[consulting] Drupal Certification

[Victor Kane]

Under the present social circumstances, I agree with this completely.
Victor Kane
http://awebfactory.com.ar

On Fri, Aug 7, 2009 at 11:06 AM, Brian Vuyk <brian at brianvuyk.com> wrote:

> I tend to think a Drupal certification would be a bad thing as well.
>
>  1. Clients being what they are, if a certification becomes somewhat
>     common, it will become much more difficult to get freelancing work
>     without it.
>  2. For that matter, every IT / tech recruiter posting a job
>     description on any job sites will now require it.
>  3. Certificate exam would need to be retaken every time a new version
>     of Drupal comes out.
>  4. Unless cost is very low, this is an added barrier to entry for
>     small shops and freelancers.
>
> What confuses me most, is what problem are we trying to solve with a
> certificate program? A strong portfolio and contributions history tell far
> more than any certification ever could. A certification says nothing about a
> developers ability to manage a project, work ethic, or creativity, all of
> which vastly impact the development process far more than a set of
> Drupal-related trivia ever could.
>
> In short, a certificate doesn't remove from the client the responsibility
> to do their homework about a developers experience, and meet with them.
>
> Brian Vuyk
>
>
> Bill Fitzgerald wrote:
>
>> Hello, all,
>>
>> Personally, I'm of the opinion that a certification program would be
>> completely useless, and that the certifications would be worth less than the
>> paper they were printed on. I articulated some of these reasons a while
>> back; most of these reasons remain unchanged:
>> http://lists.drupal.org/pipermail/consulting/2007-December/002267.html
>>
>> But, with that said, nothing is stopping any shop from creating and
>> managing a certification program. The catch with any credentialing program,
>> however, is that the issue body needs to have some credibility. If Shop X
>> starts issuing a "Drupal Uber-Ninja Certification Program" it's not going to
>> mean much, except that maybe Shop X talked to some marketing and Biz-dev
>> folks and came up with a catchy name for a program that might make them some
>> money. The value of that credential will decrease rapidly over time (if
>> indeed it ever had any value to start with), simply because Drupal
>> development practice evolves rapidly over time.
>>
>> So, if there are shops out there who want to start a certification
>> program, by all means, go ahead. Nothing is stopping any shop from doing
>> this. The challenge will be in having the value of that credential mean
>> anything.
>>
>> Personally, I don't care about tech credentials or certifications; I've
>> met far too many * Certified people that I wouldn't trust to get me coffee
>> -- but then again, I'm pretty picky with my coffee.
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Bill
>>
>> Tom Geller wrote:
>>
>>> This subject comes up frequently. I know that Acquia was considering
>>> preparation of a certification system ("Yellow Jersey"), but it's always
>>> been low among their priorities.
>>>
>>> Something on this subject became the most-commented post on my blog:
>>>
>>>  http://tomgeller.com/content/market-ready-drupal-certification
>>>
>>> Then in a post shortly after that, I suggested that Drupal Association
>>> would be the appropriate body to run a certification program:
>>>
>>>  http://tomgeller.com/content/why-support-drupal-association
>>>
>>> I wrote, "[DA could] fulfill functions best served by a non-profit
>>> authority. While I find commercial interest in Drupal exciting and
>>> encouraging, some functions -- such as certification and trademark
>>> protection -- are best served by a neutral party with interests beyond the
>>> purely financial. Drupal Association is that authority."
>>>
>>> DA never expressed an interest in that -- which is fine, and their right.
>>> I'm among those who questions the value of such things... but still think it
>>> would be great to try. Alas, nobody's taking the lead. Uncertainly over the
>>> Drupal trademark IMHO also discourages anyone from claiming that leadership
>>> role.
>>>
>>> ---
>>>          Tom Geller  *  Oberlin, Ohio  *  415-317-1805
>>>             Writer/Editor * http://www.tomgeller.com
>>>    articles, marketing, training materials, user guides, books
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>> consulting at drupal.org
>>> http://lists.drupal.org/mailman/listinfo/consulting
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>
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