Very interesting article. I agree with you -- I was pursuing a degree in accounting in the 80's, and started programming in 1981 when my department bought a microcomputer with 16K RAM. I got hooked on software development and made it my career. I finished the accounting degree not because it had any value to my work, but because of the value perceived by employers in having a (any, even in a nonrelated field) degree.
I'm curious what you think about precisely targeted certifications, though. Many are not sufficiently expensive to be available only to the rich, and few require years of unpaid study to achieve. They do demonstrate an objective level of expertise. There are certainly many other factors to consider while evaluating a team member, but, all other things equal, and assuming the content is well chosen, do you think certifications have any value? (My position is that they do have some value, but only when tempered with consideration of other factors, and the realization that the lack of a certification does not necessarily mean less competence.)
Very interesting article. I agree with you -- I was pursuing a degree in accounting in the 80's, and started programming in 1981 when my department bought a microcomputer with 16K RAM. I got hooked on software development and made it my career. I finished the accounting degree not because it had any value to my work, but because of the value perceived by employers in having a (any, even in a nonrelated field) degree.
I'm curious what you think about precisely targeted certifications, though. Many are not sufficiently expensive to be available only to the rich, and few require years of unpaid study to achieve. They do demonstrate an objective level of expertise. There are certainly many other factors to consider while evaluating a team member, but, all other things equal, and assuming the content is well chosen, do you think certifications have any value? (My position is that they do have some value, but only when tempered with consideration of other factors, and the realization that the lack of a certification does not necessarily mean less competence.)
- Keith Bennett http://www.bbsinc.biz