[Maybe Spam] [Melbourne-pm] Certification options

[leif.eriksen at hpa.com.au]

OK, my $0.02

I find the biggest difference between a QBE (Qualified by Experience) 
programmer and a graduate programmer is their knowledge of Software 
Engineering (capitals deliberate). I know lots of non-graduate 
programmers who can crank out large volumes of code, but sometimes, you 
need to stop them and show them a concept like what a stack is, linked 
lists, dispatch tables etc. Its not that their dumb, they just haven't 
been exposed to the concepts - they learnt a language, started coding, 
and thats what they know. This doesn't always apply, its just a pattern 
I have seen. I dont know if that applies in this case.

Having said that, and assuming they dont want to spent 3 years doing a 
BSc or such like, my first piece advice would be "follow the herd". You 
have the best chance of finding a position with your newly-minted 
certificate if you gain one in an area currently in demand. And right 
now that means C#/.NET or Java (and mainly J2EE in that domain). This 
assumes he want to develope programming skills, not DB or networking stuff.

That said, the gentleman in question may experience the same dilemma I 
do. I am currently studying for my Java Certified Progammer exams. As a 
reasonably competent Perl programmer, I find myself struggling to drag 
myself into the study on a Saturday morning to knock off another chapter 
in the Java course work. Compared to Perl, you have to write So Much 
Code (tm) to do the simplest thing in Java, which makes the whole 
experience somewhat sapping. But I do it because the number of well-paid 
Perl positions is very low in Melbourne, but Java positions are far more 
common (though there is probably just as much competition for them, 
given the current job market). I know I would absolutely dread getting a 
full time Java job, but when it comes to paying the bills, you do what 
you have to.

Currently I see a lot of demand for .NET, and fortunately you could 
probably justify using your hard earned Perl skills by writing servers 
or clients in SOAP::Lite, as a 'just testing' scenario, whatever. An 
employer could be impressed by a candidate who could implement .NET 
architectures in C#, Mono and Perl SOAP::xxx - you would certainly show 
mastery of the technologies and the implementation options.

HTH

Leif Eriksen
Snr Developer
HPA Pty Ltd

ph +61 3 9217 5545



ts at meme.com.au wrote:

> In these days of creeping credentialism, what is the best option for a 
> young man who left school early but has been gainfully employed as a 
> highly productive Perl programmer for most of the last five years, 
> especially given that he is keen to further broaden his technical base 
> which already includes a good mixture of work with related technologies?
>
>
> Tony Smith
> 0405 499 718
> TransForum Developer
> http://www.transforum.net/
>
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