Are programming certifications worth getting?

Hello there and thank you for your time.

I am currently a student working towards an associate in software development/programming. I am trying to get more serious about my studies so I might be able to get a job and begin to utilize and grow further.
I was wondering if getting different certifications might be a worthy endeavor in attempts to get a job?

Thank you for any advice in these matters.

 

Are you asking about certifications in specific computer programming languages? If the certifications can be used to earn credit hours towards the associate degree, there is no harm. Most of the exceptional and even many of the not so exceptional software developers are self-taught and went to college or university either to study the theory and/or earn a diploma or degree. As far as programming certifications go they have their place in some workplaces and can give an entry-level applicant a way to "prove" to the potential employer that the applicant has some training / background with a particular language. The (MCAD) Microsoft Certified Applications Developer training might be of interest. You will find similar offerings from other software vendors. Which programming languages and/or operating system platforms do you want to work with on a daily basis? If you have an interest in gaining real-world experience and have a particular area in mind, there are many open source projects in need of volunteer software developers and these projects always have a laundry list of features to be added or bugs to be fixed to get your feet wet. Once you write the code and verify its functionality, you can submit the source code to the project and the core team will determine whether to include it. The benefit of these projects from the potential employer's perspective boils down to being able to verify your contributions within minutes - your name / email address will appear in the source code and/or changelog.

 

Certification is inexpensive and is a great way to get your foot in the door when you don't have a bachelors degree or a lot of experience. As long as you do well on the interview, a hiring manager has some comfort in hiring a person who has been certified in the technology he will work with. Working through certification is also a great learning experience so it has intrinsic value.

 

In the Software development realm. Certifications might not the way to go, but good to supplement in your resume. I would recommend on concentrate into Java development; which is currently the hottest programming language

 

Certs aren't nearly as valuable in the programming realm as opposed to the networking/systems administration realm. The only two places where I have seen them valued has been in the government and with large corporations. Even then, it is VERY VERY hard for a new programmer WITHOUT a degree to break into large corporate programming with just certs.

Additionally, amongst the "hot" technologies/languages/frameworks now, only Java and .NET certs have gained any traction.

For web and mobile development, certs are either non-existent or unimportant. There is no recognized cert for Android or iOS development. There is nothing for Ruby on Rails or Python/DJango either. There is a PHP cert (Zend certified engineer), but I haven't seen any business specifically request folks with that cert.

That is the bad news. Here is the good news. What has become EXTREMELY popular over the last 5+ years is for developers to have a portfolio of past projects. You want a job coding in PHP? Get some webhosting, build some cool web apps, then show those to employers. You want a job doing mobile programming? Build some cool mobile apps and upload them to Google Play and/or the Apple App Store.

Additionally, folks are using sites like GitHub and BitBucket to publicly host the source code of their projects. This gives prospective employers the chance to download your code and see how good you are. Some employers are requesting links to applicants GitHub in the job posting.

 

I disagree with the idea of ppl thinking they can get a foot in the door through certifications. I don't blame hiring managers for not hiring me when I did mine because they can be easily passed/cheated and I had no experience...you need real experience which can be done through volunteer or self taught if you can't get a job.
Good hiring managers can catch a novice or experienced programmer in the field he is applying too by having a normal conversation and seeing how you respond.

 

Nobody in here believe that Programming/Software Development certifications would help you to get a job.

In the IT realm, certifications and education can get you to the door. Whether you can stay in the company depends your experiences.

 

Some qualifications are affordable, others are not. In your case, I think you'd do better expertly by having illustrations of value that you've published that performs effectively. Consider doing free tasks to obtain experience, develop your profile of illustrations of working value, and system among other expert developers.

 

ya it's right no certifications would you help to get job.

 

i would say that just be patient for a while and try to concentrate on your studies, it will surely help you a lot in future. and there will be enough opportunities for you in future...

 

Certifications do help you get a job. For a long time I had no degree but had certifications. If you treat the certification as a learning experience then its simply proof of your learning. Lots of professional programmers do not have certifications and I believe it is to their detriment. Certification focuses your learning on a specific core set of competencies that many people do not develop in college or in the workplace. I bet 90% of the kids who finish a Java programming course would fail the certification test without adequate preparation.

So I do believe they help you get jobs. Of course I have a ton of them including MCSE, MCSD, CISSP, SCJP so I may be biased.