Hi,
Over the years I have religiously followed O'Reilly books. First, because I like the covers and the explanations about them. :) Secondly, I think they are the best technical books around.
But one thing I have found lacking is certification books. There are so many certifications these days: Sun, Oracle DBA, Cisco, and if you are one of those guys, the Microsoft certifications as well.
Can we expect some good certification guides from O'Reilly in near future? Or do we have to buy those other certification books, which fall short of expectations.
Bhaskar
Hi Bhaskar,
It is not an accident (nor an oversight) that O'Reilly doesn't offer many certification titles. We feel strongly that the cottage industry grown up around certification does a disservice to employers, readers, and experienced developers who choose not to pursue certification. We published the MCSE certification books to pierce the bubble of outrageous prices for some certification books, not to jump on the certification bandwagon.
Rather than abdicate responsibility to a certification test, employers should examine a prospective employee's credentials, experience, and portfolio carefully. Employers should also rely on personal interviews with technical staffers to determine a candidate's fitness for a job. Unfortunately, many certification tests simply verify that the student has memorized some superficial facts. O'Reilly books tend to cover the real-world, nitty-gritty details that you can't fake. If you read and understand our books on a topic and spend some time using the technology first-hand, you should have no trouble passing a certification test.
We're not interested in catering to people just looking for a quick credential, and that's all some certification books do. We also value the knowledge and experience of programmers and system administrators that can't always be easily measured in a certification test. We'll continue to provide timely, in-depth, highly technical information in topic areas where we feel we can add value. We hope you find that our books assist you in whatever your career goals may be, but we don't have any specific plans to publish certification titles in the areas you mention.
Bruce Epstein
Hi Bruce,
I partly agree with you about the usefulness of certifications as far as in-depth knowledge of the subject is concerned. But you have to consider a second point of view. As more and more people around the world are making Information Technology a career, stiff competition is developing. Especially in countries like India and China. So how would a potential employer set a baseline for minimum requirements for a job? It may not be possible to individually interview each and every aspiring candidate. I think this is where certifications can play a bigger role.
I believe that these exams serve the same purpose as SAT or CAT or GRE exams. They can be used to set a baseline for a job as they do for a college seats. Even though these certifications don't matter in the field, they do make an impact on entry level positions, and for people who want to change their profiles. For example, I've been a programmer for the last 5-6 years, and I may want to switch to a DBA role. A DBA certification could be my first step in that direction.
Anyway, thanks for your comments, and even though you don't have any immediate plans for such books, I will still continue to refer to your other books. :-) I just felt that O'Reilly would be the best group to do justice to these kinds of topics.
Best regards,
Bhaskar
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