Zend certified professionals

[Tim356]

Hands up...

[Tim356]

Anyone? Anyone thinking of sitting the test? Anyone even pretending to be certified?

[benbramz]

what is a zend certified proffesional?

[Tim356]

Just a title you get when you pass the Zend Certification test:
http://www.zend.com/store/education/...tification.php

[Rob]

I am ZCP!

[Tim356]

No?? You are not! Really? Cool. Was it hard?

What about the donkey? Surely he's well on his way?

[Rob]

you did say, and i quote, 'anyone pretending'.

Of course I'm pretending.... I dont pay for quals.... although i know i would pass with flying colors... lol

Seriously, I believe in demonstable skills..... not lining the pockets of certification bodies.

My two cents.

[Tim356]

dooh... you had me going there...

[JohnMitch]

Why do certifications? I don't get the point in that... I know many CERTIFIED Professional webdesigners. They work at Pizza Hut as Drivers. As for the real professionals, they sit in thier nice home with good food that isn't on bread :P.

[grahame]

I've watched this thread with interest since it was started ...

I run PHP training courses. I've been doing so for about five years, using my own material ... that's from long before Zend started up their certification scheme.

We were invited to join the scheme - actually a few months before it was generally announced - and politely declined; it's a path that I've been down and see before with Sun Microsystems and Solaris training, Toplog (as was) and FrameMaker training ... and although I'm reluctant to say that I would never sign up to any of these schemes, I think it's highly unlikely.

[rant]

Most certification schemes offer the rookie trainee some peace of mind that the course has at least the backing of a company that's part of the establishment and should know what it's doing. They offer the training company the ability to start courses in a new subject that they really don't know very well and haven't got the notes to present ... and if the training company's lucky, they may get passed sales leads too. They offer the certifying organisation a revenue stream (since they charge the training company for each trainee) and a route through which they can get at newcomers to the technology to sell their products / ways to them. Sound like a "win / win"? Not quite ....

Although the trainee should receive a course to a know agenda, that course will potentially have been dumbed down to fit worldwide requirements - it will be consistent to the lowest common denominator. Potentially, the course will be longer than required and will include material that further the certifier's other interests, such as sessions on their purchaseble hardware or software products. The course tutor won't have had any part in writing the notes, and may not even be too familiar with the subject (I've heard some horrendous stories). And the trainee or his employee will pay a higher daily rate than strictly necessary for this as the certifying organisation will want its $50 a day for each student (or whatever the current amount is).

The trainee's employer, who is probably the person paying for the course, will get a trained employee ... who has a piece of paper he can take around to other prospective employers. In other words, he's paying to loosen his hold on his staff. And he's paying for a course that must be presented as the certifying organisation requires, so it can only be tailored to cover the specialist topics that the employer wants on a special authorisation, case by case basis.

If the training company's well established and already able to provide customers with the training they need at a sensible price and to suit local (country) conditions, a certification scheme removes these abilities to meet their clients needs and at an extra cost. It may bring them extra leads so that they can increas there class sizes (not good for the trainee), and it may save them the need to write material and update their notes in the future.

The certification company is laughing all the way to the bank.

[/rant]

OK - I'm not a great fan. Please take the above comments as being general and not necessarily all applying to the PHP scheme. I can assure you that I took a long and hard look at the scheme in the very early days and decided against offering it. And I remain comfortable with my decision.

I'm not Zend certified myself - I spent the money I would have invested in getting the qualification on a Medditeranean cruise ... during which I spent a day and a half listening to Rasmus Lerdorf, author of PHP, talking about it ....

[Tim356]

But you have to admit, it would help your job prospects? No?

As in, if there were a position in your company that needed to be filled (a php job) and you had 2 short-listed applicants. Both applicants have the same amount of experience and either one seems suitable for the job, but candidate A has a zend certification. Surely you would choose candidate A over candidate B?

Kind of like (what I think) a degree is useful for. A piece of paper that may just give you that edge over the competition. And given that the exam for the ZCE is roughly $AUD200, seems value for money.

[grahame]

Originally Posted by Tim356

But you have to admit, it would help your job prospects? No?

As in, if there were a position in your company that needed to be filled (a php job) and you had 2 short-listed applicants. Both applicants have the same amount of experience .....

Yes, I think my comment that an employer is making anyone he sends more employable elsewhere admits this ....

[Tim356]

You're right, sorry.