JCert Is Dead

Ian Mitchell writes "According to jCert's web site the initiative has finally expired. For several years jCert promoted the concept of 'certify once, recognized everywhere,' describing itself as 'a consortium of Java-based enterprise-development software vendors and other interested organizations that work together to define a single training and certification path for employers and individuals.' It once included such heavyweights as IBM, Oracle, Sun Microsystems, BEA Systems, Hewlett-Packard, Sybase and iPlanet. However the core jCert members gradually left to pursue their own certification strategies, and IBM - the last remaining member with a J2EE platform - withdrew its certification roles on January 1st."

Comments

Does certification actually matter?

[heinousjay]

Does anyone worry about getting certified anymore? I've never known a certified anyone that was worth their weight in dead cock-a-roaches.

Re:Does certification actually matter?

[AJWM]

And with todays surplus of people wanting tech job every little bit that gives you a chance to get an interview helps

Exactly right. I'm a software developer, but in the course of all my Unix development experience I've also had to administer a lot of Unix boxes (just about every flavor). I've also maintained a couple of small networks. So after being unemployed as a developer for over a year, I brushed up on Solaris specifics (I have an ancient Sparc box doing server duty in the basement, and a Solaris X86 box beside my main Linux SMP box under my desk), got my Sun Cert for Solaris System Administrator, and am currently employed on contract to IBM as a Solaris sys admin (yes, IBM and Solaris -- managed services at a customer site, over 300 Sun boxes from Netras to SunFires plus other assorted Unix and Linux flavors).

(The pay isn't quite up to software engineer pay, but it beats working at Best Buy. ;-)

Despite rewriting my resume with a heavy slant to my actual admin experience, I don't know that it would have been looked at without the cert. Not that Sparcstation and X86 experience helps much when you open up the cabinet doors on an SF 15000...

Re: Specialize vs. Diversify

[chooks]

Does anyone worry about getting certified anymore?

As I think most people would agree, the certs themselves don't actually measure how good you are. It just says you could pass a test. But it is part of the Hiring Game(TM).

A bigger question I think is how far on the certification trail do you go? For example, having been certified as a java programmer, do you do you keep getting higher level certs (developer, web component, architect, etc...) or not?

I think that the answer to this depends to a large degree on the job market you are targeting. For example, in my local (soon-to-be-Java-glutted-due-to-offshoring) market, eschewing increased specialization (with more in depth certs) in favor of diversification (learning new languages/basic certs) is the strategy that I am taking. I'm curious what other people think though.