From experience; anytime a programmer fronts a lot of certificates; its a sign that he figured he would never become a good programmer; and sought to hide his incompetence in a sea of papers. Being a developer myself; i know no one can learn programming from school. But still; the Nigerian mentality is so certificate conscious that I wonder if this really affects the way coders are employed.

Please, the experiened coders in the house; has your possession or lack of a certificate aided or impeded you in securing a job in the industry?

Employers; when would you employ a developer who has no certificate but has an impressive portfolio?

Brother to some extent... Imagine getting a direct job from a firm Like Exxon mobile? they will want to know how far Education wise and Past Project wise, am talking from a personal experience; but one thing is certain, what matters most is your skill cos you will still be accepted but the pay and preference may not be that high compared to the man with skills and papers! so get the skills and the papers naija or abroad! you may not be as lucky as Bill Gates!


As it is, i will employ coder without papers as far as the skill is there, but i will prefer the man with papers and skill

I think having a degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, etc. definitely attracts more attention to you, but I wouldn't say it's the end all be all determinant of landing that dream job of yours.

Certificates do not actually matter in any area of life. What's important is the shit you can get done. But certification means validation, so most people feel 'safer' wielding certificates. Me, I would hire a programmer who doesn't even have a SSCE but knows his shit over someone who has accumulated all the certificates in the world. But that is just me.

SirChotas:
Certificates do not actually matter in any area of life. What's important is the shit you can get done. But certification means validation, so most people feel 'safer' wielding certificates. Me, I would hire a programmer who doesn't even have a SSCE but knows his shit over someone who has accumulated all the certificates in the world. But that is just me.

poo? Lol

Thanks, guys. Your answers were really informative

It's that certificate that has held me down, coy would prefer to see ur paper before they will be willing to try u out. So am gonna get me a Java professional certificate very soon.

My view is thus :
~ Freelance => skills
~ Employment => certificates

Wow:: thanks guys. Very interesting

Although skill is very important, knowing how to properly execute (client) projects to suit the requirements is just as important e.g Agile, Waterfall

Certificate is a camouflage. The most important tin is ur Onion.