Re: SAGE, certification, and you

[Dave Close <dave@compata.com>]

Some of the first, almost knee-jerk, reactions to this proposal seem to 
attribute to certification the same ills which apply to licensing. 
Certification may make licensing easier for the politicians to pass, 
but it isn't the same thing in itself. It's a voluntary program; if you 
don't like it, you aren't required to participate. Even though I don't 
like licensing at all, I'm still happier to see a diploma from a 
reputable university on the wall at my doctor's office.

We have lots of certification programs already. Most of them are called 
college degrees. I was amused when Tina Darmohray wrote, "I've never 
hired anyone because they had a certificate in anything. Education and 
experience is why you hire someone." Education is usually certified by 
a diploma, which is perhaps the highest form of certification around. 
Membership in professional organizations is frequently listed on a 
resume for much the same reason. I wouldn't ignore a job candidate's 
certifications, though I might ascribe lower or negative value to some 
of them.

Face it, the reason some in Usenix feel a need for certification is 
because they feel the colleges and trade schools aren't filling the 
need. There are some good programs, but not nearly enough graduates of 
them. Continuing education is only as good as the instructor and, other 
than through your local JC, is frequently overpriced. There is no 
standard curriculum to which we can refer when evaluating a diploma. (I 
have a hard time knowing if a BSCS degree involved programming or 
hardware design.) Perhaps the best contribution Usenix could make would 
be to help develop such a curriculum, then leave it to the schools to 
issue the diplomas.
-- 
Dave Close, Compata, Costa Mesa CA  "Politics is the business of getting
dave@compata.com, +1 714 434 7359    power and privilege without
dhclose@alumni.caltech.edu           possessing merit." - P. J. O'Rourke