So i plain simple English, i find myself debating as to whether traditional university education, and especially master’s degrees are worth anything. I hear people in management positions telling me they don’t, and in rare occasions i find some who appreciate them. And in the land of Academia, if good universities are worth more than some unknown or dodgy universities for that matter.
How can someone even consider a certification on a product to be of an equivalent value as a master’s degree. This is simply beyond me. I found myself at an interview some time back debating whether my master’s degree was of equal value or not with someone who had certifications in an equivalent field, security. Certifications that were not even backed up by experience.
I have met people in Cyprus with lots of certifications on their C.V. who are pretty much not adequate to be in a professional environment. The reality is that since no one can even control the place in which exams are taking place (i.e. enough measures to prevent people from cheating – and yes i know people who were calling people from the outside while in a Microsoft certification exam asking for answers to be googled up), the results of the exams themselves can not be trusted.
The methods in which they are taught are not assessed by institutions that carry histories of decades and peer review, such as in the case of universities. The material is not assessed or deemed valuable and not product specific, by the same network of institutions that evaluate each other through the quality of their work.
In many cases the certification material is even promoting company practices and standards of the vendor, that goes as far as to try and redefine standards and definitions, instead of even accepting widely accepted standards in the corresponding field.
Also, unlike a degree from a university, a certification has to be backed up by certain years of experience, as to prove that the certification was not taken by simply following a testkey guide for that exam. But since the certification market is so big, no one even bothers. Everyone just sees masses of people for them and they see revenue in their pockets.
So yes to certification, if they come with 3 to 5 years of provable experience applied to that specific field. And yes if they are in a field of work you need. Don’t look for an information security professional and take into consideration I.T. Audit certifications. They are a plus, but are mos likely to be irrelevant to what you need a security professional for. Unless of course you want an Auditor in your team and you understand what you need them for.
But if not the certification should not carry much weight in my opinion. And one can not come and ignore the value of academic degrees and especially Master’s degrees that come in specific fields and offered by good universities.
So think well before hiring, and think of how you are rewarding people in terms of salaries. If management does not understand or is unable to evaluate candidates and their C.V.s in technical fields such as I.T. properly, then it is best to seek consultation and not simply get excited with certifications and titles. Undermining the value of academic degrees (in technical fields at least and from universities that are internationally acknowledged for their contribution) shows ignorance in the technical nature of the field.
And as a final note, a reminder to those hiring once again, a person with a good degree is more likely to have an all around knowledge and will better cope with difficulties in anything outside of the scope technical expertise of someone without one. This is true for most cases i have seen as universities tend to pass principles that apply to most IT related fields. Principles not passed in certification classes or in forums and self learning.
There are exceptions to these rules of course and i am lucky to have met some. But in most cases you won’t be likely to find one. So how lucky do you feel when hiring?
