Re: What's It Worth?

[stabin@esper.com (Mike Stabin)]

The general discussions here on HP certification have been useful.  The
general answer on what having a certification may be "worth" in terms of
more $$ or job security are, of course, indeterminate.  The correct answer
is "what the market will bear" - a particular employer may insist on
certification for applicants, for whatever reason, and may pay more, and
others may ignore the issue, as they may perceive it not to be important.
We are a long way from certification being mandatory, as in law or some
forms of engineering.  If it were, it would have to offer as options for
testing a lot more areas than it does at present - in its current form, on a
given year, it may or may not really "hit" the areas that a particular
candidate has experience in, and be considerably harder or easier for the
same candidate with the same preparation, which I think should be worked on. 

But now, it's a rather ill-defined qualification that comes with being
certified.  One is certainly not necessarily more competent than another HP
who is not certified.   As with a PhD, certainly one can find examples of
excellent people who don't have one and folks whose work is below par who do
have one.  It might actually be nice if it were mandatory, in the sense like
for a bar exam that has to be passed in order to practice, because the
criteria for testing and grading would have to become more objective.  But
in general, it is certainly a worthy goal for any HP to consider.  I feel
that the difficulty level is fairly appropriate.  One will not waltz in and
pass it without several months of serious study on top of whatever knowledge
one has already gained through education and experience.  My only criticism
of it is the "hit and miss" nature of different tests on different years,
but mostly I think the board does a good job of administering the
certification process. 

Mike Stabin
Oak Ridge