Forum Discussion

lsainsbury's avatar
lsainsbury
Contributor
11 years ago

BCS Certifications worth doing?

Hi all,



I've recently moved from the Games Industry into the Software industry as a Junior Software Tester, I have no formal qualifications or certifications as a Software Tester so I was thinking about doing some training courses.



I've found the ISEB (Now BCS) certifications since I'm from the UK, and I was just wondering if anybody had any experience with things like this?



Are they worth paying the money for? Are they recognised certifications?



If anybody can recommend anything else that would be nice :)
  • PaulDonny's avatar
    PaulDonny
    Regular Contributor
    10 years ago

    Typically speaking, the certifications will provide very little for you.

     

    If you search through the SQA Stack Exchange for certifications you will see the majority of answers are, essentially, they are a waste of time. 

     

    Most QA managers know this. Most could care less if someone is certified and most can determine someone's skill level by simply talking to them and getting to know them. All of that being said, a lot of HR departments can not do this and will hold certifications to high regards. Since they know very little about SQA in general they are more likely to pass along someone with the certifications and degrees to the hiring managers than someone without them. 

     

    So it's very much a catch 22. The person that matters doesn't care but the person who gets you in front of the person who matters might care.