Ask HN: What are the top qualifications available in your field?
However, I'm curious about the opposite: what are the top-level qualifications available in your field(s)? What is the certificate or title that tells you that someone is almost certainly an expert in a given area, or that can only be achieved after a substantial commitment of time, effort and demonstrable breadth of experience? And, if you have any first-hand experience pursuing any of these, what are your thoughts?
Fields can be IT-related or otherwise, though my own primary interests are in software development and infosecurity.
Here are a few example that come to mind:
- Wine: Master Sommelier (this was the subject of the very interesting documentary Somm)
- Mountaineering: IMFGA Mountain Guide
- Sub-aqua diving: BSAC First Class Diver
- Infosecurity: GIAC maybe?
- Academic: Higher doctorate (DSc./DLitt./etc.)
5 comments
[ 3.9 ms ] story [ 29.4 ms ] threadThe Academy Awards has a separate event for scientific and technical awards, I don’t think it’s something you can really strive for, but as far a social proof goes I bet it works really well.
There are positions (FAANG companies are infamous for this) that strongly prefer or outright require at least a degree, often in a subject viewed as relevant (nominally C.S. but math and physics are often considered to be potentially viable alternate areas). But other companies care far more about work experience, and may give little weight to presence or lack of a degree.
Similar comments apply to which university it was: some companies and some parts of the world are highly biased towards prestige universities, other companies and other parts of the world less so.
And then there are the certificates you mentioned. In my experience, those are considered to have some value compared to no degree plus no job experience, but otherwise not very useful at all -- and sometimes there's prejudice against certificates (where it's considered better to not have certification regardless of other factors).
So there's no absolute rule. But degrees from good schools usually help.
Canada has a strict requirement for engineers (electrical, civil, etc) to pass a qualification test of some sort, and I was told (by ex-pat Canadians) that it's not legal to do engineering work without that. Plus they get a special ring to wear to show their status (not kidding, I've seen them).
Scuba: I have "Rescue Diver" certification (search, rescue, first aid, etc), which would be required for certain diving-related jobs, and the next higher level of certification carries legal obligations -- e.g. it's illegal to panic and run away (swim away) from divers in distress if one has the Master Diver cert.
Short of that, I have met divers who don't like to dive with people who do not have at least the Rescue Diver cert (because "everyone in the party should be capable of expertly helping everyone else").
That's a pretty open-ended question. There so many areas of potential expertise in today's complex world.
Hmm, I just remembered a guy who collected certifications in, he said, all fields, not related to his profession. He had dozens, including things like HVAC repair. Unusual hobby.
Quick couple of notes:
- The ring isn’t really evidence of qualification, it’s evidence that you’ve taken an oath to your peers. Most people do the oath in their final year of their bachelors (The Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer)
- The definition of “engineering” in Canada is complicated. I have my ring. I have an EE BSc and a Comp Sci masters. I don’t have my P.Eng at all, and can therefore not call myself an Engineer. But I write software and design electronics all day long, for money, legally. Some of the stuff I work on is safety-critical and could kill someone, but nothing I work on legally needs stamped drawings. So I carry on without a stamp and without my P.Eng designation.
- There is an ethics exam when you go to get your P.Eng but I don’t believe there’s actually a practical knowledge exam. The biggest thing is that you need to have other licensed engineers (and potentially non-engineer managers) attest to your competence in a number of different topics related to the practice of engineering. Not just Engineering skills, but project management, communication, etc. All of the things that are needed to do the job well on your own.
If you really want to have fun with it in Canada, though, consider that you’re generally only allowed to be licensed in the discipline you did your undergrad in (with a few exceptions). So I could get my electrical P.Eng, but not a civil one. So here’s the fun part: there are only a very small number of accredited software engineering programs in Canada. All of the people running around with a comp sci degree calling themselves Software Engineers… well, there’s drama sometimes :D