Credits, Credentials, and Certificates

One of the consistent conversations this year has been aronud the value of “AI certifications.” Let’s be straight, we aren’t fans of certifications for most of these efforts. There is largely no insurance-type or union-type organization behind many of these, nor the history which backs the reputation a traditional certification would infer. And yet, they are here, so how do we navigate certifications? Should they be given credit for something/anything? Or, are the credentials something yet to be built, and the certification points to the building blocks of a reputation which can be built?

Sparked by seeing a few folks talk recently about certifications earned on LinkedIn, there’s indeed some virtue signaling happening. Folks are making a declaration that they stayed thru someone’s curriculm and developed some type of understanding. Give them credit for this? In your circle of friends and associates, sure. But, getting beyond 2nd degree connections, does this matter? What should this credit equal? Is it more about making the acquirer visible for other opportunities or a closer (professional) connection? What happens when that credential is no longer as valuable because of vertical, market, industrial, or even cultural shifts? Does the credit matter for more than just what was inferred? Why?

Or maybe we talk about these certifications as the proof of something yet to be built. The person who applied themselves for this certificate is making a declaration they now have the foundations to build something reputable. And this kind of makes sense for some certifications, a security COMP-TIA doesn’t mean you’ve secured a system already, but that when it comes time for it to be tested/attacked, that you can add to the resiliency of it. To this end, the certification is merely a credential until its applied. It’s not worth much more than a checkbox until it is tested, validated, and the outcomes verified well outside of the acquirer (or issuer).

Told a friend to look into making badges/certifications for a service they offer thru this service. There’s been a consistent shape of persons who utilzie their services w/o wanting to do much. And then there’s a few who take their platform and grow themselves and their businesses in a more self-directed method. To this end, the credential their service would offer could do the part of ensuring a quality of service that a larger company might have an academic body in the place of validating. This smaller service would also gain the reputational boost that “hey, I got credit for learning this thing I’m paying you for” which is a achievement metric from our youth. Credit conferring more than applause from an unknown audience, but now being an internal appreciation of achievement, resiliency, or more.

What say you? Are certificates all they seem to be, or have you come out of this looking at this credit or credential differently?