Why Doesn’t Microsoft Have Entry Level Developer Certifications?

 

 

I struggle some days for topics to blog about, that’s how exciting my life is.  :-)  Usually Trika comes to the rescue as she did again here.  She forwarded a question on to me the other day where somebody asked the question that is the title of this posting.   I thought it was a great question, I answered his email, but then Trika mentioned it would make a good post to my blog so, here it is.

The reason we don’t have an entry level cert for developers, ie one that certifies a person with less than 1 or 2 years of experience, is that it creates a difficult scenario to certify.  Let me explain why.

In order to certify a person for entry level, it would require certification on core programming concepts such as data structures, decisions, looping, OOP etc.  These topics are valid across multiple development languages and are not tied to VB, C#, C++, Java or most other development languages.

As a result, they are core knowledge that a person needs before they consider what to develop on for platforms and in what languages.   As a result, this becomes more of an industry certification that is vendor neutral.  That is something that Microsoft does not currently certify people on.  We leave these types of certifications to independent organizations such as CompTIA and IEEE.  They provide a better environment for testing on these concepts and it removes any interpretations around Microsoft certifying people on the “Microsoft way of doing things”.

Microsoft certifications are designed to show knowledge and skills with Microsoft products and technologies.  You apply the core concepts learned in entry level programming across these technologies such ASP.NET or Windows Forms.  As a result of this, there is a requirement that a person meets a minimum level of knowledge prior to taking these certifications.  

 

Gerry

Comments

• Anonymous
  June 25, 2008
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  June 25, 2008
  Beginner Microsoft Developer Certifications Do Not Exist

• Anonymous
  June 25, 2008
  Perhaps I know the answer to this already, but does this mean that the passing of a MCTS exam certifies you on the Microsoft product you're being tested on AND that you previously had an entry level understanding of core programming concepts?

• Anonymous
  June 25, 2008
  Hm, I've always considered MCTS to be entry-level developer cert, to be honest. But then again, I'm MCSD/MCPD, so perhaps I'm biased :)

• Anonymous
  June 26, 2008
  Hi Rafael, Our exams certify that you have an understanding of the concepts that are presented on prep guide.  We only assume, whether it is true or not, that you already have the requisite knowledge but the exam doesn't test those concepts directly. Gerry

• Anonymous
  June 26, 2008
  I agree with int19h, I also considered MCTS to be entry level and MCPD to be medium level certs :). So the question is - why don't we have advanced level certifications? Like the new Certified Master, but for developers. I already asked in the MCT newsgroups if there are plans for a developer certified master, but I did not get any answers there.

• Anonymous
  June 26, 2008
  Hi Mathias, The short is, maybe. Yes, I would like to create a Masters for developers.  What will it look like and when will it be available?   I honestly don't know at this stage. Gerry

• Anonymous
  June 27, 2008
  I agree with both int19h and Mathias and would very much like to see a "Master" certification for developers. Knowing well the operating system, Active Directory, Windows authentication and authorization, Networking, performance, debugging, troubleshooting would be among the things I would expect from a "Master" developer.

• Anonymous
  June 27, 2008
  Hi Alfred, Patience will pay off. In the meantime, it sounds like you're on board for getting some certifications on the IT infrastructure.  Glad to hear that.  :-) Gerry

• Anonymous
  June 27, 2008
  We're yet to see MCPD for .NET 3.x, so I wouldn't expect to see any further developments anytime soon :)

• Anonymous
  June 28, 2008
  Gerry: good to hear that you at least think about offering something for devs. I would not be able to afford the master for the next 2 years anyways (I just found out how much it will cost - no way I could pay that much :-( ). Mathias

• Anonymous
  July 08, 2008
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• Anonymous
  August 03, 2008
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  August 04, 2008
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• Anonymous
  August 06, 2008
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• Anonymous
  August 07, 2008
  Hi Paul, I am getting the release information on those books and will create a new post containing that information. Look for it in the next couple of days. Gerry