Re: PostgreSQL certifications?

From: Christopher Browne <cbbrowne(at)acm(dot)org>
To: pgsql-advocacy(at)postgresql(dot)org
Subject: Re: PostgreSQL certifications?
Date: 2003-11-25 23:20:29
Message-ID: m3he0sghmq.fsf@wolfe.cbbrowne.com
Views: Raw Message | Whole Thread | Download mbox | Resend email
Thread:
Lists: pgsql-advocacy pgsql-general

Martha Stewart called it a Good Thing when xzilla(at)users(dot)sourceforge(dot)net (Robert Treat) wrote:
> You usually have a good grasp of PHB thinking, so I'm surprised to
> see you post this.

It distresses me greatly that it appears I have this "grasp" :-).

Apparently too many years spent at Sabre and SHL (now part of EDS),
all places very Dilbertian in their operation...

> PHB/PHR types love certifications, and if your skill is in
> postgresql, you need a postgresql certification.

>> Until there is a job market that's active enough that you can see
>> dozens of PG jobs listed that need to be filled, I can't see a
>> certification being of vast practical value.

You may be right, but that "need" does not, at this point, justify the
effort required to put together a certification that isn't otherwise
of any grand practical value.

Having a piece of paper would be well and good, but it's a lot of work
to set up the way of issuing that piece of paper, and the other
benefits just aren't there now.

As I said, if there were dozens of job openings being advertised that
required PG experience, a certification program could become valuable.
But the numbers aren't there.

And I am skeptical of the value, too. It does not seem clear to me
that having LPI Linux "certification" is of great value, for instance,
and there's certainly some buzz of popularity there.
--
let name="cbbrowne" and tld="cbbrowne.com" in name ^ "@" ^ tld;;
http://www.ntlug.org/~cbbrowne/linuxdistributions.html
"If you want to travel around the world and be invited to speak at a
lot of different places, just write a Unix operating system."
-- Linus Torvalds

In response to

Browse pgsql-advocacy by date

  From Date Subject
Next Message Randolf Richardson 2003-11-26 04:18:40 Re: Another cool program that uses postgresql
Previous Message Josh Berkus 2003-11-25 21:44:39 Re: Anyone know gForge?

Browse pgsql-general by date

  From Date Subject
Next Message Tom Lane 2003-11-25 23:43:52 Re: performance versus order of fields in row
Previous Message Brian Hirt 2003-11-25 22:56:18 plpgsql question