A VERY brief note on certification..

And the phenomenon of a body bestowing a reputation proxy for pay, in effect limiting the field to those who can afford to pay for the proxy, upsets me most deeply.

— The Agile Otter

I once worked for an organization where, during the interview process, we would ask about certifications the individual put on their resume.

We would talk and initiate a dialogue about their certification in technology X looking to check one of two boxes:

You have a certification because it:

a. makes me an expert b. it looks good on my resume

If they answered A, they were instantly rejected as candidates. If they answered B, we were confident that they had not simply studied to the exam and received a certificate without really having the fundamental knowledge. One answer speaks to an interest in improving oneself, the other speaks to buying a career.

In the end, I think “ossification” was our greatest concern. We were seeking individuals interested in Continuous Improvement, and that meant Continuously Improving themselves (without the honours to prove it)