On certifications in the tech industry
Tags: node, webdev, career, healthydebate
Published: 2019-10-23 04:27:42

---
title: On certifications in the tech industry
published: true
description: My thoughts and discussion on certifications, inspired by a discussion on Twitter and my experiences with trying to earn some.
tags: node, webdev, career, healthydebate
---
**UPDATE:**
While I think what the OpenJS Foundation is doing isn't a net negative and don't think certifications should be balked at completely, a friend and colleague of mine, [Michael Schofield](https://twitter.com/schoeyfield), made some excellent points regarding certification that I hadn't thought about. 

{% twitter 1186871722177368064 %}

It's challenged me to re-examine my biases here a bit. If certifications continue to normalize in the industry, it can lead to employers having control of who gets in, thus gate-keeping. Certifications can also serve to put a developer in debt if they don't pan out, much like with degrees. Though I will say, to that end, someone intimate with the initiative did let me know that a diversity and inclusion program is on the wishlist to make it more accessible to those who typically can't afford it.

I encourage you to read through [Michael's Twitter thread](https://twitter.com/schoeyfield/status/1186871722177368064) in addition to my sentiments below.

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NearForm published a blog post recently written by one of their principal architects, David Clements. The piece [announced the launch of two new certification programs](https://www.nearform.com/blog/node-js-developer-certification-what-to-expect/): the [OpenJS Node Services Developer (JSNSD)](https://training.linuxfoundation.org/certification/JSNSD/) and [OpenJS Node Application Developer (JSNAD)](https://training.linuxfoundation.org/certification/JSNAD/) certifications.

The reception on Twitter that I saw was luke-warm at best. Much of the criticism was terse, primarily wondering why the OpenJS Foundation would back such an initiative. Why charge $300 for something people have been working on for years? Why introduce more gate-keeping to the industry?

{% twitter 1186731244165521410 %}

While I pride myself on being a self-taught developer, I have done certification coursework in the past for a couple of platforms. So, in light of the recent discussion including some I was involved in, I thought I'd at least put my thoughts on the matter out there.

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Many software companies and third-party vendors offer vocational training and coursework for official and unofficial certifications. Popular opinion amongst developers is that certifications are often a sinkhole for money and time, and like I said, can be used as a gate-keeping mechanism.

{% twitter 1186837948483985408 %}

That's a point I can agree with. There are many certification programs that are often prohibitive to independent developers and only serve to create a false scarcity of talent for that specific work. I had such an experience earlier this year in a previous role, in which I had a soft requirement to pass a certification exam to be able to work with a large-scale CMS platform.

Despite that, I feel that certification courses can also be a benefit and boon to developers in some ways. Pulling from my own experience, I was able to participate in a vocational training course offered to me by the local government while living on food stamps in 2016. While I didn't take the certification exam and have yet to, completing the coursework was training enough to progress my career and helped me land my first full-time web development role.

While my situation is definitely unique, I find that many of the statements levied against the OpenJS certifications seem to be knee-jerk reactions to something commonly, though understandably, lambasted. Certifications and their coursework, in general, offer a structured environment or platform from which new developers or those familiar with other stacks can learn. They can also provide validation of a developer's skillset to potential clients, often in the Enterprise realm where software development is often discussed outside the engineering department at a high, unnuanced level.

OpenJS' certifications, in my opinion, improve upon that by creating an opportunity for that validation at a more reasonable cost compared to others. It also helps continue to solidify JavaScript's place as a useful programming language in the enterprise space, one dominated by Java and C#.

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None of this is to say this is a perfect solution to anything or that there is even a problem to be solved with one more certification. Many developers build careers while never taking an exam, even though many often pay for courses, whether or not a form of verification is offered. I only hope to bring forward what I feel to be several benefits to such programs existing and to hopefully open a dialogue. What have been your thoughts regarding certification programs in the tech industry? Do you feel the community will benefit from a Node certification or could this be its bane?