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Why Certifications Are Necessary (Even If Aggravating To Earn)
Nerval's Lobster writes: Whether or not certifications have value is a back-and-forth argument that's been going on since before Novell launched its CNE program in the 1990s. Developer David Bolton recently incited some discussion of his own when he wrote an article for Dice in which he claimed that certifications aren't worth the time and money. But there's a lot of evidence that certifications can add as much as 16 percent to a tech professional's base pay; in addition a lot of tech companies use resume-screening software that weeds out any resumes that don't feature certain acronyms. There's also the argument that the cost, difficulty, and annoyance of earning a certification is actually the best reason to go through it, especially if you're looking for a job; it broadcasts that you're serious enough about the technology to invest a serious chunk of your life in it. But others might not agree with that assessment, arguing that all a certification proves is that you're good at taking tests, not necessarily knowing a technology inside and out.
Well, what the fuck did you expect to have happen when you hired a certified scuba diving instructor as a programmer? The guy knows how to use diving equipment and how to safely perform dives. He isn't a computer programming expert, and his certification doesn't claim that he is! You, as the hiring manager, need to make sure that the certification that the candidate has is relevant to the work at hand. The candidate and certification aren't to blame when you make dumbass hiring decisions. Maybe if you had some HR certifications you would've done a better job!
I think Nerval's Lobster doesn't have an editor account because he hasn't yet passed the certification process necessary to be hired as a /. editor.