I started my career not as a software developer but as a "devops" engineer and don't have a degree.
I found that studying for certs was incredibly helpful for me in the start. I learned how to be a Linux power user with the LPIC-1 and 2, I learned networking with the CCNA, did certifications for configuration management tools for stuff like Puppet, got my CKA, and my AWS SA.
On top of being a self taught programmer (I don't do anything impressive, my code is just throwing JSON from one side of a datacenter to the other) I feel that I am pretty good at my job. I'm comfortable working on a private cloud which has services scaled to millions of concurrent users.
I'll never get a FAANG job, but I still make good money and regularly get positive performance reviews and peer feedback at the jobs I do have.
So if you feel like getting a cert will plug a knowledge gap, please go ahead and get that cert. But don't get certs just to collect trophies to put on LinkedIn.
Also, if anyone can recommend a good alternative to the now defunct Linux Academy, I would totally purchase a subscription. A Cloud Guru ran that amazing resource into the ground and now just caters to cert chasers collecting trophies instead of actually going above and beyond to teach the fundamentals of a technology.
I found that studying for certs was incredibly helpful for me in the start. I learned how to be a Linux power user with the LPIC-1 and 2, I learned networking with the CCNA, did certifications for configuration management tools for stuff like Puppet, got my CKA, and my AWS SA.
On top of being a self taught programmer (I don't do anything impressive, my code is just throwing JSON from one side of a datacenter to the other) I feel that I am pretty good at my job. I'm comfortable working on a private cloud which has services scaled to millions of concurrent users.
I'll never get a FAANG job, but I still make good money and regularly get positive performance reviews and peer feedback at the jobs I do have.
So if you feel like getting a cert will plug a knowledge gap, please go ahead and get that cert. But don't get certs just to collect trophies to put on LinkedIn.
Also, if anyone can recommend a good alternative to the now defunct Linux Academy, I would totally purchase a subscription. A Cloud Guru ran that amazing resource into the ground and now just caters to cert chasers collecting trophies instead of actually going above and beyond to teach the fundamentals of a technology.