A lot of people asked me these questions. Even, I confused many times with all such nagging questions in mind:

• SCJP/Java Certification - is it worth?
• Does SCJP/Java Certification add any value to the resume?
• Does SCJP/Java Certification help in job or placement?
• Does SCJP/Java Certification help in getting good hike or good appraisal in job?

The answer is Yes and No. First of all, let me explain my personal experience in doing java certifications.

I am a SCJP (1.4) in 2005, and now a SCEA (1.4) in 2008. I do have only 3 years of work experience in Java and J2EE. But, the amount of knowledge I gained through these certification exams is much bigger than that of my job experience. Sun Java Certification syllabuses are designed with great care that the candidate has to learn the maximum in specific area. So, your money worth what you learn from it. But, the certification process teaches only theoretical knowledge. However, you come to know how stuffs work in real-world, only when you face complex scenarios in the job. Sun Java Certifications turned my resume look handsome and turned it more valuable. However, I would say the certifications alone do not make my resume look better.

Anyway, let me answer the questions:

SCJP/Java Certification - is it worth?

It worth the money you pay for it. The minimum guarantee is that you would gain very strong basics of the subject. To be frank, the certification knowledge can help you to clear the initial rounds of job interviews.

Does SCJP/Java Certification add any value to the resume?

Ofcourse yes, because no certification is bad isn’t? But, remember the resume screening process considers many other prime factors like your experience, your employment history, educational qualification, relevant experience etc and etc.

But, there are employers who specifically look for certified candidates. Especially, the job consultancies and software service companies (outsourcing companies) in India (say Wipro, TCS, Infosys, CTS, Satyam) will be more interested in recruiting certified candidates. Because, the outsourcing companies think that having certified employees can earn them reputation from their clients and customers. This is the pro side.

But, there are software companies who never bother certifications. The best examples would be software product development companies (Microsoft, Yahoo, Oracle, Google and etc) in India. Since they develop products themselves, not depending on huge service client or customer base, they don’t bother candidate’s certifications. Anyway, the companies still respect whatever good things you have on your resume.

Does SCJP/Java Certification help in job or placement?

Yes and No. Personally, I have noticed many experienced developers could not give clear explanation for small terms like thread synchronization, serialization and the likes. Many times, our team has simply rejected several well experienced developers in interviews, just because they were messing up with basic terminologies in their explanation. The reason is, they pose tremendous practical experience but very less theoretical experience. That’s bad when you come for job interviews. Besides practical, job interviews require clear theoretical explanations too. Since the certification exams help you to learn the foundations, you can easily answer such superficial level questions. That’s the positive side of the certifications.

However, there is no guarantee that you can clear the interviews if you are just java certified. Not every interviewer asks you merely what-is-what kind of questions. It depends on the candidate’s potential, practical and theoretical experience and many more factors.

Does SCJP/Java Certification help in getting good hike or good appraisal in job?

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PS: Aforesaid comments are my own, form my personal experience. If you do find anything misleading, please correct. I welcome any corrections and comments from you readers. If any, please post the question as a comment, I can answer.

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