The Value of Computer Certifications

Introduction

    While I don't really consider computer teaching my main career, I got to work for a company as a computer instructor.  Here is my experience.  Keep in mind that I am not allowed to give names here, so I will have to be vague.

How I Got Hired

    I got hired with an expired CompTIA A+ but because I had teaching experience and laptop repair experience in the USAF.  I also have a bachelors but in a different field.  I passed the interview, meaning I demonstrated that I indeed know how to teach and that I know about computers.

    But I redeemed myself rather quickly by getting my Security+ and my Linux Essentials.  In my current job, I teach material for the CompTIA A+, Network+, and Security+.  My company pays for certification tests, so it's easy to keep myself up to date on certifications.

The Value of Certifications

    During my time at this company teaching, we brought in people who completed our program and had jobs in the field earning 6 figures.  It seems many of my students are motivated by the money they can earn rather than what the job usually consists of, but that's ok.  Many who completed our program found that having certifications means companies know they can do their job.

    But I also have friends in IT who have no certifications whatsoever.  They keep telling me that companies want to see experience first, certifications second, and degrees third.  I can't really argue with them, as I am an instructor.  I have worked in IT, but for the military, so my experience may be different than that of the civilian world.

    Still, for someone starting out in IT, having the certifications is better than nothing.

Certification Mill Accusations

    Some have accused my company of being a certification mill.  This is untrue and I would like to discuss it here.

    First, a certification mill is a company that teaches only the test.  We do not do this.  I teach my students far more than the answers to various certification tests.  For instance, I teach them the why.  It's vital when you're teaching to not just teach "this is how something is" but the "why" part: why does it work this way?  Why was it designed this way?  Why does knowing how it works matter?

    Second, we do tons of hands-on exercises.  At this point, for instance, a student who keeps asking to take one of our practice laptops apart could, if they do so once a week, basically apply to a laptop repair company during or at the end of their courses.  This is because I teach them hands on how to do things.  You see, we don't want to produce people who can merely answer the questions on a certification test.  We want our students to be prepared and ready.

    I have read the reviews of my company and I would say the majority are untrue.  People will accuse us of being a scam, saying many different things.  One thing I get a lot is that the program is fast paced, too fast.  Our system is accelerated for sure, but it's not too fast paced to learn.  Our program's speed requires that if you have a full time job, that you spend almost all your other waking hours per week reading, doing assignments, attending class, and doing hands on.  But the advantage of our course is that you can easily earn 6 certifications in well under a year.  If you go to college for even an associate's degree, you'll spend twice as much, attend for 2 years, and spend more money.

    The other accusation is that we sell refurbished laptops.  We don't.  I do not usually recommend that students buy our laptops, but our laptops do come completely set up for our course.

    Other accusations include that we don't help our alumni.  This is completely untrue.  We have people on our payroll whose job is to help our alumni get jobs ... for life.  They can call in any time and we will try to match them with a job.

    One accusation that is actually half true is that we do not value our employees.  This is untrue because my company absolutely cares about all of us and does everything it can to help us succeed.  And the pay is actually rather high.  The benefits are also incredible.

    But this company is also known for laying off employees any time it helps them stay afloat.  Really, any company would, so this isn't a bad accusation.  But I have felt from time to time that, given my history and that of other employees here, they are rather quick to make such moves.  I once worked for them as a part timer, and they laid me off due to moves.  However, they also gave me a week worth of pay, which they never promised to do, so I got severance pay as a part timer.

Student Motivation Problems

    But like any college or educational setting, I still have problems with my students in terms of motivation.  Understand that I constantly, positively work to encourage them to take their certifications.

    Students come in many types.  All students are unique, but they seem to fit into a few general categories.

1. The student who knows what the value of certifications are.  These typically work their butts off and get all the certifications we offer.  They are happy and successful.
2. The student who is only here to ride their Veterans Administration Vocational Rehabilitation & Employment (VR&E) (Chapter 31).  It's actually sort of sad that so many of them are VA VR&E.  Several of them have admitted that they're only here to coast, i.e. get their money.  They put in very little effort and get few certifications.  These are the most difficult to positively motivate.  And it's quite often that I am tempted to report them to the VA, but I refrain.
3. The young person who doesn't know what they want to do with their lives.  This is rather normal, as many young people don't know what they want to do with their lives.  I positively encourage them.  I tell them that even if they don't know what they want to do with their lives, having a good paying job can help them save for the day they find their passion.  Or, who knows?  Maybe an IT career will be their passion.
4. The person who is only here because someone else wants them to be here.  I try to positively encourage them, to stoke the flames of hard work.  Often this is the young person whose parents are pushing them to come here.  I encourage them similarly to #3 above: get certifications, get a job, earn money.  Then one day, if you find your passion is something else, you'll have the money to pursue this passion.

    You see, US culture keeps pushing people to find their passion, insisting that they have a passion for something and that they have to find it and/or pursue it.  I think this is the idiot fringe of positive psychology (i.e. the non-scientific parts of it; I support the scientific parts of positive psychology).  Maslow's Hierarchy is fictional/theoretical, and not everyone will have some sort of higher calling.  And let's be honest: most of life is boring routine.  Being able to pay your bills is more important than following a passion that doesn't pay you enough.

    This is why Christianity makes much more sense to me: even if you sense no higher calling, you can still be content with your job and with Jesus.  Granted, I digress here, because Christianity tells us that the goal of life is to tell people about Jesus.  So, back to the topic at hand....

    So I try to positively motivate all my students.  We do push certification tests even if we know that they aren't everything.  That's because we exist to get people mainly trained and secondarily certified for IT jobs.  It's been repeatedly shown in the lives of our alumni that those who get all their certifications tend to get high paying jobs.  So that's what I aim for.

The Epiphany

    Then one night on the last day that students could submit their work.  Here I am staring at my screen on the last night as the time passed.  I was grading assignments every 30 minutes on the hours, refreshing Canvas.  The time passed and one of my students had not uploaded their work and therefore were likely to fail.

    I immediately looked through my documentation to make sure I had positive proof that I had told them that they needed to get their stuff done.  And that it had to be done today.  And then it dawned on me: I was checking to make sure I did what I could to make the student pass because I knew I would be the one yelled at by my supervisor.

    That's the problem then, ultimately, with this company.  The company makes me email and call people repeatedly to ensure they pass.  But that's the problem: they are told repeatedly they must do what is right and get their stuff done on time, much less by the final deadline.

    The problem is the company is turning out students that have to be harassed and emailed and called and repeatedly told to do something in their own best interests.  They will fail out of the IT industry if they have to be told repeatedly.

    And the sad thing is the company, rather than scripting this into Canvas or their accounting system, made their instructors do it.  No.  This should be a script running somewhere that harasses them until they accomplish their stuff.  And if they mark it spam or start ignoring it, they do it to themselves.