument from ignorance.

jstx1 5y ago

> Generally, at least according to all commentary on HN and developers I have spoken with online, a computer science bachelors degree is super extremely important, serves as both a certification and license to operate, and nothing else matters as far as credentials. This is a much more contested topic than you're suggesting.

gbin 5y ago

From my experience, certs are negatively corelate with talent unfortunately. If this is a couple MOOCs between 2 jobs on general subjects like ML, it just signals some curiosity which is good. Buy if this is a plethora of 3 to 5 letter certs right after the name it becomes rare that the person understand any first principle behind the subjects. It probably comes from the fact that a cert is usually for a tool or something specific: for example, I want to hire someone that understands relational databases but not really someone that only knows every proprietary keyword for database X.

austincheney 5y ago
> From my experience, certs are negatively corelate with talent unfortunately. After having worked in multiple different career fields this line of thinking appears limited to software development. Ironically many junior software developers simultaneously express this and yet push their education as a form of formal certification. > It probably comes from the fact that a cert is usually for a tool or something specific Again, I have repeatedly seen software developers express this as well. Perhaps its assumptions upon things not know, such as an informal argument from ignorance.