This week's book giveaway is in the General Computing forum. We're giving away four copies of Arduino in Action and have Martin Evans, Joshua Noble, and Jordan Hochenbaum on-line! See this thread for details.
Hello, I have lately been thinking to start to prepare for the SCJP exam but then someone told me that it really doesn't matter much if you have a certification or not... He said most companies only look at the experience of a programmer and not if he is certified. At my company this is the case because they don't even push you to go for the certification. Is this true ? Or are there people who can give me strong arguments to go for the certification even if I don't plan to find another employer ? Thanks, Kristof
Being certified doesn't necessarily make you a good programmer. Companies know this. That's why they look at experience, not just certifications when determining who to hire. Of course, certification with experience is always a plus. You may want to check with your current employer. Perhaps they'll give you some sort of bonus for becoming certified. If nothing else, they may be willing to cover your costs of trying to get certified. One other note is that just about anyone can earn their SCJP certification. You don't need to know much about programming to memorize answers to a bunch of questions and pass the exam. That's why employers look for experience. However, past the SCJP exam is the SCJD exam, which requires you to build something, hence gaining some real experience. Certifications like that, in my book, "pay off" a bit better in the workplace. Of course, in order to take the SCJD, you first must pass the SCJP. I hope that helps, Corey
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