Is SCJP worth it

[Wilson Mui]

I was suggested to post this question on teh java forum. I am going to be taking my programmer's exam in about 3 weeks. And I've asked around, as to whether that certification really looks good on your resume or not. I've been flamed before by people saying that, just because you have a certificate doesn't mean you know how to program. Sure...and?
So my question is, what do others think? I mean I don't think getting a certificate means you know how to program, but I think the people who usually go get their certificates are programmers who are "good" anyway, and just want a little more credentials. Also do people think possible employers look highly on a SCJP cert.?

[William Brogden]

Back during the dotCOM boom I always asked head-hunters if the employers were aware of the certification. When the certification first started, not too many were aware of it but by 2001 it was very well known.
Bill

[Jessica Sant]

"Deadseasquirrels"
Please adjust your display name to meet the JavaRanch Naming Policy, its our one major rule... and you won't qualify for this week's book giveaway unless your name complies. You can change it here.
As for the value of SCPJ... there's two sides to it -- personally I took the exam as a challenge -- to learn the language better than I did and to have a little something on my resume to show that I know it. But, I can also tell you -- just from working on this forum a lot, that there's a lot of people that don't know how to code -- they just memorize the rules and take the test (and many of them get very high scores -- higher than me). If you really want to show a potential employer that not only do you know the language, but that you can program in it, and program in it well look into the SCJD or SCEA exams -- you actually have to develop a full fledged program according to a given spec.

[Bryan Helm]

Since SCJD requires SCJP, that is another justification for SCJP. I am also skeptical of SCJP vs. programming talent, but as an experienced Java developer, I can tell you I have learned a lot of details about Java, of which I was previously unaware, from looking at mock exams, even after reading the JLS, and you never know when that kind of fundamental knowledge may become useful. So I am now an advocate of studying for the exam even if you do not actually take it.

[Valentin Crettaz]

Please also check out the following discussions:
Is Certification really worth it ?
Opinions on SCJP2 test