>I have a question for all of you. What is your opinion about Microsoft Certifications? Does it make any improvement, or they only make money for Bill?

Hi Ali,

There are many reasons to persue certifications. To evaluate their worth to you personally you must evaluate your goals and see how they line up.

I had several goals as I persued certification:
1. To learn. There were big gaps in my knowledge/experience of VFP and I wanted to fill them in by studing the areas of the exam syllabus where my skills were weak.
2. Self-respect. Passing certification exams was a challenge I was not sure I could meet as I began. Meeting my goal boosted my self-esteem.
3. Demonstrated skills. As a lone developer I had no idea how my VFP skills measured up against the "average" developer. The exams gave me an idea where I fell on the measuring ruler. Furthermore, my boss is not a software developer and would have no way of knowing whether I was writing good software or not. Certification was a way to show him that I "measured up."
4. Demonstrated commitment to your craft. Rather than being a person who knew a little about a lot of different programming tools I wanted to be a person who was well qualified in one or two areas.
5. Inside track to knowledge or services. As a Microsoft certified individual you have access to private web pages and a magazine geared toward developers and other computer professionals. This may or may not benefit you directly.
6. Career success. No one can say exactly how certifications will affect your personal career - whether you will get a promotion or more money in your present job, or be ahead of other candidates if you look for a new job or contract. For those who are independent developers, your certification may make a prospective customer have more confidence in you. I can't say in a quantitative way how certification affected my job status but my boss was impressed that I pursued certification, something that would enhance my value to the company, "on my own." Since I achieved my certifications my salary has increased dramatically. Also, when I ask for support to attend conferences they readily approve.