schlitt.info - php, photography and private stuff ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ :Author: Tobias Schlitt :Date: Fri, 09 Jan 2009 12:34:32 +0100 :Revision: 2 :Copyright: CC by-nc-sa ========= 1 of 1000 ========= :Description: Since some others already blogged to be within the first 1000 Zend certified engineers, I feel to raise my 2ct, too. I took the exam during the PHP Quebec conference in Montreal last March. I was actually suprised to pass the exam without any kind of preperation, after Marcus, John and some others convinced my to have a try (it was free there, so I took the chance). At least that shows that you should be able to pass the exam with real-world PHP experience. Since some others already blogged to be within the first 1000 `Zend certified engineers`__, I feel to raise my 2ct, too. I took the exam during the PHP Quebec conference in Montreal last March. I was actually suprised to pass the exam without any kind of preperation, after Marcus, John and some others convinced my to have a try (it was free there, so I took the chance). At least that shows that you should be able to pass the exam with real-world PHP experience. .. __: http://www.zend.com/certification |image_1| .. |image_1| image:: http://files.schlitt.info/misc/ZCE1000.gif Congratulations to `Zend`__ for making their certification that public! .. __: http://zend.com I'm sure it's a good marketing thing for them and at least the certification allows employers to devide between real developers and script-kiddies in some ways. For those certifieds I'm actually not sure, the 1000 mark means only good. Maybe the certification exam is to easy? One has to concider that, the more certifieds exist, the more it reduces the "level of professionality" attested for them and the more likely the certification looses it's use for them as their own self-marketing instrument. Anyway, having a certification in place at all is a good thing. I hope that Zend comes up with a more advanced version of the certification (maybe some "Zend certified PHP wizard"?). This would be a great addition and allow people to show their advanced PHP capabilities. Let me know, if there is going on something in that direction. So long, happy PHP coding! :) .. Local Variables: mode: rst fill-column: 79 End: vim: et syn=rst tw=79 Trackbacks ========== - Zend PHP 5 Certification on Tue, 19 Sep 2006 23:46:36 +0200 in Tobias Schlitt - a passion for php I finally added a button for being a "Zend Advisory Board Member" to my blog. I did not have the logo so far. Now that I saw that some professional PHP developers already took the exam, and considered it much better than the PHP 4 version 1 2 3 Comments ======== - Maarten at Wed, 11 Jan 2006 00:10:56 +0100 Forgive me for asking: Does Zend pay you guys anything for posting this? I consider the ZCE exam objectives (http://tinyurl.com/7jrwu) basic PHP knowledge. It's nothing to be proud of, if you're writing a blog which is considered by Planet PHP. I admit, it's handy to assess applicants but on the other hand it's another certificate to raise salary expectations. - Toby at Wed, 11 Jan 2006 00:23:20 +0100 Don't worry, they don't pay us anything, they just emailed everyone, so people start blogging.:) Actually I'm not ''proud'' that I managed the cert (I thought my blog would state so, clearly). Anyway, I agree with you, that from a real developers view most parts of the objectives are to rated ''basic'', but as I said it's a nice thing to devide developers from people who just maintain their personal website (which is actually quite hard for human-resources people). This basicness is, why I would like to see a more advanced certification. - Darrell Brogdon at Wed, 11 Jan 2006 18:10:21 +0100 Sure would like to be one of the few and proud Zend Certified Engineers. I've been begging PHP|Architect to re-issue my lost voucher for months now with no response. - Dhwani Vahia at Wed, 11 Jan 2006 19:00:12 +0100 Congratulations for being one of the 1st 1000 ZCEs! Just wanted to address what that logo means anyway. One of the main reasonings behind the ZCE1000 logo was to help those that belonged to this group stand out. It's kind of a way to say "thank you" to the ZCE community for supporting the exam, or at least the idea of it ("for the community, by the community"). While more Engineers can mean more competion, more Engineers can also mean your status as a ZCE will be more coveted. Right now, a lot of prospective employers or clients don't know about Zend Certification, and it is something that has to be explained. But as the number of ZCEs increases, and the program becomes more well-known, the ZCE title on someone's resume will definitely stand out more. So in the long-run, more ZCEs will be more beneficial to the individual ZCE, and to the PHP community in general. As for advanced certification - it's something we are definitely considering. You're definitely correct - as it is now, Certification is a way to help distinguish "real" PHP developers from hobbyists, and is a way to show a developer is serious about PHP. - Stephan Schmidt at Wed, 11 Jan 2006 19:45:18 +0100 I don't think, that the exam helps companies to divide between script-kiddies and "real developers". Just because you've got a driver's license necessarily means you are a good driver. I rather rely on assessment tests and interviews when deciding which applicant will suit the tasks at hand best. These are just my 2cts, I did not intend to insult the guys at Zend. Stephan