I put people in the following categories:
1) Ignorant managers who think certification is good because they've
been fooled into believing it has some kind of substance.
2) Cynical managers who think certification is good because it gives
them an excuse when testing goes wrong ("Hey, I hired *certified*
testers. What else could I have done?")
3) Competent managers who know how to evaluate the skills and
knowledge of people the hire and supervise.
4) Ignorant testers who truly believe certification means that they
understand "testing foundations" or whatever. And somehow think that
without certification they would not know those things.
5) Frightened testers who know it's bullshit but get the certification
so that they won't be screwed out of a job for such a silly reason. I
have sympathy for these guys, but I wish they would stand up and
resist.
6) Pugnacious testers who refuse to get certified because giving in to
economic terrorists is wrong. I like these guys.
7) Ignorant "consultants" who support certification without really
analyzing it, and actually don't realize that the commercial
certification programs out there today not only tolerate, but promote
ignorance, confusion and appeals to authority. These consultants are
dragging us all down with their pathetically low standards.
8) Cynical "consultants" who want to make money and reputation by
doing the equivalent of wearing a Pope costume and claiming the
authority to speak for the whole craft.
9) Honorable consultants who either ignore certification, or promote
reasonable certification (such Matt Heusser and Cem Kaner), and
generally try to elevate the standards of the craft in a meaningful
way. These people do not claim to speak for the whole industry, in the
way that, for instance, the International Software Testing
Qualification Board has presumed to do, in their arrogance.
I'm happy to debate this on IM. Anyone can Skype me at: SATISFICE
I'm happy to debate this with anyone who is serious about it. (I no
longer consider Dot Graham, Rex Black, or Stuart Reid to be serious,
for instance. They ignore counter-arguments instead of addressing
them, and each of them seems to believe that if thousands of people
have been fooled or coerced into doing something then it can't be bad
or wrong.)
Thank you James for giving us the courage and ammunition to speak out against certification
