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My question is regarding the "REAL" value of professional certifications including PMP, ITIL, Microsoft, Cisco, Oracle, Lotus, . etc . etc For you who have been long enough in business before these companies and certifications became so popular, the question is how was the situation before these certification, how it became after these certifications, and what real value did these certifications add ? Let me clarify, I am not talking about the individuals (professionals) benefits getting these certifications and what it meant to them in getting employed and getting higher salaries Iam also not talking about employers and recruitment firms demanding these certifications as basis or preference for their choices. Iam not even talking about the "educational" value of such courses and certficiations Iam asking about the improvement/success these certifications added (or maybe took away) from the actual practice, its effectiveness, and its results. How many project managers in the old7 wonders of the world (Pyramids in Egypt, Great Wall in China, Eiffel Tower, .) had PMP certifications ?? Before the such terms as PMP, ITIL and others became so popular, how were projects managed and run ? and what success rates did it have ? before and after ?? How many IT managers were successful before ITIL came to existence ?? and how did this change to the better or to the worse after ITIL ?? Lastly, how many people who got these titles and designations are truly worthless and all what they did is that they prepared well for an exam, passed it and got certified ?? What are your thoughts ?? BAYT as a recruitment agency . what comments do you have on the subject ??
Human race survived hundreds and thousands of years back and so is the survival even today. Development in all sphere was happening then also and so is happening today. The difference lies in the pace, cost and quality of development. Natures gifted resources are becoming limiting factors in the progress of development worldwide. The only resource that is mutliplying is the "Human" / "Manpower" with huge manpower energy and manhours available.
Threrefore it is imperative and of utmost priority to develop human resource by means of developing their skill sets and potential to use the diminishing natural resources for their optimal use for improving the quality of human life.
Here plays an important role of numerous certification programs to develop the skill sets of human resources to pace up the overall development most effecttively and efficiently.
Time
Cost
Quality
A certification just shows you have passed a test... and employers look for the certifications
There are many out there which are as knowledgeable as those not certified in a field or occupation, may be afraid to take the test.
I have met young Project/Product Managers which needed to be trained for the job after achieving there BS in Business
I know what I can do and I am good at it
IT does not mean you are an expert but to certify that you have at lest a small amount of knowledge of this product or field.
The real value is that you know your professionals keep up to date with there knowledge.
Certifications is nothing more than a method to open doors for candidates and to land the appropriate job opportunity. A Certification ,in itself, does NOT improve your career unless you are practically experienced. Originally, certification programs were just meant for those who already have practical work experience. That was how these programs were designed. Unfortunately, people started to use these programs in the opposite direction by earning certs first and then land a job. By doing so, they unintentionally make themselves worthless in the eyes of the employer. But i don't blame them. How can someone land a job if he/she don't have experience? So they have been forced to go in the "Certify Me First" direction.
For me, on-job experience is the most critical factor for landing good jobs than just earning "Paper Certs". I have lots of friends who have been in the industry for12+ yrs and who are NOT certified until now and they still can land great jobs.
About the life before certifications, it was a "non-crowded" life. To understand what i am talking about, take the late80's and early90's as an example. Technologies in that time were limited and simple. Projects were simple and easy to manage. Certs such as ITIL and PMP are developed when technologies were getting to explode and getting more complicated. They needed a way to manage this complexity by defining rules, process life cycles, policies, and so on.
By the way, i said late80's and early90's because certs came to life beginning in the mid90's. Of course, i am talking about the west because cert programs were born in the middle east beginning in.
So, in short, certs are valuable only when you really pass the exam without cheating and when you understand the technology for self-enjoy more than making profits.
These certifications ensure that the certificates holders are aware of prevalent practice, tools, techniques, process, and procedures. Also it encourages standardization of terms, tools, techniques, process, and procedures.
In terms of improvement it facilitated the improved communication among the practioners. The idea behind such certification is sharing the best practice.
Even before the successful projects were handled in the same way as it is being handled today, the difference could be in terms use of available tools.
Those who are good in the application of knowledge, skills, and experience with these certificates can contribute positively.
The one who benefitted most from these certificates are HR, it has facilitated shortlisting.
