PHP Certification and Programming Portfolios

[jenni]

I posted this in the Echo Lounge, but no one responded after several hours...little help?

2 questions...

1) Are PHP Certifications from places like Brainbench.com and ExpertRating.com worth it? Are there any certification exams that actually matter to employers?

2) How do you create a programming portfolio?

[mikeplemmo]

I am not sure about the first question. I have not tried getting those certs so I do not know what they require you to know in order to be certified. I would figure that what really matters is experience. Many times a cert is only good to get past the HR people but when you get to talking to the people you are working with they will know soon enough if you are good enough.

Regarding you second question. I am not a programmer but I would assume that pulling together the source code of some programs you have written would be a big help. I would think that any employer would want to see how clear your programming style is.

mikeplemmo

[keith73]

Here is the test outline for Brainbench's PHP4 test.

Advanced PHP 4
Session Handling
Web-Based Administration

Basics
Configuration
Installation
Logging
UNIX
Windows

Database
Basic SQL and Installation
Creating and Populating Tables
Functions

Database Connections
MySQL
Oracle
Other Sources
PostgreSQL
SQL Server

Essentials
Authentication
Cookies/User Tracking
E-Commerce
Security

Functions
Array
File
Graphics
HTTP
IMAP
LDAP
Math
Networking
Other Functions
PDF
String

Language
Basics
Control Structures
Operators
Syntax
Variable

It will really only matter if the employer knows what is covered on the test and needs those skills. Otherwise, best to show examples of your work. Have live site demos of PHP apps that you have written to show functionaility and of course, show them some code samples.

I've interviewed for many positions for php where nobody asked me for code samples and they didn't really look at my sites. They asked questions to assess my skills so you may want to make sure you know your stuff in your head. I got hired by my current employer based on my resume and my interview, they never looked at previous work or code.

• keith