Re: Certification

[cfowler <cfowler@outpostsentinel.com>]

On Mon, 2002-11-04 at 09:34, Curt Smith wrote:
> 
> > Think about the "desire to learn" part.  I would prefer to hire someone
> > who has a constant fire in their person to learn new technologies in
> > their spare time than someone that does just the 8-5 bit.
> 
> Dead on.  Too bad, but gone are the days of being a C programmer day
> in and day out.  I judge the a candidate on the desire to learn
> on their own time and initiative with questions like;  what books
> have you read lately.  And by how _many_ certifications they have.
> 
> Some folks might be surprised there's a few more java and OO oriented
> certs besides SCJP.  :)  Personally I need the carrot to get me through
> all the books and study, so collecting certs is one of my hobbies.  ;-(
> My credit card shows alot of good books have been bought, read and
> an immediate good use put that info (more credit card hits for the
> cert tests) and more tears.

I have an extensive technical library in my home office.  I also use
http://safari.oreilly.com and have found that Safari is a no-brainer
investment.  I look at things like these are career expensive and not
company expenses.

If anyone on this list does not have a subscription to Safari then throw
away your JDJ and get a sub.

> 
> I've found it to be almost as expensive as going to GA state.  Isn't
> our industry forcing us through this type of re-education pratically
> another degree every 2-3 years just to stay current?   BTW, the
> JDJ mag / web site has a few comments about current state of complexity
> and API breadth needed to be _called_ competent.  Hmmm.

Yea this I agree on too.  Buying books is not cheap nor is equipment. 
But I try to buy used as much as I can.

> 
> For example, EJB / JMS is pase, now it's UDDI, WSDL, doc. centric etc.
> 
> Best of luck to all,
> 
> curt
> 
> 
> 
>