Google has created an entry level IT Certificate
12A post on the Google blog explains it way better than I can, but the gist is they created a 6 course program on Coursera that prepares you for an entry level position in the IT field. Google has always promoted education, but as far as I can tell this is the first certificate they have offered. And, before you ask, yes, you can skip the course and just take the tests if you are already past “entry level.” The first course starts Jan 23rd.
What do you guys think? Is this cert. going to be worth anything?
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One question would be is if certificates (when you don’t already have a degree in IT) are ever worth anything in IT. Are they accepted in leu of your training coming from a college source (eg a vocational program, associate degree program or higher). If the answer is yes then it might be worth it. If the answer is no then a “wait and let someone else test whether or not the name google attached to the certificate gives it any market value” would be, in my opinion, a safer approach.
Here is a Fortune Magazine article on this. If you fit the profile of their intended student then, since they are offering placement help, it might be worth something.
http://fortune.com/2018/01/16/google-coursera-it-jobs/
As you’d be “first” there is aways a risk whether or not it is going to have any market value. Many places don’t take Coursera seriously nor online course work (the online problem partly due to all the - often for profit - low quality stuff out there).
@Kidsandliz
That may be true in academia, but I am earning my bs online and haven’t had a problem with employers not taking it seriously- I’ve had a couple prestigious internships and have a job lined up already for when I graduate in May.
In my experience, the “do you have a degree” is mainly as a gate keeping step since they can only interview so many people- most of my interviewers didn’t even ask what classes I’d taken. They just talked to me to make sure I could converse with a normal person, then gave me a problem and a marker to solve it with.
@Kidsandliz My understanding of the free education stuff is having one or two on your resume/CV is ok especially if it relevant to your background it shows you cared enough to spend some free time to supplement your education a bit… if your entire resume/CV is composed of it, that’s another story for them. Having only gone to colleges I don’t know how I feel about it.
@Targaryen I get more questions about what I learned from a free CUDA course I took on Udacity than any other individual course (well, maybe close with OS architecture, but still)
I’ve been in IT for 12 years now and I can say that, generally, listings I’ve seen for my position have something to the extent of “Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent experience” as a requirement. A vast majority of these listings don’t specifically state what equivalent experience is. Further, many of these positions also list certification requirements/preferences, separate from the education requirement.
About Certs: As long as I’ve been in IT, there’s always been the big two: Cisco and Microsoft certs, with a baseline of CCNA and MCSA, respectively. Engineer levels are CCIE and MCSE. The CompTIA certs are recognizable enough to mean something to some people, but by comparison, much easier than earning a CCNA or MCSA. Some specialized fields have certs that are recognizable to them; IT security has CISSP, Microsoft partners have Cloud Competencies they can earn, Project Management has PMI’s PMP, etc.
About this Cert: This is all to say that what matters most in certifications is name recognition, by a long shot. If someone interviews with me for a position and I see they have their Net+, that matters to me a little bit, and if I see they have their CCNA, or MCSA (I interview a lot of entry level applicants), it matters a lot more. Google is going to fight an uphill battle to get that general name recognition, especially considering the full 6 course cert takes 8-12 months. But, if the course is good, it will prove itself in the market through the applicants carrying it, and it will earn some name recognition. What’s impossible to tell right now is how much that recognition will count for, or if it will be a generally recognized certification or land more in a specialized target group (eg. it matters that someone applying for a helpdesk position has this, but it’s worthless when looking at an engineer level candidate).
Finally, let’s talk about soft skills: These are becoming vastly more important in IT as more of the IT workforce is being placed in customer facing positions (with higher level positions being farmed out to vendors, usually through support contracts, who never have to speak to non-IT people). If you can’t chat with me or explain something semi-complicated to me in a way that’s simple but gets the general idea across, I don’t have a use for you.
Aside: I’m thinking about taking it, if only to get a better feel for what we can expect people who carry the cert to know. Lucky for me, my office pays for certs, so there’s nothing risked on my side.
TL;DR: I hire a lot of entry level people, and I care more about certs than degrees. Much of the field lists degrees and certifications as separate requirements, but rarely stick to them as gospel. Better to be good at words and stuff.
@MagnaVis As an IT “professional” for over 10 years, I’ve never really had anything significant to put in the “certifications” section of job applications nor on my resume. I’ve had some software-specific training and certifications, but nothing that translates directly to other positions unless they’re using the same systems. Assuming I can easily test-out of this certification, it may be good resume padding for $49. Couldn’t hurt, right?
@medz I would think so, I was just going over the course coverage, and with the Google name to it, whoever’s looking at your resume is likely to look it up. Might help you to stand out, especially considering how new it is.
My coworkers and I were just joking about how fun it could be to try and test out in the 7 day free trial. I think we’ll all take some working days next week and try and do it together in the office.
Aww I wish I could keep up with it all still. I tried but alas
I think Stanford has free courses just to learn various aspects of computing. I’ll try to Remeber to send in a link
I guess I will take it for fun. Here we go!
Something is definitely better than nothing in this regard. I do not think a certificate like this is going to be competitive with a full university education, of course, vut if it’s our only credential it will be a significant asset for some jobs. The amount of value to get from this depends directly on how much other credibility you have. I have hired people with no formal credentials for some jobs, and such a certificate … like any evidence of competence … would be a real asset. On the other hand, there are some positions where this is just never going to make much difference because the bar is so much higher. It’s all about that you have an what you are after. The sad reality is that entering lower on the ladder can sometimes make it a long hard slog to get higher up, despite some obviously exceptions to the contrary.