to certify or not to certify?

[january]

What is your chosen discipline, you didn't mention that?

WAS, WPS, J2EE WebTechnologies and the like..


Thanks for the advice everyone, it's pretty much along the lines of what i'm thinking.

[b0redom]

I have no certs beyond my degree ( 12 years ago ), and have been at this for 5 years now.

BUT...

The market is shonky at the moment, especially in the banking sector, so if I were you, I'd wait for an upturn.

[Clippy]

Guys,

I'm new here but am writing because I'm considering contracting at some point in the near future.

My question relates to that of certifications. I have a number of years experience in global bank but have no certifications in my chosen dicipline - how much do you feel this would detract from my potential employability? Furthermore, are most of you certified in your chosen diciplines?

Thanks

Same as what has already been said but it also a pre-req to post on this board.

Everyone on this board is certifyable and I can certify to that.

As you do not have any certs, please cease from making any more posts.

[OwlHoot]

I have no certs beyond my degree ( 12 years ago ), and have been at this for 5 years now. ..

Nor me. I'm not sure you can actually get certs in perl or PHP.

I wonder what would be good certs for a .Net developer (C# and VB). Might be a good idea if they aren't too expensive. (But I've had a couple of contracts in the last couple of years doing largely .Net, and again nobody asked about certs even for that.)

[Lockhouse]

As others have said Certs help with agency searches and if you can put a M$ or comparable logo on your CV it helps get your CV noticed. Doesn't help at the actual interview at all, just a marketing tool.

[TheFaQQer]

It's not really optional, you must have certs.

This might be true in certain disciplines, but not all.

Some of the Microsoft ones might be worth having (no idea) but I can't imagine that an OCP from Oracle (which I have) will make any difference whatsoever, because most clients don't even know they exist, never mind care whether a contractor has one. That said, my OCWE is on the CV, since it's pretty rare.

[FSM with Cheddar]

I wonder what would be good certs for a .Net developer (C# and VB). Might be a good idea if they aren't too expensive. (But I've had a couple of contracts in the last couple of years doing largely .Net, and again nobody asked about certs even for that.)

IMHO The MS .Net certs are a waste of time. They are completely pointless and don't reflect real world experience.

The only time I would recommend MS certs is if you need to prove yourself and you have no experience.

[minestrone]

I have quite a few Java certs including the highly regarded J2EE architect one which I have held for just about my entire contracting career ( 5 years ).

No agent has ever mentioned them, no client has ever mentioned them and I have seen less job adverts asking for the J2EE architect certification than there are exams to sit to get it.

[TykeMerc]

The only certificate I've ever been asked to show (including degrees) is my Prince2 Practitioner (once) and that's easily verified online making it mostly pointless.

[ratewhore]

It's not really optional, you must have certs. For a start agents will run your CV through a keyword search, so if you don't have the required certs you will be straight out of probably 90% of job applications.

Thats what white on white text is for...