The pool of available IT certifications has grown so large that it’s not a pool anymore, it’s a sea, and it’s teeming with certifications. Just like a sea made of water, the certification sea is inhabited by a wide variety of creatures, in a broad selection of sizes, mostly swimming in different directions at the same time. There are predators and pretenders in both kinds of seas. The largest sea in the world is the Pacific Ocean, and it works. The IT certification sea works too, but it could function better.
Although criticisms of IT certification are as varied as the people who make them, they often include the following in some form:
- The list of IT certifications is so long and the credentials are so diverse in quality and skill level that it’s very difficult to identify which ones provide real value, and that makes them all less valuable.
- The certification marketplace is tainted by poorly-developed certifications and people who game the system, making all certifications less valuable.
- Somebody needs to fix these things!
Then the critic sits back waits for the IT certification vendors to do the fixing.
Here’s what I would like to say to such critics: I agree – but not with the part about waiting for the certification vendors to do the fixing.
The certification vendors play a key role, but they can’t do it alone. They can’t really do it together, either, because they are in many cases direct competitors with competing products and are not particularly likely (or able) to sit down and work together. There have been collaborative efforts between certification vendors (see ITCC) but they have moved at a glacial pace and have accomplished little. They could really use some outside help.
Join the Discussion and Make IT Certification Better
That’s why GoCertify started the Make IT Certification Better initiative — in an effort to provide some of that help. At MakeCertificationBetter.com, anyone can explore issues, ask questions, and propose solutions related to improving IT certification.
Please use it to share your opinions about IT certification, along with your ideas about how to make it better. You can vote on the importance of what’s already been suggested or add your own ideas about how to increase the value of IT certifications. From smaller issues, such as exactly what feedback a test taker should receive on a score report, to larger issues, such as how IT professionals and those who hire them can keep track of all these certifications and what they do (or don’t) mean, please contribute your opinions.
GoCertify staff will collect, study, collate, and digest your input and share the best ideas with anyone who may be able to implement them, including you.
