Certification
- 12th January 2006 | permanent link
- comments (3)
We all know that in the world of today you're nothing without propper credentials (or to a sad fact, high connections). To get ahead you have to distinguish yourself from others, and that's why I've started to look for ways to certify my knowledge of the technologies I use.
Since most of my current time is spent developing XHTML/CSS and PHP applications I've decided to start with PHP. From what I've gathered, Zend offers the leading PHP certification program. To attain the title Zend Certified Engineer (ZCE) you have to purchase a Zend PHP Certification Voucher and then pass the scheduled exam at one of many worldwide Pearson VUE testing centers.
Zend has also published a Certification Study Guide and a Certification Practice Test Book, wich sums up to a nice stack of money. The Certification Voucher costs $200 and the two books add up to $50. All this has made me wonder if taking the test is worth all the trouble and money.
This led me to this article over at Dev Shed, where David Fells shared his experience of attaing the aforementioned ZCE title. Here are some of the highlights:
I can’t help but wonder what the pass rate will be for this exam for two reasons:
- I do not think the material presents a challenge. The exam can easily be prepared for by memorization and a few cram sessions.
- I do not think the exam requires any real analytical ability.
Despite that, I think the exam does a good job of validating a semi-advanced skill level with the language and it validates syntactical knowledge (ad nauseam). I also believe that in a world where most technology job hiring is done by individuals who do not understand the technology, certifications are good regardless of the actual knowledge tested.
In all fairness, the Zend PHP exam lacks the maturity of Microsoft exams. For years MCSE exams were an absolute joke and required even less analytical thought than a UIL computer science exam, much less the Zend PHP exam. Given time, this test will become much more challenging and the benefits of being certified will become greater.
Well to be honest. I'm not quite sold on the whole ZCE idea. As of this writing the test still does not feature PHP5, so this could be a valid point not to take the test right now and put it of a bit longer. Also I haven't really gotten any anwsers to how respected this certificate is in the industry world. I'll have to think about it a bit more, but certification in my profession is obviously a must. What's your take on this?
Is knowing the correct order of an odd array/string functions really hands-on experience or craming for an exam? I tend to forget the correct orders but that's what the manual is for, wouldn't you say so?
But you know what, it's the same everywhere. Our universities do the same thing, so it's either live with it or move on. That's why I'm still about 90% sure I'm going to take the exam in the next few months or so.