Are Technology Certifications Necessary For Career Growth

Welcome to Building Better Developers, the Developer podcast where we work on getting better step by step professionally and personally. Let's get started. Hello and welcome back. We are continuing and we're actually sort of dovetailing from the last episode. We talked about deep versus wide and your skill set. In this episode, we're going to talk about certifications. Now certifications have been around for a while and don't worry, I will introduce myself in a second. Certifications have been around for a while and they have had varying values, but from a technology point of view, they have always had a value, like a monetary value to being certified. Now I am certifiably sane, not really, but hey, but I'm also Rob Broadhead, one of the founders of Developineur. On the other side is Michael, go ahead and introduce yourself. Hey everyone, my name is Michael Melasch, also a co-founder of Developineur and just as crazy as Rob is. He is not, no one is. Certifications. Now there are, if you go back, there have been, we'll call it like seasons or cycles or something like that where there are certain certifications that were huge in certain timeframes. If you go back to when I was sort of starting out, certification was just starting to become a big thing and back in the day it was about certifications. Initially it was Novell, they had all these certifications. CNA and a CNE and a CNXYZ and all this kind of stuff and it was literally a way to get better titles. There were things like, you could be a network engineer, but only if you had a certain certification in a lot of companies. And then it moved into Microsoft, got into the world and started doing, you could be a certified developer. So you were a certified MSP or MCP programmer, your Microsoft certified programmer, and then they had developers and DBAs and engineers and you just, it's grown. And then when Java came around, they do certifications. And so you can be a certified Java guy and you can see all of these languages and things and there are certifications around them. If you're in the security world, those are almost required certifications. If in the project manager world, they're almost required certifications to have there. Developer world is a little different, but you can be in a company, an organization or a niche where the certification really is critical or is help you take that next step. I want to talk about, when we talk about that broad and deep kind of approach, one, certification in my mind, certification does not mean you're necessarily deep. I have used, I think I even mentioned it in the book. I know I've mentioned in the past, I cranked out, I think I got 10 certifications in 10 weeks because I just got in the mindset. I was using the simulators and I would, this is where it's key. I would use those to learn the certification technology. And I went through and I did MC, Microsoft certified database administrator, engineer, programmer, developer, architect, and Java developer and Java Java programmer, Java developer, or whatever their first two tiers of that was. The reason I was able to crank through those things is one, because I had a job where they said, Hey, you're on that. There's this thing called the bench at the time as a consultant where you weren't actively billable, but they still kept you around. And so it was a perfect time to go learn something. And so bench very rarely exists anymore. If you can get that great. Because what it did is like said, Hey, we very helpful for our developer, our consultants to have certifications. So me and a couple of the other guys that were there, we got into this like certification frenzy where we were just going through and we were all learning at the same time. We were all pushing each other and things like that. With it though, going through these, the simulators, what was great is that we would go through, take a test, sort of like just to kick it off. Like, what do I know? Okay. Take the test. You fail at the front. Never know that much, but then go back through all of the answers and learn why the answers are what they are. Why is it? What are the ones that are, if it's multiple choice, why are those not the answer? And for the correct answer, why is that the answer with that? Sometimes depending on what you're dealing with, you will have programming projects with as well. What I loved about the Java certification is that they, when I did it, you had to build a Java app that was, it had a GUI front end. So you're using Swing, I think was the, I got to remember, but I think it was Swing was their UI. You had events. So you had to actually code events. Within that, you had to be able to have like listeners so you could tie the events to the UI. They had a database that was, you had to build your own database. You couldn't go use a template or something like that or JDBC. What you did is you had a binary structure like C-tree or B-tree, one of those kinds of things that you would shove all your stuff, you would serialize stuff into and you'd pull it back out up. And then you also had, I think a network connectivity of some sort that you had to build. So you're doing like bare metal stuff. Now that's all exists in libraries right now. And you probably can still do it all in the core, like POJOS and stuff like that. But it did get you deep. The deep-ish, the thing is because again, you built an application, you've used a lot of these tools. When you're going through a certification, it is at the very least going to help you get broad. So if you're thinking, I want to learn X, whatever it is, I want to learn more about React, then maybe what you want is go get a cert, like look for certifications to React and go pick your entry level React certified developer program or whatever their title is and go run through that process. You don't have to run. You can walk through that process, take a leisurely stroll and you're going to learn as you go. And it's going to help guide you, particularly if you're somebody that struggles with figuring out what application should I build to utilize this language. Now I've talked way too much right now, so I'm going to let you throw your 50 cents or more into that. So that's an interesting approach to the certification process. I had a bit of a different experience than you. So back when I first started trying to take the Java certifications exams, the first one was a hot mess. We're talking before Java 2, Java 1, like .09 or whatever the Elm and Oak and all that was pre-day. Those certifications were ugly. I mean, they were so technical or so trippy that you, I don't care how many times I took it, I can never pass the pre-modernized version of Java. And their pass ratio, and they were proud of this, it was something like 20% would pass the certification exam. So if you could pass this, supposedly you were a Java superstar, which was a joke because most of the people that I talked to that were able to pass that literally spent nothing more than three months in a book, just memorizing content, just so they could pass the certification. They came out of that knowing nothing. They couldn't even barely write the code. So that was one of the other concerns with certifications that I have. I spend more time in training classes versus certifications because I would rather go teach myself by writing an application versus go study up and be book smart. On the flip side of that, years later, I've taught multiple Java bootcamps to teach people how to take the certification exams. And I find it funny that there are certain types of people, not necessarily photographic memories, but just are very good at remembering what they read or remembering what they see. And we had some people come through our course that weren't even developers. We're talking lawyers, accountants, whatever. They did not know programming. They were being shifted to learn how to use software, how to write macros and things like that. So they're like, well, let's learn Java. And the funny part was almost every single one of the accountants passed the certification exam. At the end of the bootcamp, maybe three out of 20 could actually write code. So there is a distinction between being certified and being good at what you do. Yeah, bootcamps is a great segue that we'll probably have another conversation about that at some point, because that I have found that when I've taken courses in a language, not necessarily, I'm usually not because I want to be certified, it will help me get there. But it's really just more to to utilize to have an application for that language, no pun intended, but to go through, learn how to code in that language, because there's a difference between understanding the syntax and understanding the best practice and how that language should be used. And this is something that I learned when I was going through the Python training series that is again, out there in our development world, out on our YouTube world, doing what was essentially going to be, you know, I think it was like 12 to 15 minute episodes. Sometimes it would take me two hours because I would be digging through stuff and I was like, oh, that's not how I've ever done it. I wonder how how does that compare to how I usually would tackle this? And there were a lot of things like that. There were areas of the language and I was like, I don't I don't ever need to use that. There's value in them because now I'll look at some of them and go, oh, yeah, I can do it. And that's in some cases more useful than whatever the other approach to doing it. Particularly when you look at all the different types of loops and particularly now when there's all these different functions that you can work on sets and collections and maps and things like that and understand how all of those work and where the strengths and weaknesses are. And then you get into the world of object oriented, whether you know how to actually do the architecture around creating an object oriented solution or even a database, things like that, where it's like, where do you where do you tech? Where do you under architect? Where do you utilize the language? Where do you not? Where do you take advantage of some of the structures and where do you say, I don't really need to do that because there's a there's a better way. And those things, when you get into a class, I think will help you quite a bit. But I think in the boot camp world, it's. It does feel like too often and maybe not. I don't want to take too broad a brush, but there are definitely people that go through the boot camp just to be like, I just get through it, get certification to be done. And then that's going to get me a job and I'll be able to go do it. And that causes problems because then they they will get a job and they suck at it because they didn't learn how to be a developer. This is why it's we're building better developers, not more coders or something like that, because we do see the difference between just writing code and developing a solution. Follow up on that. So I think you touched on where I was. I almost interjected at one point to that. So one of the things that I find certifications are useful is if you're learning a new technology, start with the certification, start with the hello world, figure out the entry path for that certification. Now, if you're at the beginning of your career, I don't recommend going out, like Rob said, and go learn and get certified in like 12 different things before you actually start applying it. The moment you get a certification, something figure out how to start applying it, figure out how to start using it. If you just get 20 certifications and you've just gone through like a small vocational school and you have their very basic skills, but you have all these certifications that you look great on paper, but you can't do a lick of what you say you can do. You're going to fail very quickly, be very stressed out and not necessarily have to job hop, but you're going to build up a bad reputation and could get blacklisted. And then depending upon where you live and what industries you're in, you don't want that. So be conscious of the certifications. They are very beneficial. Boot camps are very helpful. They almost go hand in hand. There's a lot of places online, YouTube videos, developer videos. Start again, just start with the basics, start with a simple certification and then walk your way through it. I just had to take one recently for my job, which we didn't understand why we had to take this one. But we had to basically take the basic AWS Cloud Foundation certification, which is more a business certification than a technical certification. It was more for learning the tech speak to talk about AWS, all the different services, the different components of it. And I was a little petrified because I'm like, this isn't a programming certification. Why am I having to learn this? It's a lot of jargon. And actually, as I started reading it and learning it, I was like, I already know this. This isn't so bad. So there is a little bit of fear with certifications. There's a little bit of misconception with certifications. But as a developer or as someone learning or wanting to grow in this industry, kind of pick up an idea, a language, whatever it is you want to learn. Look at what certifications are offered. Start with the simplest first and then tie that to a roadmap of learning that technology so you can kind of do it in parallel. Yeah, I follow up on that is that it's regardless of what you're learning and how you're learning it is there is a use it or lose it facet to stuff. And so, yeah, I look at this a lot of times when I'm putting stuff together on a resume, because I've got literally, I think now like four or five dozen languages that I can, I can look at projects and say, yes, I did that. I did that. I did that. I did that. I did that. And I can vaguely in some cases remember this or I could go back to the look at it and you give me a little time. I can knock the rust off and I can figure it out. One, do I want to? Two, the only reason that has any staying power is because I did it. It's not that I did the certification. It's that I learned the language and then built something in it. So that helped solidify some of that knowledge in my head. And a lot of it becomes stuff where it's as we've talked about when you go where it allows you to go broader is because you understand the concepts. You understand that there is what the idea of like the phrases I've used, you understand what sets and collections and the object oriented terms and iterators of the pattern terms and those kinds of things is that you understand what you understand the language of patterns and any patterns and procedures and object oriented stuff and database related stuff and all of these things that we may talk about all the time as developers, but when you're starting out, it's much more complicated because you don't know all those terms. You haven't been exposed to them. It will help you have that common language. But again, if you're drinking from the fire hose and you turn around, you don't use any of that experience or that knowledge, you're going to end up losing it because it's not going to stick. If you get a certification and you turn around and apply that, then it's going to help that stick. I agree. If you go get 15 certifications, you could be highly certified and all of that stuff, but if you don't use it, you're going to forget about it. There were things within almost no time that I was and AWS is a good example. I did a certification a couple of years ago and remember some of the things, but a lot of it's like, I'm just going to go look it up on Amazon because and a lot of it's changed since then anyways, and the certifications. That's why I was actually very pleased when I started seeing that most, the vast majority of certifications I see out there now have an expiration date. Technically, I've got, I don't know, 15 or 20 certifications over the years, but what I have right now is big fact because they've all expired somewhere along the way because I didn't feel like renewing them. I mean, it was like stuff like I was a Microsoft certified programmer back in the early late 90s, and then I updated it and I was like a Microsoft 2003 developer, and then I haven't touched it since, which is now years. I digress a little bit. Okay. A lot. The key of this is utilizing those certifications because then the knowledge is really what you want. You don't get the piece of paper doesn't matter. The knowledge and the application of that knowledge does, and that's where it's going to be important to you. So if you're driving for a certification, which is great, that's a great way to learn a language and to really have a formal understanding of that language, but make sure that you have on your roadmap, a follow up that some sort of application or way that you're going to use that so you can really help drive that home. Closing thoughts. So I would like to close with this. If you are starting out or even at a mid level point in your career, you're already doing something you're or you're learning something on the job. A lot of companies today will actually pay for you to get certified in whatever it is that you're working on. Utilize that. Get someone else to pay you to get certified in what you're already doing. The other benefit of that too is if you like the organization you're with, typically if they have that and you pass these and they invested in you, typically they'll keep you around for a while. If you don't like it, I recommend finding something else you do like and focus on that and look at certifications in that. Don't go down a rabbit hole that you're going to hate or you don't like doing. That's just a recipe for disaster. Stick to what you know, stick to what you like and get certified in those particular areas. Yeah, I think that's just my last thought on that. The worst thing is to be heavily certified in something that you hate to do. That's what I talked about earlier. I said there's all these languages and environments that I'll look back on and there's yeah, it's nice to have those on a resume to go get a job, but there's times where I'm taking that off because I do not ever want to see that again. I did not enjoy doing it. No offense, for example, to the Ruby people out there is like Ruby and Ruby on Rails is sort of cool, but it is such a nightmare for me of like collecting all that. Make sure all the libraries are right and all that kind of stuff. It's because I don't know the tools because I know Java's got that problem and .NET's got that problem and Python's got everybody's got that problem these days. But if you're not comfortable with it, if you don't use it, perfect example, then you're going to struggle with it a lot more than you should. You may want to push your way out of that and get to something you enjoy doing. I'm going to allow you to get something you enjoy doing even more than listen to us. Can't imagine that even exists. And we're going to do something more enjoyable than looking at each other on this on the Zoom calls and such. And we're going to wrap this one up. So we are not done with the season, though. We're going to continue going through this. This has just been cathartic and educational for us as we've gone through some of these pieces. It's really helpful sometimes to have that talking through a problem and getting that other set of eyes on it. If you would like that from us, feel free to shoot us an email at info at developer.com. Check us out at the website, developer.com. You can check out in visionqa.com or herby-sns.com or check us out on YouTube, just wherever you can find developer stuff. Check us out. Send us questions. Send us feedback. Send us comments. We would love to just continue these discussions with you or continue them on through comments and likes and stuff like that on our blogs and such. That being said, go out there and have yourself a great day, a great week, and we will talk to you next time. Thank you for listening to Building Better Developers, the Develop-a-Noor Podcast. You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon, anywhere that you can find podcasts. We are there. And remember, just a little bit of effort every day ends up adding into great momentum and great success.