Writer, Agilist, Elder Geek
Certifications. We’re used to seeing them in resumes as strings of letters after people’s names. We’re used to hearing about them at professional associations. We’re also used to people talking about them . . . especially people like me.
So yes, you know how it goes. Go get certifications, etc. But why do people (OK, again, people like me) emphasize them? There are six major reasons:
I remember when Java was a curiosity. Then I remember when it was going to become the universal language of everything. Then I remember when it actually got used. There was about a 15 year period these events were spread among.
Of course, a good programmer knows how to learn any language. They were ready when Java actually got used.
I remember when the cloud was a curiosity and virtualization was something people only talked about. Now everything’s cloud, and there’s at least less B.S. and more actual functionality. That took about ten years.
Ah, the job search. We usually like to think that we can totally ace the requirements and have the perfect personality and then some. We’re ready to overdo it . . .
. . . but you can overdo it can’t you? That’s what this week’s Ask A Progeek is about. The question submitted to me is:
When applying for a job, I don’t simply want to show them I meet their expectations – I want to show how I exceed them. However, there is also the trouble of being considered overqualified. How do I stand out without disqualifying myself?
This is a difficult issue mostly because of the fear of over qualification. It’s a big issue in the news as people grasp to explain why so many folks have trouble finding jobs (short answer: economy sucks, you’re an idiot for asking). So the first question is – is this actually a worry?