>Jerry:
>
>My position on computer certication is that it is basically a joke. I paid thousands of dollars to register for my acturial and chartered financial analyst examinations and I probably spent more than 2000 hours studying for those exams. The passing rates are low, the costs very high, and the time commitment extreme: employers see those certified professionals as having reached a certain level of competency. Compare that with the $100 and 40 hours of study time required to pass most computer examinations...
>
>Certificate that are too easy to obtain are worth nothing. Computer vendors
>use certification for marketing, not to protect the public.
>
>Daniel

They also use them as cash cows, regularly 'retiring' them and forcing holders to 'upgrace'. That's why I like Tom's suggestion of a Master, Journeyman, apprentice setup.