[RESOLVED] w3schools php certificate: does this have any practical value?

[Joseph Sliker]

Hi; I'm not a professional programmer, but I am looking at a job change and I like doing this MySQL/php stuff. Do the w3schools certificates carry any "weight" in the world of professional programming? Just curious if it is worth paying $95 to take the full test?

[NogDog]

My guess is it's not worth any more than that, and there may be some people who would count it against you, as w3schools is not highly regarded by many. (I personally would not consider it a negative, but I'd be much more interested in you demonstrating to me what you know -- but then that's probably true of any certification: they're more to help get past the initial screening that to actually land the job.) The only PHP certification I'm aware of that would carry much weight for me is the Zend certification, which probably costs a bit more, and I think you have to take the test at one of their test locations.

[Bonesnap]

I don't think it carries any weight, and I have heard a lot of bad things about W3Schools, namely that many of their "how-tos" contain errors/aren't correct.

[jeepin81]

I think you'll have better luck getting Zend certified. Study up! Good Luck!

[Weedpacket]

Wow, that's an easy business model. All I have to say is "give me money and I'll give you a test and if you pass I'll give you a certificate". I don't even need to be qualified myself.

[bradgrafelman]

First thing that comes to my mind is that you'd have to be a W3Fool to pay for the thing.

[Weedpacket]

I'm reminded of those companies to whom you send fifty dollars or whatever and get back a pretty piece of paper declaring that the star located at right ascension ***, declination *** has been named by you as "Funkybritches".

[traq]

Zend, at least, has some authority when it comes to PHP.

[jeepin81]

I was just implying that being Zend Certified would fare better on a resume vs W3S.

[traq]

of course, I was agreeing with you.

sorry for being unclear.

[jeepin81]

@traq.. I understand. My comment was more aimed toward Funkybritches and his business model. One would think since Andi and Zeev are on the advisory board for the Zend Certification test it would hold some clout in PHP Dev. world. Ohh well, I was just trying to be helpful to Joseph and offer what I thought was a better alternative.

[traq]

... "Funkybritches"?

[Joseph Sliker]

Thanks for the perspectives/discussion everyone. I had heard of the Zend certification, so I looked in to it and saw how pricy it is. Not sure if nothing but the PHP certificate would be very useful to me. Maybe I'd do it if I had a job possibility that specifically required it.

I took the W3 sample test and did pretty well (with no specific prep other than the past 10 years of messing around with this stuff)...but maybe that was sort of a "come on" and 70 (much harder) questions would appear after I paid W3 $95 for the real exam. Also, the business of finding your own proctor/witness for the W3 exam sounds kind of sketchy (Hey! I used a young person's word there.).

Thanks!

[Joseph Sliker]

...maybe instead of pursuing any of this, I should spend the time learning a bit about Java so I could at least be conversant with this new world of "apps".

[traq]

Thanks for the perspectives/discussion everyone. I had heard of the Zend certification, so I looked in to it and saw how pricy it is. Not sure if nothing but the PHP certificate would be very useful to me. Maybe I'd do it if I had a job possibility that specifically required it.

I took the W3 sample test and did pretty well (with no specific prep other than the past 10 years of messing around with this stuff)...but maybe that was sort of a "come on" and 70 (much harder) questions would appear after I paid W3 $95 for the real exam. Also, the business of finding your own proctor/witness for the W3 exam sounds kind of sketchy (Hey! I used a young person's word there.).

Thanks!

Just to clarify some points, w3schools is not related to the w3c standards body in any way. They are a private website, arguably interested only in profit. I took their sample test years ago, before I knew better; I know people who took the full test. Their "certifications" are just expensive pieces of paper.