Re: cert discussion

[William LeFebvre <wnl@groupsys.com>]

You wrote:
> Date: Mon, 23 Feb 1998 11:45:59 PST
> From: pomeranz@netcom.com (Hal Pomeranz)
> To: Hal Miller <hal@tera.tera.com>, sage-members@usenix.ORG
> Subject: Re: cert discussion

> You say that the Board DID NOT set out to:
> 
> }   - require certification for membership
> 
> but then you later mention a problem that you're personally facing:
> 
> } if I am faced (I've been there) with
> } 160+ applicants for a single junior position, I need something to help with
> } the preselection process.
> 
> It seems to me that suddenly the certification IS a requirement, if 
> somebody isn't going to get through the qualification process without it.

I belive Hal (and the board) was referring to requiring certification
for SAGE membership.  As in, you would not need to be certified just
to be a member of SAGE.

Clearly one of the primary purposes of certification is to help
employers distinguish between knowledge levels in a pool of
applicants.  How well any sort of certification can do that is,
obviously, hotly debated.

				William LeFebvre
				Group sys Consulting
				<wnl@groupsys.com>
				+1 770 813 3224