Finally, given the predicted demand for software professionals, a Linux certificate will provide a valuable aid to employers in discovering productive software professionals. The Certification Process Certification is an assessment of an individual's knowledge and skills in a given area of expertise. Currently, more than 170 certificates are offered and many of these have overlapping areas of expertise. These certificates are generally centered around a vendor's hardware or software product. The certificate provider typically defines core knowledge and develops texts, study guides and other course material that cover the defined expertise.
Students enroll in the certificate program and purchase the appropriate texts and study guides.
Core knowledge is usually divided into four to six areas, with separate tests for each area. The goal of such test taking is not to compare one person's test performance to another's, but to determine whether an individual meets or exceeds the minimal requirements of the vendor training program. Once the candidate earns a passing grade on all of the required tests, a certificate is issued authorizing the software professional to list the certificate with their name. Key Certification Benefits Certificates assure employers that the holder has a specific set of skills and a minimal level of competence. Company management, in turn, exploits certification by advertising the employee's skills to their customers and billing customers more per hour than for non-certified employees.