Are Certifications Worth It?

Wondering how you can support this newsletter? I would love it if you bought me a coffee. It helps me write more code and more newsletters.

Welcome back to another issue!

This one is, once again, not technical. I actually am finding that the less technical newsletter are more fun. Speaking in the abstract of thoughts and opinions is much lighter to digest. I also get 0 requests to talk technical and multiple requests to write about topics like this.

Anyways, let’s talk about certifications.

What’s the point of a certification?

Unlike doctors, lawyers, and civil engineers, software engineering has 0 industry-wide certifications for you to “practice” the craft. You can open any computer, edit a text file, and now you can update your LinkedIn with 5 years of experience as a software engineer (I wouldn’t recommend trying this).

All that being said, certifications exist all around the software development space. Tools, platforms, and even programming languages themselves have certifications to prove your expertise. Certifications provide a clear indication that an individual has some form of skill set in a particular technology.

Here’s the thing. Not all hiring managers care about your certifications. In fact, you can have multiple certifications, but if you don’t have a bachelor’s degree, your application might get tossed.

It’s a sad reality, but that’s the environment we work in now.

What gives then? What’s the point of getting a certification if hiring managers don’t care?

Reasons to Get Certified

Grow your skillset

The first reason is to grow your skillset. Many engineers get stuck in a role and don’t find themselves expanding. Maybe they do bug fixes and feature development in a single language (or potentially 2), but they never really find themselves doing new tasks. If you’re in this position and you want to learn something new, it’s great to try to find a certification outside of your immediate skill stack.

If you weren’t here early on, I suggest you read my newsletter on the T Shaped developer. This will help you better understand what I am talking about when I say “skill stack”.

However, that’s only a single situation. Many engineers in startup roles find themselves spread quite thin.

Maybe you’re doing multiple tasks. You only really understand one thing quite deeply, so the other tasks are hard to discuss with project managers & other stakeholders. It’s important to dig deeper into those areas to become more well-rounded.

Earn more buckeroos

Money is pretty cool. Let’s be honest, most of us are not doing this for fun. We want money. This one grows on the first reason. If you have more skills, you can solve more problems. Software engineers that can solve problems make more money.

It’s really that simple. In general, individuals are paid on how big of a problem they can solve.

Grow your skill set, get certifications, make more money.

Your company pays for it

Most companies will pay you to invest in yourself. If you’re not taking advantage of this, you’re wasting a precious benefit. It’s literally free money.

This also builds on top of the last 2 reasons. If you are not taking advantage of this, you’re losing out not just on the raw benefit, but also on your earnings potential by having the certification. Do the thing people!

Reasons not to get a certification

Not all certifications are made equal

It’s the same reason most people do not get philosophy degrees. I’m not dogging on them, but the reality is that the degree doesn’t have the same job outlooks as others. It’s the same for certifications.

A certification for being a Java programmer will probably not yield the same benefits as the Security+ certification. It’s too niche. Meanwhile, the Security+ opens the door to many job opportunities in the cyber security space or in government contracting (at least in the US).

It’s important to do the research necessary to understand which certification is right for you.

You don’t have the chance to apply what you’ve learned

This isn’t the worst thing, but humans are forgetful. If you learn a skill, get certified, but never use it. You will ultimately not remember that skill over a long period of time.

I suggest that you get certified in things that are immediately important to your career. Think about where you want to be next and what will help you get there.

This is the same with building software. It doesn’t make sense to learn the entirety of a language to build a project. Learn what you need to finish your work and be done with it. Ultimately, this will make you a better engineer.

The certification doesn’t have industry respect

There’s a plethora of certifications out there. As mentioned, not all of them are relevant in the industry. Some are better than others. I suggest reading reddit or finding other forums where people discuss specific certifications. If there’s one you want to take, give it a look.

This should not be the main reason to not get a certification though. It’s possible that you have a burning desire to go in-depth about a particular topic. It’s OK to get certified because it’s irrelevant. If it helps you bring more value to your company and/or extends your skillset, there’s no harm in doing it.

Final words

I personally like obtaining certifications. Sure, not every hiring manager cares, but I like knowing that I’ve proven to myself that I know a subject enough to be certified.

If you are starting from nothing and want to know where to start, I’d suggest the AWS Certified Practitioner or Security+. Given that these two are great, foundational knowledge of a ton of important principles in computer science. They also have real world applications. These are extremely generic suggestions though. You should ensure that these will be beneficial to you before taking the time, energy, and money to pursue them.

[Insert course to sell “how to get X certification”] (jk)

If you’re new to the newsletter, I lied to you in my initial email telling you you’ll get an email every Sunday. They tend to come on Sundays because I like to write then, but they can come any day of the week. I don’t discriminate.

If you enjoyed this content, please share it with a friend, or buy me a coffee with the link above.

Thanks for reading!