I remember doing some recruting for a body shop company I was working for a few years back. It was during the dot boom bubble, and we were hiring anybody who could demonstrate regular breathing (and a few that were dubious). I had offered to help HR assess the technical ability of the candidates as they went through the grist mill. We were gonna hire them, cuz we hired EVERYBODY, but it was helpful to know what they could actually do.
Anyway, one particular fella really stood out. He was in his early twenties, and had applied for the position of "Senior Architect" for a contract we were bidding on. Now, I fancied myself one of those too, but I wasn't no 20 something keener, I was the ripe old age of... well... I was older than that. I brought him in for an interview.
It turns out he had had precisely TWO paying jobs in his whole life (three if you counted summer work mowing lawns), and he had never actually programmed professionally in Java. I was somewhat incredulous, but he firmly stood by his assertion that he was perfectly qualified to be a Java Architect. I remember standing and getting ready to tell him he was ballsy but was still gonna get thrown out of my office, when it hit me.
Just exactly what is a Java Architect?
The IT industry has agonized for years about certifications. We are not like, for example, engineers who have the very well respected APEGGA regulating them in Alberta. APEGGA require all jobs that need an engineer to be certified by APEGGA as being qualified. Companies that do not employ APEGGA certifed engineers can be held liable for improperly built bridges, buildings and so on. Any engineer who wants to be employeed as one must pass the APEGGA certifcation.
One can see the benefits of certification immediately, but why hasn't the IT industry adopted certifcation? How many times have employers wished to hire programmers that were REALLY qualified? And frankly, how many times have I wished I could prove my qualifcations in some emperical fashion?
Well don't hold your breath. Real, reliable and dependable certification in the IT industry isn't coming any time soon. It changes too fast, the main players in certification (Microsoft, Sun, IBM etc) usually play it for profit motives alone, and IT is simply too diverse to come up with reliable measures of training and competence. By the time you have a set of tests constructed and agreed on technolgy has blown right past ya.
All that being said, the reason for this blog was that I stumbled across the JavaBlackBelt site today. Its a cool idea! The basic open source concept taken to the certification arena. Lots of tests on all kinds of Java technologies, including Ant, Struts, Web Services, EJBs, Hibernate and so on. I am going to take a few tests over the next while.
Until then, with respect to my brash young collegue... why am I a Java Architect?
Cuz I say I am!
Anyway, one particular fella really stood out. He was in his early twenties, and had applied for the position of "Senior Architect" for a contract we were bidding on. Now, I fancied myself one of those too, but I wasn't no 20 something keener, I was the ripe old age of... well... I was older than that. I brought him in for an interview.
It turns out he had had precisely TWO paying jobs in his whole life (three if you counted summer work mowing lawns), and he had never actually programmed professionally in Java. I was somewhat incredulous, but he firmly stood by his assertion that he was perfectly qualified to be a Java Architect. I remember standing and getting ready to tell him he was ballsy but was still gonna get thrown out of my office, when it hit me.
Just exactly what is a Java Architect?
The IT industry has agonized for years about certifications. We are not like, for example, engineers who have the very well respected APEGGA regulating them in Alberta. APEGGA require all jobs that need an engineer to be certified by APEGGA as being qualified. Companies that do not employ APEGGA certifed engineers can be held liable for improperly built bridges, buildings and so on. Any engineer who wants to be employeed as one must pass the APEGGA certifcation.
One can see the benefits of certification immediately, but why hasn't the IT industry adopted certifcation? How many times have employers wished to hire programmers that were REALLY qualified? And frankly, how many times have I wished I could prove my qualifcations in some emperical fashion?
Well don't hold your breath. Real, reliable and dependable certification in the IT industry isn't coming any time soon. It changes too fast, the main players in certification (Microsoft, Sun, IBM etc) usually play it for profit motives alone, and IT is simply too diverse to come up with reliable measures of training and competence. By the time you have a set of tests constructed and agreed on technolgy has blown right past ya.
All that being said, the reason for this blog was that I stumbled across the JavaBlackBelt site today. Its a cool idea! The basic open source concept taken to the certification arena. Lots of tests on all kinds of Java technologies, including Ant, Struts, Web Services, EJBs, Hibernate and so on. I am going to take a few tests over the next while.
Until then, with respect to my brash young collegue... why am I a Java Architect?
Cuz I say I am!
2 comments:
Ahem. You gotta read JavaLobby or something. JavaBlackBelt.com appeared back in August last year or something.
"Architect". Ha! Me, too!
I'm an architech and so's me wife :)
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