[thelist] Web Certifications??

Mark Groen mg at markgroen.com
Tue Dec 4 22:24:03 CST 2001


----- Original Message -----
From: <malcolm at manlikemalcolm.net>
Subject: [thelist] Web Certifications??


> I am thinking of becoming certified as some sort of "web
professional".
> Can anyone tell me which are the most valuable or highly recommended?
> The local university here offers a  "CIW" certificate program
>
> I was also considering the Macromedia certification.
>
> Thoughts, Suggestions??
>
> Thanks Malcolm
>


    Certifications are nice to hang on a wall and say you have them, but
some of the most often asked questions you get will be "What web sites
have you done so far?" and "got the URL for that?" and "how did they do
that, and can we do it for our site without spending any money?" You
probably won't get many people asking you to bring your certifications
to the initial client meeting or job interview.
   To certified as some sort of "web professional" you need to just *be*
one. That means creating web sites that meet W3C specs, and telling
everyone you know that is what you do. It also means continually
upgrading your skills while listening and learning everything you can
about the internet. Guaranteed there will be some questions from clients
that you have no idea what the answer is, but the more you know the
easier it is to say, "I'm not sure about that, but let me get back to
you with a correct/useful answer shortly" and look like you mean it.
Then do it.
    The latest offering from Macromedia to "Certify" that you know how
to use their software does nothing for me what so ever even though I do
use Macromedia products myself when they are helpful or needed. I would
rather see an A+ grade from your local community college or Brain Bench
showing that you have been educated in HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. The
other languages are certainly all used in web development, but if you
don't have those first three firmly understood you are limiting yourself
greatly. Frankly, if I was hiring and a potential candidate showed me
their Macromedia certs as proof of competence, I would show them the
door.
    To sum up: build lots of sites and have lots of people look at them
and listen to their comments and act upon said comments. You don't have
to build huge e-commerce sites either to get your portfolio together.
The
sites should reflect and showcase your skills, whether it be ASP, CGI,
Perl, php, Cold Fusion or just plain old HTML and CSS. Also, do some
charity work; a gratis site here and there for a good cause shows your
commitment to building web pages and your concern for the community as a
whole.

HTH!
Mark

MG Web Services
Web Site Hosting and Development
www.markgroen.com
mg at markgroen.com
604-780-6917
Vancouver, Canada







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