Donna Garverick wrote:
> Jeff Kell wrote:
> > 3 days training followed by a Sylvan "blessing" does not a
> > certified 3000 professional make.  Sounds more like the MCSE these
> > days <ducking>
>
> i'm curious about why this is direction certification is taking.
> since i <ahem> brought this up at hpworld to have hp education
> provide the training (and the sylvan connection), this is,
> personally, quite disappointing.

All too many "certifications" are taking this route.  In the one area
where I have some knowledge (cisco) even their lower certifications
are being questioned by some "in the know".  At least the CCIE remains a
badge of honor, consisting of a written test, and a hands-on lab within
a year of passing the written where you are given assignments and
watched by engineers; the second day they introduce "bugs" and you have
to troubleshoot.  Failure rate on the lab is about 80%, and there are
less than 4000 CCIEs on the planet.  The earlier certs are turning more
into "trick questions you'll learn in the class" and starting to look
like selling points for the classes than practical experience; at
an MPE level it would be like counting :SHOWOUT SP incorrect when
:LISTSPF was expected (and newer).

As was noted somewhere along the way, certifications are starting to
just mean you can pass a test, much like having a degree just means that
you "can be taught".  We could push to "mass-produce" MPE certified
folks, but the standards would necessarily drop.  If there
is more than one level, at least you can get an idea of people that can
spell MPE, people that can install MPE, and people that are possibly
clueless.  There are big differences, but nevertheless it is *some*
metric that could be of value when interviewing.

Sorry to digress from the IPROF thread into this in detail, but it was
something that had been bugging me about the whole "new IPROF"
certification concept.

Jeff Kell <[log in to unmask]>