Technical Certifications a Huge Mistake (Google, Meta, Udemy...)

How valuable are technical certifications in getting a job? Is the Meta Frontend Developer certification worth it? What about Udemy courses and other certificates of completion? Here's my take on programming certs as a senior software engineer.

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[bemccune]

Is it a "huge mistake", really? I hate hyperbolic clickbait titles. Obviously a portfolio and proof of skills is super important, but certs aren't a "huge waste of time" particularly when someone is going for a particular position. The road is different for everyone. I like that you focus on learning>certs but it's unreasonable to say that they are a "huge mistake".

[TazExprez]

I think certifications are valuable if you want to get into IT. If you want to become a developer, then you should probably build business class applications, basically the ones that you will be hired to build, and put them on your portfolio site.

[Lordyung]

I’m taking classes on UDEMY not because of certs, I know I need to get a basic understanding in the beginning of the journey. Ultimately, my plan is to apply the knowledge that I am gaining in order to build something that will shine on my future portfolio. One thing that is very hard for beginning self learners is finding the right path. It’s not as easy as a being a college student and choosing a degree where the path is already pretty much laid out.

[eclipsygaming]

People, definitely, shouldn't be looking at certifications as the endgame but rather a starting point. Nowadays, we are blessed with the accessibility for whatever information we need, but that can also be a disadvantage because One would not know where to start. I see the Meta/google/IBM Coursera certifications, for example, as a method for a beginner getting into a certain field to have an idea about the skills needed for the job and most importantly, learn them in the right order without skipping important details. If you view this kind of certifications in that way, in my personal opinion, they will be a great asset, a guide of some sort.
So, yea, other than that, I totally agree with you.

[atwajesper]

I think this subject is pretty simple in a way.

Most industries, specially software development are results oriented. Which means that many employers even though they may put a lot of value on a Uni degree, many of them would be happy to hire whoever is capable of adding value to their companies. Certifications are good. You just have to make sure that you’re actually learning because the goal shouldn’t be collecting certs but actually learning.

It all comes down to: “Can you prove in an interview that you actually know what you claim you know.”

[abdirahmann]

certifications in IT is very valuable, i'll give an example, to get a Network engineering job, you could get to college or do Cisco certifications which are Really valuable and incredibly cheap compared to college and the route to becoming a network engineer is pretty simple, get the CCNA (Cisco certified networking associate), then CCNP (professional level), then the expert level which is the CCIE, anither field i can give an example is cybersec, get the Sec+, linux+, EJPT cert and then finally OSCP, college is valuable, but these certs will accelerate your career soo fast its mad. and some colleges require their students to pass these certs anyway and these certs are very reputable. thanks for taking your time to read this

[philamavikane]

I complete certificates to get a good picture of what I might miss otherwise.

It’s not particularly for the job application neither do I spend too much time on it. Its just a bonus for me being self-taught to have something (with projects).

It’s merely there to help me know what I need to know and what I can do with the tech.

Though I must I agree, it’s easy to get hung up on it while there is little effect to someone who’ll hire you

[ryanfrancisco]

Currently I'm taking the PHP course on Udemy to help me build my information management systems on my work. Certs is great but it really depends on what type of role you'll be applying to.

[Wesjapa]

Certifications and Certificates are different things, and it's easy for people to be confused with the terminologies.

[RATCHET]

Currently certifications are just a benchmark thing for me. As I'm learning I'm also trying to build my own project but for someone who's never touched this until last year i have no idea how the things I use everyday even work but getting into it I love it. Growing up on Legos and building things was always fun. Working with code and the frustrations when something doesn't work it's so gratifying when I figure out why and how something works and to get it to work

[Dr.Kananga]

My suggestion would be to start with youtube tutorial, there are plenty good that teach you the basics, so you can understand without committing time and money to full courses that might not be the thing you're looking for. Then proceed on a certification that has a road map for beginner to develop enough layers to do your first portfolio projects. Finally, a more in.depth certificate to switch gear and solidify the previous learning with complementary portfolio projects.

[knezaBG]

What do you think about AWS certs? I think those are worth getting along with having actual hands-on experience ( like building your own architectures, deploying apps and websites and writing cloudformation templates )

[truthruster]

The employers place high value on a university degree but it is only an expensive piece of paper with an institution's branding which someone spends 4 years acquiring and no different than a $50 online certificate .If someone can acquire the basic skills needed to be a developer within the usual 4 years then employers should be open to that and helping to develop that further instead of pressing on traditional educational qualifications but unfortunately, a large majority still screen out people if they don't have the "right" background without giving a chance and the funny thing is the people with 4 year degrees still struggle on the job and employers still complain there are not good developers available. If the measurement of qualification is "time" then both employers and job seekers are losers.

[makelpearce]

College Senior here, I just wanted to: 1. Thank you so much for the phenomenal, informational/inspiring videos. They have really been helping me figure out some of the potential paths that are out there while keeping me from overwhelming myself. 2. I've recently joined the ctf club at my university and gained a new interest in pen testing. In your opinion, do you think it would be more beneficial to improve my skills in front-end development that I've been doing over the past few months or to hold off for now and really learn the ins and outs of penetration testing?

[johnswanson]

It depends on the job you want ultimately. Software engineering probably not, I’m doing one in data analysis and the skills I am learning are worth it.

[NoirMorter]

This helped me a lot recently. I began by doing my resume site, then linking a few programs I built as well as a website for a family members business. It went well, they took a chance and hired me. Now to not mess it up!

[ninjaoftherift]

I think 1 good cert like the meta one is good to have but not multiple a lot ofyoung devs like me just want to do 4 or 5 certs when my projects and experience matter more I've realized having my own web dev agency has helped a lot

[jzerog]

Im currently on my journey to try to get a job as a programmer. I started with udemy for 2 months doing 2 hours a day and learned some basics but i feel like i still didnt have a good structure so i decided to enroll in back end bootcamp. I have 4 more weeks left. What i realized that i needed the bootcamp to know how to structure my learning. Now after the bootcamp i would know how to keep gaining skills and resources to complete the projects that i had in mind until i get a job in tech

[metallmad]

exactly on point, I've attended the Google Data Analytics course out of curiosity and earned the certificate of "completion" in a month, I'm a former backend developer and a current senior data analyst, wanted to know whether I can recommend it or not for junior analysts and my colleagues, TBH, it's good for those who need an introduction into this field, but you cannot guarantee a job with it alone, especially if you don't have knowledge in statistics, linear algebra even calculus if your job "most likely" is involved with data scientists and machine learning, Google is providing support in finding entry jobs within the U.S. only, the same goes for the other cert programs by Meta and IBM, it's good to start there, but don't take it as a final step before the job, in the interviews they will ask you to showcase studies and explain the approach which got you into insights and conclusion, they will test your skills in Excel, SQL, R and Python, also both Tableau and Power BI, AWS data lake and more, also if you're 40+ your chances will be close to nothing because at that age range employers expect seniors, this is the harsh reality, this has been said, I'm going back into programming the job I've always loved and I'm 45 now, I will quit working for people and go freelancing!

[stphn]

Get recognized certs + build a portfolio, even if the portfolio consists of side projects. Just, in some way, show the employer that although you are new to the industry and have no experience, you are attempting to go outside of the certification bubble and get into the real world.