Should certification matter when hiring or outsourcing a person, or should we look further?

Question

Many times we had the need to hire or outsource additional developers for a project. We follow usual the process of advertising the job opening, collecting resumes/CVs, and pick the candidates for the interview.

There are candidates that have a lot of good project experience, but not certified (say, Java-Certified). Then there are candidates who just graduated from school, but are certified. There are candidates who have a mix of both experience and certification.

The natural assumption is to automatically grant +reputation to those who are certified, but does certification really matter when hiring/outsourcing a person, or do we have to look further?

We all have seen stories of start-up tech companies who consist of non-certified, yet hardcore developers that propelled the company to success. So what we do during the hiring process is assume all developers are not certified, and evaluate them based on how they fare in the interview or practical programming test, if any. We also look into the personality traits and work attitude. What is your hiring/outsourcing process, and how do you deem this person is worthy of joining your team?

Answer 1

I've never hired based on certification. If I have to choose between two otherwise identical people, then I guess the certified one would get it, but MC** certs, especially, are so easy to get, and can be learned in a weekend with intense study.

That said, I have two :) (MCP in ASP.NET and SQL Server), but those were only to get MS (Gold) Partner status.

The thing that I've found sets people apart is their code. I've had people with certifications who look good on paper, and can't code. They should be able to, but they can't. And similarly, those without who can do it in their sleep.

Of those I work with - or have worked with - I dont know who's certified and who isn't. But I know who I'd hire if it was my money on the line.

The major factors for me are coding skills, and the fit into the team - especially the fit. Coding skills can be taught. Social fit can't be.

Answer 2

I've met plenty of developers with certifications that I wouldn't trust to write any code for me. Although certifications do indicate some level of competence, they also could just indicate someone studied really hard for a test. You need to dig deeper.

You really want people who are Smart and Get Things Done.

http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2007/06/05.html

Answer 3

I've got some Java certifications. I don't even list them on my resume anymore, and no one has ever asked about them. I don't think all certifications are created equal.

If the cert requires little more than paying some money and taking an on-line test, I'd say it's not a reflection of a person's ability to do the job.

Some, like the Cisco networking cert, are quite difficult to get. Those are worth asking for.

I'd Google for interviewing recommendations. Steve Yegge has some good ones from his Google experience.

Answer 4

I've seen no correlation between certification and competence. I'd certainly rather see something indicating a passion for programming (e.g. a regularly updated blog with interesting articles, or significant involvement in an open source project) than certification.

Maybe I'm biased though, as I have no certs myself (and no interest in taking any).

Answer 5

I don't think that interviewing a developer should be done in another way than by looking him/her how he/she codes, and by looking at the projects he/she worked on previously ! A certification, does just mean that the guy knows the least about the technology he is working on ! But i guess, you folks want to hire someone who doesn't just know the least, but who is actually efficient and expert ! Even though there is (according to me) a single reason why, a manager should prefer someone who is certified rather than someone who is not and this reason is that it can be a strong commercial argument to say : Our company hires the best talented software engineers, 90% of them are certified ! The customer, will trust more easily a company that hires certified people.. (but doesn't mean something again, customers will actually trust companies that has a strong reputation !).

Answer 6

Certifications are a bit of a joke in our industry.

The only certifications I've seen that carry any weight are Cisco CCIE and CCDE certifications.