Why Should I Get Certified in Java Technology

Whilst studying for SCJP 5 exam I have often wondered this question and I haven't really found any of any interest or an article's that really made some good points why people should take the exam (s).

today I found that Sun had an article on the exact subject, of course they want you to get certified because they get £150 for 3 hours 15 minutes of their time.

Obviously this could be biased account but it's good to hear some reasoning behind me doing hours of painful study

here are suns 5 reasons, if you go onto the site it will explain in more detail the reasoning behind them

1. Achieving a Sun certification improves your opportunity for professional advancement, including salary increases, job role changes and promotions.
2. Sun certifications are HOT!
3. Sun certifications are relevant, valid, accurate, and reliable measures of the certification candidate's skills and knowledge.
4. The value of Sun certifications is recognized around the world.
5. Certified IT professionals recognize that achieving a professional credential also offers non-financial benefits.

reading the list, although maybe a littleexaggeratedd alot of them are true because the exam is so hard it is worth something and making the exam difficult means that not everyone is qualified. So because less people are Certified this does make them valuable and makes the certified people stick out from the non certified. I'm not saying that the people without certification are worse programmers, the exam doesn't really comment on people's programming ability but more their knowledge of Java.

After studying for my SCJP 5 I can certainly say that it does increase your knowledge. I would say that I have learnt as much studying for six months than I have for about a year working. WhatIi liked about the exam is you get to learn different parts of the Java language which you might not use in your everyday job. I would also say that when we look at people's CV's it does make a difference if they are Certified.

The Sun article was okay, this article below is in a lot more depth and raises some very interesting points and basically says, people who are Java certified get more money (woohoo)

http://www.certmag.com/issues/jul00/feature_hecksel-green.cfm

I like the observations in this article

• 70.8 percent of IT managers view certification as a criteria for promotion.

• 85 percent of managers (up 10 percent in the last year according to the Gartner Group) view certified employees as more productive. Whether you believe that is true or not, if you want to manage and advance your career, paying attention to what the boss views as important will help get you there.

so if anything it changes the opinion your boss and other employees have of your Java skills!