Bonkers

[Nigel Rantor]

Dean Wilson wrote:
> 
> What's your view on technical certifications? Do they add to an applicant?
> More or less than academic qualifications?
> 

Perhaps wrongly, I think they're meaningless.

For a couple of reasons.

Firstly, I have been on a couple of 'courses' and know that the quality 
varies *wildly*, having a 'pass' from one means very little to me, so 
much so that I don't bother putting them on my CV.

>> Yes, it sucks. Yes you may be the better person for the job. Yes, it 
>> may show a cultural bias. I'll cope.
> 
> You're right in that it's a cultural thing. We prize people that are
> like us and value the same things we do. If you have a degree you'll
> appreciate what it cost to get it and this will be reflected in your
> CV slicing.
> 
> I don't have a degree and I'm not interested in working for a company
> that requires one. I don't feel bad about lacking one, I just consider it a
> warning sign.

I do have a degree, a very nice one :-p but I also remember that I 
wouldn't trust most of the other people who were on my course with any 
kind of real programming work.

I like that I got to see a wide variety of stuff before going into the 
field, but in reality had I not gone I would have tried to learn as much 
as possible anyway, and it's those kind of people I want to work with.

So, from that point of view a degree is irrelevant for general work 
unless they have a masters in something more specialised (automatic 
speech reco for example) or did a PhD in something relevant to the role.

So far I've not been in the situation of having the good fortune to have 
200 applicants for 10 positions, right now the problem is finding anyone 
who wants to work in Marlow.

   n