I know what you mean about the Certifications. I managed to go the last seven years as a Java/J2EE Architect Contractor without even a Java Certification to my name... Then last year, I joined a certain well known consultancy that insisted on my getting certified! The Java Certification itself has got to be the most worthless certification on the planet as far useful knowledge is concerned. However, consultancies use these bits of paper to charge more for their consultants. The only real use that I can see for a certification is if you need to cross over into a related discipline. I.e. A DBA wanting to prove that he/she is also a competent programmer; thus getting access to better work. However, a good manager should see your competency without the need for that silly bit of paper.
ys -- Yousef Syed -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Crispin Cowan Sent: 24 March 2005 08:17 To: j eric townsend Cc: sc-l@securecoding.org Subject: Re: [SC-L] certification for engineers/developers? j eric townsend wrote: >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. > 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. 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
