Re: Certification, Degrees, etc.

[Fabien Vais <phantoms -at- ACCENT -dot- NET>]

Re: Dan Wise comments,

Finally, some worthwhile advice on the subject of certification! I can't
believe it took that long to hear this. It seems to me that no one ever said
that certification was WRONG, but many said that it wasn't the end-all and
be-all of our recognition problems. That's exactly what Dan Wise is saying.
Competent managers needs all these tools and much more, plus good judgment,
to hire the right people for the job.

Fabien

At 07:55 PM 12/15/96 -0800, you wrote:
>Colleagues,

>When are we going to extract our heads from that warm and fuzzy hole in the
sand (or wherever
>else you may have your head at the moment)?

>1.  Certification is no guarantee of competency

>2.  Degrees are no guarantee of competency

>3. Proficiency with EVERY piece of software ever written is no guarantee of
competency

>4.  Suitcases full of writing samples are no guarantee of competency

>5.  Years of experience are no guarantee of competency

>6.  Membership in STC *or any other technical, social, or fraternal
organization* is no
>guarantee of competency

>7.  Age, sex, skin color, religion, love of animals, etc. are no guarantee
of competency

>Then how do we manage to hire competent individuals some, most, or all of
the time?  Judgement.

>1.  Certification, if handled properly, *could* be a useful management tool
for judging
>competency

>2.  Degrees often are one of the *many* criteria used by the capable
manager to judge competency

>3.  Proficiency with specific pieces of software can be a useful criterion
for judging
>competency

>4.  Writing samples, if handled properly, can be a useful tool for judging
competency

>5.  Years of experience *in specific, appropriate areas* can be a useful
tool for judging
>competency

>6.  Membership in STC can provide the competent manager with another avenue
to check to
>determine competency.

>7.  Age, sex, etc. are still no guarantee of competency no matter how you
slice it.

>How do we apply these tools?  Judgement, for God's sake!  Judgement.  If
you are incapable of
>exercising sound judgement, no arsenal of tools will do you one bit of
good.  If you are
>competent, you probably use as many tools as possible to check competency.
And even if you are
>the most competent manager in the world, no *one* tool is going to provide
you with a foolproof
>answer.

>So let's stop beating the certification/degree/STC/experience horses to
extinction.  We need
>them all--and often more.

>Dan Wise
>dewise -at- ix -dot- netcom -dot- com