IT certification: to receive or not to receive?

During my relatively short IT career (5 years), I occasionally witness discussions about the importance and benefits of various kinds of certifications (Microsoft, VMware, Cisco, etc.) and their real need. In this regard, all of my many acquaintances with whom I studied together at the university or crossed over work can be roughly divided into two camps:

• Those who fully support the idea of ​​certification;
• And those who, to put it mildly, do not see any sense in it.

In this article I tried to collect the most popular arguments FOR and AGAINST in order to try to answer the main question for myself - is certification so necessary or is it not?

Arguments for certification in IT

Question: Why do I need certification if I already have a specialist degree and an MSc in IT?
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How I see it:

• Show your importance in the eyes of the employer.

If from time to time you confirm your knowledge and skills with the help of certificates from <Microsoft, VMware, Cisco, insert your own version> , the likelihood of moving up the career ladder becomes greater, especially compared to uncertified colleagues. Thus, you seem to show your employer that you are not resting on your laurels and want to learn new things.

Plus, you have an additional argument for a quicker introduction of a new solution or a new version of the solution within the company.

• Increase its importance in the labor market.

Labor market has not been canceled. Now you may think that there is no need to pass a new certification, because the current employer is quite happy with you. However, this is still a labor market, and anything can happen: in the course of optimization, your work can be outsourced or, on the contrary, it can be decided that fewer employees will perform the same work. In this case, certification here acts as an impartial indicator of the current level of your knowledge.

• Keep up with the times.

I already wrote about the degree of specialist and master in IT, received a certain number of years ago. From this point of view, certification is a relatively inexpensive way to keep your knowledge more or less relevant.

Summarizing the above, certification:

• Shows that your knowledge is relevant;
• Shows the desire to learn, provided that certification is not a requirement at the current place of work;
• Distinguishes you among colleagues;
• It serves as proof for your leadership that your knowledge and skills are relevant;
• Confirms your importance during contractions or shifts within the company;
• In the end, it raises self-esteem as more proof that you could do it;

Arguments VS IT certification

The second group of my acquaintances, the one that does not see the point in obtaining numerous certificates, usually cites the following as the main argument: certification has no value compared to the basic education of a specialist (HEI), years of experience and real skills.

• Some people may memorize a large number of different facts, but without practical application it is all useless. If you once tense and passed the test or a series of tests - this is not an indicator of your knowledge.
• Nothing can replace real work experience.
• Technologies change how quickly , that while you are gaining experience with technology / product and preparing for the exam, by that time, most likely, a new version of the same technology / product will be released.
• Now there are too many certified specialists on the market who in reality cannot work.
• If you have a specialized higher education, you do not need certificates.
• Certificates are just another way to earn money for large companies.
• I work in this company for a certain number of years, and certification is a biased indicator, both for me and for my employer.

I agree with some of the arguments against; However, I am more inclined to the fact that certification is still a useful thing that helps to systematize knowledge, so to say, “sort them out”. In addition, you never know exactly when the next time you will be forced to look for work, and the need for certification helps once again not to relax.

I would be interested to hear your opinion on this issue. From the height of your experience, is it worth it to get involved in this whole story, to spend time and money? Or is it better to focus on other, higher priority things? (if so, which ones?)