Zend Certified Engineer PHP5

Are there any zend certified engineers present ?

I would like to know if the online courses are worth their money.
Are the teachers good ? Or do they just read from a textbook ? Can you
ask questions ? Do you have a lot of contact with your fellow students ?
Did you learn a lot ? Apart from the six hours a week online training,
how much time do you have to spend each week learning, making homework,
.... ? Does the online training prepare you for the certification exam ?

When your applying for a job as webdeveloper, say you already learned
PHP on your own and have a couple of months to half a year
workexperience, does it makes a difference when you are a Zend Certified
Engineer ?


http://www.zend.com/education/php_tr...ourses/courses

Thanx

Johan

---
http://www.johan-mares.be

The presence of those seeking the truth
is infinitely to be preferred to those
who think they've found it.
(Terry Pratchett)

Hi Johan,

I am currently studying for the ZCE exam, although I am doing it
through a leading Education provider in the UK. I hope to take the exam
before the end of the year. My impression so far is that if you have a
good grasp of PHP already then the exam will be farily straight
forward.

Looking at your site I think this would be the case for you. I do not
know what is involved in the online learning courses offered on the
Zend site but my advice would be to buy the official Zend PHP
Certification book and study it. I think you will find most of it easy.
Then you can buy an exam voucher for about $125 and sit the exam at a
local exam center in your area.

As for wether the certification would make a difference when applying
for a job, well as we all know, most employers love to see
qualifications and certifications, so my opinion is that it will make a
slight difference. In my area there are at present only three ZCEs and
all those are in one city. I am hoping that by being the only other one
outside that city, my chances will be improved.

All my own opinions though.

Good luck.

"JM" <reply@group.svp> wrote in message
news:xdydndI0evzLDqLYnZ2dnUVZ8tadnZ2d@scarlet.biz. ..
| Are there any zend certified engineers present ?
|
| I would like to know if the online courses are worth their money.
| Are the teachers good ? Or do they just read from a textbook ? Can you
| ask questions ? Do you have a lot of contact with your fellow students ?
| Did you learn a lot ? Apart from the six hours a week online training,
| how much time do you have to spend each week learning, making homework,
| ... ? Does the online training prepare you for the certification exam ?


i'm positive it's worth *their* money, but doubt it's worth *yours*.

| When your applying for a job as webdeveloper, say you already learned
| PHP on your own and have a couple of months to half a year
| workexperience, does it makes a difference when you are a Zend Certified
| Engineer ?

as an employer...it makes *very* little difference to me. we have our own
tests that applicants must take anyway. plus, if you have *any* experience
programming in *any* other language (certified or not), we may hire a php
applicant WITHOUT THEM HAVING ANY php experience or training at all. php is
NOT hard to learn or use well. we've invested in our employees by giving
them tools to further their own knowledge in areas of their interests
related to programming...we pay for such certifications if the employee
wants to take the exams. i don't require nor prefer certificates when
someone seems a good personality fit with the aptitude and desire to learn.

this is not just restricted to my company; it is common practice for many
others as well.


| The presence of those seeking the truth
| is infinitely to be preferred to those
| who think they've found it.
| (Terry Pratchett)

logically mute point. seeking the truth continually with the goal in mind of
never assuming one has found it - as implied to be preferable in said
quote - is a pointless activity. it is completely based on the context
whether or not "truth" can be found. the speed of light is true as is the
speed of sound, etc.. truth is evidentiary confirmation to a hypothesis;
nothing more. why begin seeking something thinking it can never be, or
shouldn't be, found?

andy_irl wrote:
> As for wether the certification would make a difference when applying
> for a job, well as we all know, most employers love to see
> qualifications and certifications, so my opinion is that it will make
> a slight difference.

A very, very slight difference.
Most employers want to see previous work, certification is seldomly asked.
It might make the difference in an otherwise equal choice, but minimal.

Then again, it's quite cheap, so why not go for it.
--
Rik Wasmus

| As for wether the certification would make a difference when applying
| for a job, well as we all know, most employers love to see
| qualifications and certifications,

"we all know"...no "we" don't.


| so my opinion is that it will make a
| slight difference.

if "we" all did know this, then your opinion should be more than just
"slight".

| All my own opinions though.

so "we" is really read, "my" or "i"?

;^)

"JM" <reply@group.svp> wrote in message
news:xdydndI0evzLDqLYnZ2dnUVZ8tadnZ2d@scarlet.biz. ..
> Are there any zend certified engineers present ?
>
> I would like to know if the online courses are worth their money.
> Are the teachers good ? Or do they just read from a textbook ? Can you ask
> questions ? Do you have a lot of contact with your fellow students ? Did
> you learn a lot ? Apart from the six hours a week online training, how
> much time do you have to spend each week learning, making homework, ... ?
> Does the online training prepare you for the certification exam ?
>
> When your applying for a job as webdeveloper, say you already learned PHP
> on your own and have a couple of months to half a year workexperience,
> does it makes a difference when you are a Zend Certified Engineer ?

For every single PHP job I've had, the employer looks at your work
experience, not whether you spent $125 to take a test. If one has only been
coding for 6 months, time spent building up a portfolio of work would be
more useful than just getting a new logo for your CV/resumé. Employers want
people capable of coding websites, not just capable of sitting basic exams.
Real-world experience trumps exams every time.

dave

>
> http://www.zend.com/education/php_tr...ourses/courses
>
> Thanx
>
> Johan
>
> ---
> http://www.johan-mares.be
>
> The presence of those seeking the truth
> is infinitely to be preferred to those
> who think they've found it.
> (Terry Pratchett)

Hello,

I got my certification a few days ago. The question of certification at
work, no matter how slight it could be, it makes a difference. If two
CVs with very similar experience are selected, the one having the
certification have a better chance to win.

And there are no many certified people, why not go for it?

Habtom

<ehabtom@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1163482371.492628.71900@f16g2000cwb.googlegro ups.com...
| Hello,
|
| I got my certification a few days ago. The question of certification at
| work, no matter how slight it could be, it makes a difference. If two
| CVs with very similar experience are selected, the one having the
| certification have a better chance to win.
|
| And there are no many certified people, why not go for it?

cost v. payoff for one.

as an employer faced with the above scenario, the deal breaker for either
candidate would be how their personality fit within the group i intend to
place them. at that point, i'd have a meeting with the group and ask their
impressions of both candidates. i'd make a decision based on that.

what you are banking on is that the employer thinks as you do. this is not
often the case, especially with php. since not many people have
certification in php and the fact it is so easily learned and deployed, it
seems a mute point to seek a pedigree in it.

now, if there were certifications one could seek involving personal
development in the areas of understanding, patience, communication, logic,
and diligence, i'd only hire those candidates and their facilities regarding
php would be a distant qualification to be sure.

;^)