Do you think it “fair and reasonable” that to sign up to take the IEEE
Certified Software Development Professional
(http://www.computer.org/certification/) test you have to show proof of a
baccalaureate degree? If they are that concerned about the curriculum, I
am surprised that they didn’t say you needed a bachelor’s degree from an
institution with an IEEE accredited Software Engineering program. Why not
let anyone take the test and let companies who are doing the hiring decide
how much they value a degree independent of the skills measured on that
test?
I think there are problems with the way the education system works. I can
understand reasons for wanting a candidate to posses a degree. It is just
that extra little bit of assurance that the candidate does posses the
required knowledge. A little extra assurance that the candidate is
well-rounded. But the education system is going the wrong direction.
Bachelor’s degrees are the new high school diplomas. Master’s degrees are
the new bachelor’s degrees. The education system has this natural tendency
to require people to put increasing amounts of time and money to prove
their capabilities as people struggle to differentiate themselves.
I don’t have the solution, but I think I know quite a few non-degreed
software engineers who would do better on the GRE subject matter test for
computer science than their degreed peers. I do think there is value in
college education, but I don’t like to see it used as this catch-all crutch
the way it generally is by large companies.
Therefore I like the general trend in certification. Especially when
looking for special skills. I would even suggest it reasonable to certify
individuals for basic driver issues that are common among all the different
flavors of drivers for a specific operating system. In this way, a person
hiring could have some assurance of the basic skills…but when it comes to
how well a candidate *thinks* you still must interview the candidate. This
takes time and can be difficult and challenging. Because as more people
are expected to earn degree’s, and colleges compete for the student money
and are pressured to move students through, they will “move” students
through and the worth of the degree is diminished.
For a satirical take on the situation:
http://www.satirewire.com/news/0006/satire-ellison.shtm
-----Original Message-----
From: xxxxx@lists.osr.com
[mailto:xxxxx@lists.osr.com]On Behalf Of Roddy, Mark
Sent: Tuesday, April 23, 2002 11:59 AM
To: NT Developers Interest List
Subject: [ntdev] Re: Certification for windows device driver developer s
Er no, doctors go to school for whatever, but in order to practice in a
specialty they get ‘board certified’ by the appropriate professional
association, who may also decertify them. Before you propose a
counterfactual you really ought to find out if it is true.
A simple google of:
medical certification process
would have prevented this mistake.
For example: http://www.abns.org/certproc.htm
I have no problem with software professionals getting certified in their
area of expertise, as long as the process is fair and reasonable.