# I am the Watcher. I am your guide through this vast new twtiverse.
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@crunched In my opinion most certificates are not even worth the paper they're printed on. I've seen, met and even had to work with people who had collected heaps of certificates but didn't have the slightest clue what they're doing. The true experts with very good knowledge and experience I came across usually don't have them or at least don't show them off.
The same goes for titles. The one big thing uni told me is, just because somebody has a diploma, master's, doctor's or professor's degree doesn't mean anything. Except they once got the endurance to finally get it completed. But that's it, it doesn't automatically mean you can derive some other stuff from that, such as that they're particular good at something. Of course they might be actually really, really good, but my point is it doesn't necessarily mean that. In my experience whenever people bear a title outside of academia you know right away that you've got to deal with a skite most of the times. I only have a single exception in mind.
Completing a training or course for some topic is a nice thing, no doubt about that. But after passing the exam I never felt like "oh, now I fully got it". At best it's a starting point for a deeper understanding in the future. It helps if you know the theory, that's for sure. However, it just needs time to fully grasp it. Well, "fully" is such a big term, maybe "grasp it enough" is the better phrasing. ;-) Experience always comes with practice. I'm convinced it doesn't work without it. You always have to do it long enough to finally connect all the dots. Keep in mind, theory and practice are very often two different pairs of shoes.
Nearly all my (work) mates who I consider experts (or something very close to that) share a very similar view. Mine might be more extreme on some aspects, though.
Having said that, I never heard on CompTIA, so I cannot comment on that.
Haha, not really the answer you're looking for. ;-)
I completely agree with @lyse here π Having "certificates" or "showing them off" is worthless. I for example as a Lead SRE and currently hiring _actually_ tend to dismiss outright any CV that has them. I either ignore them or it taints my impression of them π’ (I know I shouldn't do this, becuase biases are bad, but I do anyway).
As @lyse said learning is a good thing. We must always learn. But learning without doing is also pointless IHMO. It's one thing to learn X, but another to do X.
This is called "practical experience".
I always tell all my candidates that interview, go out and learn this stuff, practise, it, tinker, hack and experiment.
That's my $0.02 worth π
I completely agree with @lyse here π Having "certificates" or "showing them off" is worthless. I for example as a Lead SRE and currently hiring _actually_ tend to dismiss outright any CV that has them. I either ignore them or it taints my impression of them π’ (I know I shouldn't do this, becuase biases are bad, but I do anyway).
As @lyse said learning is a good thing. We must always learn. But learning without doing is also pointless IHMO. It's one thing to learn X, but another to do X.
This is called "practical experience".
I always tell all my candidates that interview, go out and learn this stuff, practise, it, tinker, hack and experiment.
That's my $0.02 worth π
@crunched
if you're looking to gain knowledge a cert may provide a framework of what you need to study to find your path in tech.
i have certs and omit them every time.
the exception is if you're following a track of security. oscp/gpen are fairly well-respected. these are not really tests you can bullshit your way through. they demonstrate that you've done your homework and took the subject seriously. i'd hire folks who could pass them. because i took both and respect their approach.
@crunched the security realm does not have enough operators to fill the millions of open jobs globally. as technology advances this is an area of discipline that really needs help.
keep in mind, like all avenues of tech security has it's down sub-disciplines (of which there are many). i encourage everyone to experiment and find what they're interested in and pursue it.
it started in the 90s, when security was relevant but often overlooked. it was more a trial-by-fire situation where as a systems operator i had to learn security trappings. no magic pill for this one. lots of time, experimentation, failure, and finding a handful of people to bounce ideas off of. this particular field is very lucrative, but if you've followed me at all you'll know money doesn't motivate me. i'm simply fascinated with solving puzzles :-)
reach out direct if you have questions
lol guys im loving this because im tryna career change from science to βtechβ. i aint tryna get a cert, just need to get hired lel
I too don't have any kind of certification, yet I'm the lead developer in my company.
Half a year ago we had to hire a junior developer and when interviewing the candidates some of them had lot of paper to show but no experience or real interest at all, in the end we picked that one guy who just did some simple experiments on its own and didn't even know how to code in the beginning.
For me what really matters is the curiosity and will to learn.βοΈ