cbt planet

The issue of certifications is a contentious one in the field of IT. On one hand there are the people who try to hire without having necessarily the expertise to judge the candidate (ie. HR). On the other hand there are the people who complain about the low quality of “certified” people.

The best attitude I know about towards certification is the following (unfortunately I can’t recall where I originally read it): recognize that there are multiple type of job roles. If you are looking for someone axed exactly on one technology (ie. managing Solaris servers), a certification can be a useful indicator. However if you are looking for someone whose responsibilities are not so clear-cut (ie. Java developer, but also should know some Linux, Bash scripting and Perl if possible), you are much better of searching for people with certain personality traits than with these exact certifications. Again, something I’ve read and I agree wholeheartedly with: “recruiters don’t invent candidates – they find existing ones, if the exists”.

An other aspect of certificates is cost – both monetary and time. Because of this, it is usually a nice reward companies can give their developers.

Having said that, let me write a little about the MCITP (Microsoft Certified IT Professional) bootcamps announced by cbt planet. From what I’ve seen, CBT Planet focuses on providing on-line (ie. video) training for certifications. This is an easy and time-effective way to gather the information you need to pass the exam. The bootcamp is simply a condensed version of that.

The structure of the Microsoft certifications is as confusing as ever: as with many others, there is no “one” MCITP, rather there are many flavors. So, should you get it? It is a matter of personal preference. My personal opinion would be: if it is offered by the company, definitely. An other definitive yes is the case you know for sure that it is a requirement for a future job. Otherwise – not so much.

Full disclosure: this is a paid review from ReviewMe. Under the terms of the understanding I was not obligated to skew my viewpoint in any way (ie. only post positive facts).