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PHP Developers Certification

Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2006 3:26 pm
by Trenchant
I searched for "certification" in suggestions and couldn't find anything and I haven't seen this brought up before so here it goes.

We all now how there are companies out there where you pay to take a test on your knowledge of PHP. Some of us however aren't interested in paying a few hundred dollars just to say this company knows I'm smart. That can be easily enough obtained by good testimonials and a strong client list.

However, if there was an actual certification provided by a reputable network for free who wouldn't go for it? Even if it wasn't free just under a hundred dollars. I think this could fit in very well with this site and help promote it. For example. When people post questions and someones helps them out that poster could leave some optional feedback about the person who helped them. Once that person gets a set number of "referals" or "feedback" they could apply for their status(with money or not if its free) and would be given an assignment. The assignment would be something along the lines of "Build a ************* script with security features against MySQL injections and user spam."

I think that since this is the Developer's Network why not expand a little more and help support this community? I know one of the major problems here would be integration with PHPbb because you have to keep everything up to date as the forums are upgraded. But, we could get around that by buliding the system with a separate framework and only link it the site by connecting to the database. It would be users responsibility to get referals and feedback about how they help out the community.

I would be willing to help build this and I'm sure several other people here would be aswell. But this is one of those "pop ideas" and it needs scrutiny. So please point out any changes you think should be made and even if you like the idea. Constructive critism is very welcome as no one here wants to waste their time with something people won't use.

I think it would be a great service to offer to the community of PHP developers out there and it would help support this site.

Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2006 4:13 pm
by nickvd

Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2006 4:18 pm
by Trenchant
With that certification you have to go onsite to take the test and there is a $125 fee. I was thinking of something along the lines of assist 15 people on these forums and receive positive feedback about it. Then apply for the exam(with a max fee of something like $25 if not free).

Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2006 4:56 pm
by nickvd
That's a decent idea, however the problem would be world wide acceptance. Would you trust cert that is administered by Zend (essentially the people behind php), or "Joe Blow's Php Cert"...

Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2006 7:29 pm
by Trenchant
Personally my experience is that my clients aren't to worried about where people are certified from but moreso that they are certified. A lot of them don't even know how PHP works let alone what Zend is all about.

I think it would make a better first impression if someone is certified by a PHP Developers Network. That automatically says right there that other people who work in the same field recognize this person and somoene who knows what they're doing.

If I was hiring someone for a c++ coding job and I saw "Certified by COMPANY"(other then microsoft) I would pass by that attribute without thinking its very important. Why? Because I don't work in the c++ field and would most likely not know about the company. If I saw certified by the C++ developement community it would stand out a lot more to me.

Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2006 8:01 pm
by Jenk
I hereby Certify you as a PHP Programmer. You may now add the line "Jenk Certified PHP Programmer" to your resume, with pride.

Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2006 10:19 pm
by aaronhall
Web Dummy wrote:I think it would make a better first impression if someone is certified by a PHP Developers Network. That automatically says right there that other people who work in the same field recognize this person and somoene who knows what they're doing.
What makes a couple of guys on a discussion forum qualified to say that you are an expert (they are, but the employer doesn't know that). In either case, the PHPDev certification certainly wouldn't hold as much weight as, say, the Jenk cert. (congratulations, by the way -- I just heard).

Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2006 11:28 pm
by Trenchant
Obviously there would be a difference between say a small 10 member site "certifying" someone and a major site such as DevNetwork.

To me "The PHP Developers Network" almost sounds like something very official. Not only that but this is a very helpful resource for a lot of coders and a lot of the coders here really know what they're talking about.

If you ask me it sounds a heck of a lot better then Certified by Zend to somone who barely knows how to use the internet. If your client hires you to do this magical thing called "PHP" and they see on your resume that you are certified by "The PHP Developers Network" that would sound a lot more reassuring.

Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 12:51 am
by RobertGonzalez
I hear where you are coming from, but I think that the practicality of this idea lacks something. I would love to be able to add a certification along the lines of 'PHP Developers Network Certified Developer', but then after searching, most folks would find that PHPDN is a community forum. It might not mean as much as saying that you are a 'Zend Certified Engineer' when someone looks up who Zend is.

Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2006 10:38 pm
by m3mn0n
Jenk wrote:I hereby Certify you as a PHP Programmer. You may now add the line "Jenk Certified PHP Programmer" to your resume, with pride.
zOMG, can I be Jenk Certified, too?

I like, know how to echo variables and stuff. :D

Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2006 4:03 am
by mikesmith76
Just out of curiosity has anyone taken the Zend exam and found it useful. Just looking through the topic list it sounds like it would be interesting, but is it worth it's weight?

I remember a friend of mine almost being conned by an IT training company, they wanted to charge him £7000 for what was essentially the Zend qualification. Obviously it was not worth this much but I guess my question is how much recognition does it have by employers?