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Jeff Greenberg wrote:<br>
<br>
<blockquote cite="mid:4A81F935.5080003@ayendesigns.com" type="cite">So
with development, even though I give a nod to the fact that sooner or
later there will be Drupal certification, I again question the value.</blockquote>
<br>
As you should. As should everyone. There are perfectly legitimate
reasons to conclude that a Drupal certification might simply be too
impractical to succeed. And even the most avid supporter of
certification needs to be skeptical and aware of the pitfalls.<br>
<br>
It is a mistake to infer, based on what I have written, that a Drupal
certification is naturally advisable, let alone inevitable. There are
many factors working against it, but these factors have little to do
with many of the common objections raised in the current discussion.<br>
<br>
To me, the biggest hurdles facing any Drupal certification are these:<br>
<br>
<br>
<b>(1) How do you set a standard based on a moving target?</b><br>
<br>
Drupal's rapid pace of evolution is a certification body's nightmare,
in some ways writing an exam for Drupal is like taking a leisurely
stroll on Star Trek's Genesis Planet. By the time that reasonable
skills exams (and supporting training materials) are available based on
Drupal version {x}, it's likely that release {x+1} is in beta testing
or better. Then there is the fact that some of the most-used modules
such as CCK and Views don't necessarily have development schedules that
are completely in sync with core. And some modules eventually find
their way into core.<br>
<br>
Quality exams take time to create, and if the changes between version
{x} and {x+1} are substantial, the core certification objectives need
to change as well as the exam questions themselves.<br>
Book writers, course developers and others will have a hard time
keeping pace. Some already do fall behind. <br>
<br>
It might be necessary for Drupal to slow its release cycle in order to
make a certification practical, and I'm certain that such a tradeoff
would be unacceptable to many -- including me. <br>
<br>
<br>
<b>(2) You can't easily test creativity</b><br>
<br>
Doing certification exams for system administration because there is a
general set of software tools which are used to implement the
sysadmin's changes and policies. Even so, you can't easily test
troubleshooting skills which require quick thinking and creativity.
This kind of talent needs to be discovered in interviews and reference
checking, not certification.<br>
For software development the situation is more acute. You can test
one's knowledge of the programming language concepts and syntax, of the
APIs and libraries. But you can't easily test the creative component of
software development any more easily than you can test troubleshooting.<br>
<br>
Sure, you can do it with hand-on tests, but using such techniques
skyrockets the cost of the exams (the RHCE exam is $749), makes them
less accessible and slower to develop, and introduces a level of
subjectivity into the testing that could invite "technique bias" on the
part of the testers.<br>
<br>
<br>
<b>(3) A question of value</b><br>
<br>
LPI was very fortunate to get sponsors before the dot-com bust. Getting
sponsors now will be harder to find and funding in lesser amounts. That
will make exam development slower (if the project has to depend on
part-time volunteers) and possibly of lower quality (if you can't hire
a psychometrician to oversee the program). This could be recouped
through exam fees, but there's a pretty low limit on what most people
would be prepared to pay. For most people, certification will all boil
down to a brutally cold assessment of value -- "will getting certified
get me more job prospects and/or more money per hour than not being
certified?" If the answer to this question is not a clear "yes" the
certification is a bust. <br>
<br>
Sure, there are some people who collect IT certifications like I
collect hot sauces, but there aren't enough of those people around to
keep a certification viable. Most will only get certified only if they
must, or if they see compelling financial value. That means that buy-in
-- respect -- from hiring bodies is critical, so
their participation as stakeholders in the certification process is
vital. Having a certification that doesn't concentrate on testing
skills which are important to hiring bodies is pointless; having the
objectives only driven by developers will only get the project so far.<br>
<br>
<br>
I honestly don't think a Drupal certification can succeed without
tackling the above issues. Having said that, these obstacles are
challenges rather than deal-breakers -- none of them is insurmountable,
but they will require significant time and dedication to address.<br>
<br>
Is anyone here -- developers, vendors, hiring agencies, and/or others
-- up to the task?<br>
<br>
(I'll be glad to advise and assist a certification initiative -- as a
non-developer, this would be a way for me to give back based on my own
skills -- but I'm in no position to lead or drive such an effort.)<br>
<br>
- Evan<br>
<br>
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