Re: The Informix Certified Professional Program
> > > > > Whatever happened to good technical interviews? > > > > Hard to give when you're out there looking for expertise that you don't > > currently have. How do you give a technical interview to a guru? > > > > Certification is a good idea. Would you go to a doctor who hadn't passed > > the bar? ( I would certainly hope so ). > Uhmmm, > 1) Doctors don't take the bar. (Unless they want to cut out the lawyers > when > they get sued for malpractice. ;-) > 2) Doctors take board certification. This is controlled by the state so > competency is also state by state. > 3) You can still practice Medicine and not be board certified. > These doctors exist so I guess that people do and will see them. > Of course HMOs probably enjoy the fact that they are cheaper too! ;-) No, you've got it backwards. Doctors pass all the bars every morning looking for their lawyers. (In other words my original linking the doctor and the bar together was a joke). > > >In the beginning of any such > > endeavour you are going to have the issue of acceptance of the standard. > > Sure it's another revenue stream - Informix isn't another NPR. On the > > other hand, $250 - or even $800 is not that much. > Gee Jack, does that mean HP pays for all of your training? Training yes - provided I can justify it. Certification not. > If the $800 came from your pocket would you say the same? I tend to view HPs money as though it were mine own, I am loathe to spend it. Besides which I find that teaching oneself is a better option than many classes. > How about if all the vendors required certification for all the products > you had to support? It adds up pretty quick. Plus of course the cost of > training in the first place. If I were setting myself up as a practicing OB/GYN + a Thorassic Surgeon + a lawyer + whatever else, then I would hope to qualify in all of those areas. Some vendors do (require it that is). > There will always be bad vars/consultants/whoever in this industry. > Unlike doctors who must go through Medical School, or Lawyers who must > attend law school, Programmers / SysAdmin / etc do not have to have > any specialized training. Heck you don't even need a degree ! Very true. Certification is no gaurantee of quality, just the ability to take a test. Still, such ability proves that you've gone at least that far, that this is a field in which you are serious. Perhaps if we had some Board for Programmers and Sysadmins (and another one for etc.) we might get some better software out there. > Certification does not guarantee the success of a project That's what managers are for. > or that the individuals who are certified are capable of completing the work. Again, managers should have their ear to the ground here to understand what skillset they need. > Technical Interviews are key. An interview is always wise. I would not hire Frank Loyd Wright to design my home ( a) because I couldn't afford him, b) I think he's dead ), if I could not work with him. > Even if you lack the specifics, a good manager can get a feel for a > candidates potential performance. If they're used to the hiring cycle, yes. On the other hand there are BS artists who can make you believe they know anything - even after the system doesn't come up, and some technical whizzes who can't convince you they know how to tell time. My $.02 objoke() ( Q. how many hardware engineers does it take to change a lightbulb? A. None, they fix it with software. ) cheers j. _____________________________________________________________________________ Jack Parker - Hewlett Packard, DMD/IS Boise, Idaho, USA jparker@hpbs3645.boi.hp.com Back in Boise _____________________________________________________________________________ If anything can go wrong, fix it. To hell with Murphy. _____________________________________________________________________________ Any opinions expressed herein are my own and not those of my employers. _____________________________________________________________________________