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Re: Professional or Not (was Database Design)

From: Mark D Powell <Mark.Powell_at_eds.com>
Date: 7 Jan 2004 11:37:13 -0800
Message-ID: <2687bb95.0401071137.3099bdb5@posting.google.com>


"J Alex" <nospam_at_nospam.net> wrote in message news:<xJSKb.208473$b01.4584471_at_twister.tampabay.rr.com>...

> <sybrandb_at_yahoo.com> wrote

> > "J Alex" <nospam_at_nospam.net> wrote
> > >
> > > My 2 cents - college degrees matter in IT, just like they do in every
>  other

> > > professional field. The problem-hires I've seen have been when companies
> > > hire people without degrees, or with degrees in unrelated fields. As the
> > > field matures and companies start requiring comp. sci. degrees, the
>  problem

> > > of unqualified people will disappear.
> >
> >
> > It is just nonsense you need a comp.sci degree to be successful in IT.
> 
> I never said that.
> 

> > Comp.sci has very little to do with practical IT.
> 
> Depends on the program I guess, but I learned lots of practical IT,
> especially development methods and good practices. I'd say the classes were
> a 50-50 mix of programming classes and theory.
> 

> > People with a
> > comp.sci degree aren't necessarily better developers or administrators
> > compare to people without such a degree.
> 
> Sure they do. Some people without the degrees are very good, but invariably
> the developers/dbas that have been least effective have not had an
> IT-related degree. Why do you think IT is so different than say, chemistry
> or geology?
> 

> > There is no problem of 'unqualified people'.
> 
> Then why are people on this board advocating certification requirements? If
> everybody in IT is fully qualified to do their job, then certification is a
> waste of time. And if there is no problem with unqualified people, why did
> you say "I routinely notice all people working in IT younger than about 30
> usually don't know anything about development methods and logical thinking."
> Please be consistent in your posts.

J, about you points regarding certification. Earning IT certifications does not prove or make a person qualified. The certification shows that the individual has managed to meet certain technical standards; however, a technically qualified individual may still be completely unable to apply their technical knowledge to solve business problems in a workable manner. Not to mention a person with an IT certification may still be completely void of other necessary traits: timeliness, hygiene, ability to work with others, communication skills, and so on.

The IT certification processes themselves are open to question. Many of the test topics and questions required for certification are of debatable value and correctness.

Experience far outweighs any certification. The appearance of other work related skills usually are more important the any specific IT knowledge since almost any IT skill can be learned by an experienced person in a fairly short period of time. Many business related knowledge areas take far longer to learn.

Just my two cents: Mark D Powell CPIM, CIRM, OCP Oracle 8, 8i, and 9i Database. Received on Wed Jan 07 2004 - 13:37:13 CST

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