Paper Certifications have been around for as long as I have been certified, and I am sure long before that.
Paper certification: A credential earned primarily through exam preparation and theoretical study, without the corresponding practical experience needed to apply the certified skills effectively in real-world situations.
In case there was any doubt, let me be clear; this is, in IT and certification circles, very much a derogatory term.
Over the course of my career I have seen organizations like Microsoft Learn take steps to improve the exam questions to prevent this type of candidate. I doubt that we will ever be completely done with them, but since the MCSE on Windows NT days I have seen a marked improvement in the exams… and in the resultant certification holders.
It will never be perfect, but it has gotten better.
I started writing about both the value of certifications and the importance of being able to trust them very shortly after I earned my first certifications. It is something that has always been important for me; knowing how much time and effort I put into earning my certifications, I did not want their value diluted because of cheaters. No, I do not believe that earning a paper certification by studying hard is cheating; there were simply a lot of brain dumps floating around back then as well. I hated it then; I hate it now.
All of this to say that I am a strong believer in certifications, but experience counts and should count… perhaps as much as or more than the actual exams.
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I got a call last week from a longtime friend and former colleague. We touch base a few times per year, and if we lived in the same city we would likely hang out a lot more often than we do. I worked with him for a few years, and have always had a great deal of respect for him as a professional. Earlier this year we had met for breakfast when I was visiting his city, and he told me that he was thinking about pursuing his Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification. knowing that I had earned it the previous year, he asked my advice which I happily offered. I told him that I would gladly offer any assistance that I could. As he never asked for anything, I then forgot about it… until last week when he told me he had passed, and asked if I would endorse his application.
ISC2 (International Information System Security Certification Consortium, an acronym which I will never remember) does things a little differently than all of the other certification bodies from whom I am credentialed. Like the others, you have to pass an exam. Once you pass though, you are far from done. After the exam, you need to provide proof that you have at least five (5) years of cumulative professional experience, and that experience must involve at least two (2) of the eight (8) CISSP domains. Once that is done, your candidacy must be endorsed by a member in good standing who currently holds the certification for which you are applying.
That’s a lot more involved than ‘Congratulations, you passed… here’s a logo for you!’ Don’t get me wrong… I have a vast collection of logos. Because of what is involved with earning it, few of those logos give me the same level of personal pride that the CISSP and CCSP logos do. CISSP is one of two (2) logos that are on my professional business card.
As a longtime technical trainer, I have helped myriad candidates prepare for their certifications… but this was the first time I had been asked to endorse someone for a credential; a very serious and senior credential it is, indeed! This was not something that I was just going to click through on my cellphone. I was not even going to do it at my laptop in the few minutes before my students started walking into class. I know, he had to wait through the weekend (I was traveling home Saturday and was not doing it in the airport terminal, and I only turned my computer on Sunday for a quick minute to deal with an important deadline). No, I was going to savour this moment!
Monday morning I went through my usual routine. Before I would eat or brew coffee, my doggie needed to go out. When we came home I gave her breakfast… and only then did I sit down at my desk with my freshly brewed coffee. I navigated to my ‘important tasks’ folder in Outlook, and finding the email, I clicked on the link. I read through the instructions, I read through the application, and only then (with appropriate solemnity and import) did I click on the button that said ‘Endorse This Application’ and clicked submit.
There are some certifications that should require more than a minimum passing score on an exam. I was happy to be able to be a very small part of my longtime colleague and friend’s certification journey.
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