j eric townsend wrote:
Yeah, I give certifications weight; *negative* weight. The more "certifications" someone advertises, the *less* clueful I assume that they are. All other factors being equal, that is; I certainly know people who have both certs and clue, but I find that is the exception, not the rule.The main reason I'm looking at certification is defensive -- I've been in one too many meetings where someone's opinion was given more weight because of industry certification or advanced degree.
Advanced degrees are another matter:
* For practical matters, advanced degrees are orthogonal to clue:
whether the person advertises an advanced degree seems to be
independent of their practical knowledge.
* For theoretical matters, advanced degrees do seem to actually
predict someone's level of clue. Ask someone to explain how
Turing's Halting Problem implies a major corollary to computer
security. Those with an advanced degree often get it, while those
who are self-educated often reply with "who is Turing?" or "I dunno".
o Conclusion: learning theory is no fun, so self-educated
people naturally avoid it unless forced into it.Crispin
P.S. I am totally serious about the certificates, they go to the *bottom* of my resume pile.
-- Crispin Cowan, Ph.D. http://immunix.com/~crispin/ CTO, Immunix http://immunix.com
