Decisions, Decisions

The first step in obtaining a certification (any of them, not just MCAD) is deciding if you are going to do it. That's an obvious statement, but it is important. If you are pursuing a certification because your manager told you it was required, then there's no decision. But for the rest of us, we are going to dedicate significant amounts of time and money to this process and we need to make sure it is something worth doing.

I just recently (the past few weeks) started a new job that I plan on staying at for a while. So the typical "resume enhancement" angle of the certifications doesn't really appeal to me. My salary has already been negotiated, so that argument doesn't apply. And while there's a chance a certification might make a 1% difference come review time, it's just a possibility. So why am I doing it? For me, it comes down to a personal motivation to do it. I feel like I can learn a few things by studying for the exams. And it will give me a sense of accomplishment. Plus, I'll get to put some letters after my name and look cool. That's just a joke!

Side note:

A few years ago, during the dot com boom, a training company used to run ads on the radio about getting the MCSE certification. They didn't just imply that any Joe off the street could get the MCSE and start making $60,000 a year, they actually claimed it in the ad. They claimed that even if you had no background in IT, you could take their classes and the employers would just line up to hire you. I admit, during the dot com boom, my 7 year old son probably could have gotten an IT job, but this is 2005. Things have changed. Don't think if you are flipping burgers at McDonald's (which is what my stepfather always told me I would grow up to do), that if you get the MCAD or MCSD you are going to suddenly have recruiters throwing cash and BMWs at you. You're not. Because you don't have any McXperience. Sorry, bad joke. In this industry, I've worked with programmers from many different backgrounds. I've worked with a developer with a Master's in CompSci that wrote such convoluted code that no one wanted to work with him. I've worked with a developer that dropped out of art school and learned on his own and if I was in the position to hire a developer, he would be the first on my list. You don't necessarily have to have a college degree or a certification to succeed, but it does help. What you do have to have is experience of some kind. It's the old catch-22, you can't get a job because you don't have experience because you don't have a job. If you don't currently work in IT and you want to be a programmer, getting a certification will not make you one. Writing code makes you a programmer.