From: <a href="mailto:paola.dimaio@gmail.com">paola who's email is bouncing</a><br><div class="gmail_quote">To: "A list for Drupal consultants and Drupal service/hosting<br>providers" <<a href="mailto:consulting@drupal.org">
consulting@drupal.org</a>><br>Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2007 21:26:39 +0700<br>Subject: Fwd: [consulting] Drupal Certification and Requirements<br>HI Evan<br><br>after writing 'excellent business idea' I realised it was an overstatement
<br><br>But my problem is that there are loadsa good who have some level of<br>Drupal knowledge and claim to have years of Drupal experience but too<br>many that do no deliver, and in fact, that mess things up at my<br>expense.
<br><br>Admittedly, I am taking a bet each time I hire someone, and on top of<br>that, I have to give me acesss to my server, database, and the lot<br><br>I think a basic drupal certification can be' version independent' as
<br>the basic principles are not likely to change with each version, and<br>can be set up (I am an IT trainer) - One could also have a 'modular'<br>certification, to show<br>that one has familiarity and understanding of some modules, not
<br>necessarilty with everythng<br><br>That does not mean that someone who does not take the certification is<br>no good, maybe rther the contrary, and hopefully can demostrate so<br><br>cheers<br>PDM<br><br>On 12/19/07, Evan Leibovitch <
<a href="mailto:evan@telly.org">evan@telly.org</a>> wrote:<br>> <a href="mailto:paola.dimaio@gmail.com">paola.dimaio@gmail.com</a> wrote:<br>> > sounds like an excellent business idea<br>> ><br>> Actually, it's not. The cost of developing a respected exam, as well as
<br>> the logistics of accessible delivery, makes the business proposition<br>> very very difficult. Compounding the problem are a number of<br>> Drupal-specific obstacles.<br>><br>> Just some of the issues involve:
<br>><br>> - What should a certification test? Forms? PHP programming? Views?<br>> categories? Non-standard modules? Look-and-feel issues?<br>><br>> - Usually people get certified as a way to help them get employed. Right
<br>> now demand for Drupal developers appears to exceed supply, so people<br>> don't need certifications to help them get work and the actual numbers<br>> of people willing to pay to be certified will be fairly small.
<br>><br>> - There's no obvious corporate backers to sponsor such an effort, in the<br>> way Sun sponsors Java certification or Zend sponsors the PHP one.<br>><br>> - Is the certification for developers or administrators? If it's for
<br>> developers, how do you test the creative component of programming?<br>><br>> - Drupal is still evolving, and backwards compatibility is not a<br>> priority. That means that the "life" of any specific Drupal
<br>> certification exam could be very short before the things it tests are<br>> obsolete. By the time you're ready to deliver an exam, the APIs it tests<br>> will probably not be in use anymore.<br>><br>> - Also consider that by some industry analysis, the demand for IT
<br>> certification in general is dropping<br>><br>><br>> I helped create the LPI certification for Linux. Each of the three skill<br>> levels it tests cost more than $400,000 to develop properly. Less<br>> ambitious, more community-driven efforts such as the BSD
<br>> certification, can be many years in the making before a single exam is<br>> delivered -- and STILL be without a usable business model.<br>><br>> It's probably best to -- at least for now -- avoid a specific Drupal
<br>> certification. If someone is looking to prove approriate skills, they<br>> should consider the existing Zend certification for PHP.<br>> <a href="http://www.zend.com/en/services/certification/" target="_blank">
http://www.zend.com/en/services/certification/</a><br>><br>> - Evan<br>> _______________________________________________<br>> consulting mailing list<br>> <a href="mailto:consulting@drupal.org">consulting@drupal.org
</a><br>> <a href="http://lists.drupal.org/mailman/listinfo/consulting" target="_blank">http://lists.drupal.org/mailman/listinfo/consulting</a><br>><br><br><br>--<br>Paola Di Maio<br>School of IT<br><a href="http://www.mfu.ac.th" target="_blank">
www.mfu.ac.th</a><br>*********************************************<br><br><br>--<br>Paola Di Maio<br>School of IT<br><a href="http://www.mfu.ac.th" target="_blank">www.mfu.ac.th</a><br>*********************************************
<br><font color="#888888"><br><br><br>--<br>Paola Di Maio<br>School of IT<br><a href="http://www.mfu.ac.th" target="_blank">www.mfu.ac.th</a><br>*********************************************<br></font></div><br><br clear="all">
<br>-- <br>To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.<br>