[consulting] Drupal Certification

[Sam Cohen]

I think the problem here is with language.

Certification only means that you have a certificate that say you completed
something.  In that sense it's as good as what you completed and if someone
goes to the effort of building a course or test that demonstrates knowledge,
I don't see what harm there is in them marketing that certificate and people
using it to demonstrate they have the skills it takes to complete it.

The problem is that "Certification" has an official ring to it -- like it's
declared by the government, or the DA or by God -- and that's where it
starts to get sticky.

I developed an online course for a nonprofit client (using Drupal of Course)
and we stayed away from the word "certification" but did offer a
"certificate of completion" at the end.  Same thing, but the language
matters.

Sam



On Fri, Aug 7, 2009 at 11:39 AM, Laura <pinglaura at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Aug 7, 2009, at Fri 8/7/09 9:09am, Greg Knaddison wrote:
>
>  On Fri, Aug 7, 2009 at 8:29 AM, Alex Urevick-Ackelsberg<Alex at zivtech.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> But still, what about a Drupal Developers/Shops Guild?
>>>
>>
>> 3-4 years ago folks started down this path.  It died fairly quickly.
>> I don't think it would actually be helpful at solving the problems it
>> sets out to solve, though maybe the market is different enough now in
>> some way that it would be helpful.
>>
>
> I'm fairly skeptical of this, for a number of reasons:
>
> 1 - It's a way of making money off of developers, instead of helping
> clients.
> 2 - It injects politics.
> 3 - It creates barriers to entry, especially for those who are
> bootstrapping their way into a profession. #2 again.
> 4 - There's no real way to enforce it internationally. #2 again.
> 5 - It risks running into antitrust laws. #2 again.
> 6 - It ultimately carries little meaning in relation to capability,
> credibility, integrity, reliability - the things that matter. #2 again.
> 7 - Who controls it? #2 again.
>
>  I'll maintain my previous stance: the best "certification program" we
>> have is the drupal.org user profile.
>>
>
> I agree. Open Source already opens up information that is usually hidden,
> information that certifications, club membership, etc. are ostensibly
> intended to reveal indirectly.
>
> I do see a value, however, if someone were to offer affordable training
> programs, especially since Drupal is generally not taught in schools.
>
> Laura
>
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