Re: Certifications don't count! (from a good test-taker)

Nuno,

I think you misinterpreted. I don't think that a certification should necessarily be a hiring criteria (positive or negative), but that wasn't my point. I honestly didn't know that one of the DBAs in my group was certified until recently--didn't matter to me and still doesn't as far as whether or not I'd hire them. I agree it isn't fair to consider a candidate or not consider a candidate based on their certification status. However, it is a filter I've used when there are too many candidates to interview.

The statement I think was unfair was to connect the ideas that certified DBAs (regardless of what you think of the OC process) are not passionate or engaged. I think we agree on many points regarding the "value" of certification as a measure of competency. Like many, I live in the consulting world, so I view certification as more of a selling tool than really proving any particular knowledge level. Oracle Marketing has done a fine job of making some IT Managers and CIOs believe that they should view certified contractors and consultants as "better" than non-certified personnel. I didn't do that, but since they did, I feel compelled to seek certification in order to give my organization a competitive edge when trying to win consulting contracts. Doesn't always matter, but by the time you find out that it matters to customer X, it's too late to address.

What's the solution you propose to "fix" this? I would welcome an industry-wide, standardized certification for DBAs, but unfortunately, I think that may hold the same or less value than OCP since it would likely need to be "generic" to all DBs. I think the process should be improved as well, but in the meantime, OCA/P/M is what we've got.

Dan

Nuno Souto wrote:
> Dan Norris wrote,on my timestamp of 11/06/2008 11:41 PM:
>> That's not fair.
>
>
> Of course it's not fair.
> And you reckon the opposite - shutting the door
> to someone without a cert - is somehow fair?
> About time it gets turned around.
> As far as I am concerned, it is.
>
>

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