Topic suggestions: Certification support

[twins.fan]

As a recent example of why life is not fair, I have been faced with some difficult news. That is the proliferation of certifications.  Some of these certs are EXPENSIVE!

The Dice people seem to have been trying to be more responsive to the needs of the forum members with the introduction of employers who have seemed to be looking for new employees.  I wonder how successful that has been.  Has anyone actually received a job offer for one of these jobs?

I have suggestion in the spirit of helping membership to become more employeable.  That is certification support. Some that would suit my interests are Java, Spring, C++, JQuery, etc.  Do you think that having a forum for certs would be useful?  Maybe Dice could organize some cert discounts.  It would be nice if some state employment agencies would help organize some cert programs in an effort to help the unemployed find employment.

[twins.fan]

I am interested in getting certified for Core Spring.  The requirements are that you take a four day course that costs $2790.  I asked the Spring people if the people in Bangalore had to pay that price. I was told that the course was being given by a "Vmware Partner" and that they do not know the price that their "partner" charges.

[bg6638]

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twins.fan wrote:

As a recent example of why life is not fair, I have been faced with some difficult news. That is the proliferation of certifications.  Some of these certs are EXPENSIVE!

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....... and it's only going to get worse!  You'll see companies demand an ever increasing number of certs in an effort to DQ as many US IT Pro's as possible, before hiring someone who was lucky to have spent 30 days reading a "For Dummies" book, who also can barely speak English!

******

  It would be nice if some state employment agencies would help organize some cert programs in an effort to help the unemployed find employment.

*****

Keep dreaming Twins ...................  In Ohio, the OBES is a complete joke! 

[twins.fan]

Yeah, I know BG.  I just want to make sure that EVERYBODY knows. Plus, I want tthe corporate CROOKS know that I know it.

[yleedice]

Hi Twins.fan,

Thanks for noticing. As a matter of fact, we are trying to be more responsive to forum members. I was recently hired to try to make the forums more useful to you, the readers.  

In the meantime, do you know about the government's One Stop Centers? They do vary in quality, but they can be a source of retraining funding. Silicon Valley's Connect One Stop is excellent, although recent cuts in funding have dropped back services.  

http://www.careeronestop.org/training/trainingeduhome.asp

[twins.fan]

Thank your ylee,  I have to believe that you guys want to build a long term business, and if you are able to address the needs of the users of this forum, maybe that enables Dice to build a long term business.

As your colleagues at Dice will probably attest, I am very skeptical of the corporate community, including Dice.  So I would like to say to the corporate community, let's cut through the propaganda.  If you, the corporate community, truly want productive US STEM workers, PROVIDE US A WAY TO BECOME TRAINED in emerging technologies!!

This $2790 approach to get certified in a secondary skill like Spring is TOTAL BS!!  And Spring is not the most egregious offender by a long shot.

If Dice wants to be part of the solution, is it possible for Dice to work to provide a certification path for US STEM workers whose skills may need to be refreshed, without the crushing fees that makes certification impossible for disenfranchised US STEM workers?

[JCPOPESCU]

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twins.fan wrote:

Thank your ylee,  I have to believe that you guys want to build a long term business, and if you are able to address the needs of the users of this forum, maybe that enables Dice to build a long term business.

As your colleagues at Dice will probably attest, I am very skeptical of the corporate community, including Dice.  So I would like to say to the corporate community, let's cut through the propaganda.  If you, the corporate community, truly want productive US STEM workers, PROVIDE US A WAY TO BECOME TRAINED in emerging technologies!!

This $2790 approach to get certified in a secondary skill like Spring is TOTAL BS!!  And Spring is not the most egregious offender by a long shot.

If Dice wants to be part of the solution, is it possible for Dice to work to provide a certification path for US STEM workers whose skills may need to be refreshed, without the crushing fees that makes certification impossible for disenfranchised US STEM workers?

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I don't think certification is the answer.  

Certifications impress me as a cottage industry.  Hardware and software makers have found yet another way to tap their customers for money in the form of a certification of questionable value.    I have seen these things come and go like a calendar.  I can remember when Novell was the "hot" cert.  Then came "A+" and then various Microsoft certifications and somewhere in that mix Cisco threw their hat into the fire.

And I will repeat:  the SKILL is the ability to use the TOOL.  I think 99% of IT and Engineering employers fail to realize this very fact.  Instead they would rather put the cart in front of the horse and erect a facade of the TOOL in the most recent hardware or software being the SKILL.   This, of course, is completely preposterous.

I think the solution is employers have to realize the economic well being of their ventures is one and the same as the economic well being of US Citizens.   The American middle class has proven it's worth in being a partner in the industrial and economic success of America in the past.     The status quo is simply unacceptable and unsustainable.

[twins.fan]

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JCPOPESCU wrote:

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twins.fan wrote:

Thank your ylee,  I have to believe that you guys want to build a long term business, and if you are able to address the needs of the users of this forum, maybe that enables Dice to build a long term business.

As your colleagues at Dice will probably attest, I am very skeptical of the corporate community, including Dice.  So I would like to say to the corporate community, let's cut through the propaganda.  If you, the corporate community, truly want productive US STEM workers, PROVIDE US A WAY TO BECOME TRAINED in emerging technologies!!

This $2790 approach to get certified in a secondary skill like Spring is TOTAL BS!!  And Spring is not the most egregious offender by a long shot.

If Dice wants to be part of the solution, is it possible for Dice to work to provide a certification path for US STEM workers whose skills may need to be refreshed, without the crushing fees that makes certification impossible for disenfranchised US STEM workers?

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I don't think certification is the answer.  

Certifications impress me as a cottage industry.  Hardware and software makers have found yet another way to tap their customers for money in the form of a certification of questionable value.    I have seen these things come and go like a calendar.  I can remember when Novell was the "hot" cert.  Then came "A+" and then various Microsoft certifications and somewhere in that mix Cisco threw their hat into the fire.

And I will repeat:  the SKILL is the ability to use the TOOL.  I think 99% of IT and Engineering employers fail to realize this very fact.  Instead they would rather put the cart in front of the horse and erect a facade of the TOOL in the most recent hardware or software being the SKILL.   This, of course, is completely preposterous.

I think the solution is employers have to realize the economic well being of their ventures is one and the same as the economic well being of US Citizens.   The American middle class has proven it's worth in being a partner in the industrial and economic success of America in the past.     The status quo is simply unacceptable and unsustainable.

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I agree that many certs have questionable value.  For instance Struts and Struts 2 was a hot technology a couple of years ago, and now it is obsolete, made obsolete by Spring, the technology for which I want a cert.  I actually have already learned Struts and Struts 2. Now knowing Struts and Struts 2 is useless knowledge.  So investing in $3K in a Spring cert, along with the time and effort, may not be that wise.

However, I would like to get the cert, but I will have a hard time justifying $3K.  $3K is pretty precious to me right now.

I eagerly await a comment from Dice beyond acknowledging my suggestion. Plus, I would like to see some kind of acknowledgement that the pricing structure charged US STEM workers greatly exceeds the pricing structure in INDIA!

[yleedice]

Not only did the Dice representative do more than acknowledge that certification is a valid topic, but the representative pointed you to a funding source not only in your own state, but in your own region of the state.  Not only that, but the funding source is one that is legally bound to serve only citizens and residents with a legal right to work in the US for any employer.

[twins.fan]

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yleedice wrote:

Not only did the Dice representative do more than acknowledge that certification is a valid topic, but the representative pointed you to a funding source not only in your own state, but in your own region of the state.  Not only that, but the funding source is one that is legally bound to serve only citizens and residents with a legal right to work in the US for any employer.

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I don't think the Dice representative did anything of the sort.  The Dice Representative sent me to some TOTALLY WORTHLESS website.

Perhaps hte Dice Representative should reread the question for clarity.

Let me try to ;make it clear once again.  It would be nice if there was some kind of certification portal here that would enable the members of the forum to bcome certified in various technologies. Perhaps a Dice Representative who is familiar with the technology to address those issues.  That way, we would not have to translate the comments for them.