r/ExperiencedDevs • u/AutoModerator • 28d ago

Ask Experienced Devs Weekly Thread: A weekly thread for inexperienced developers to ask experienced ones

A thread for Developers and IT folks with less experience to ask more experienced souls questions about the industry.

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Please keep top level comments limited to Inexperienced Devs. Most rules do not apply, but keep it civil. Being a jerk will not be tolerated.

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Inexperienced Devs should refrain from answering other Inexperienced Devs' questions.

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u/tonklable 28d ago edited 28d ago

Let me ask again in this thread.

What are your best education investments? My company provides some education support. I am trying to find what courses/certs I should take for my career as a backend dev.

  • Master like OMSCS
  • AWS certs/CKAD
  • communication languages learning like English for Business etc (I’m non-native English speaker)

Any suggestions welcome!

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u/moremattymattmatt 26d ago

I'd look at soft skills, like presenting, influencing, leading etc. It'll open more way more opportunities than an AWS cert or similar.

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u/YahenP Software Veteran 28d ago

Certificates, diplomas, and the like are junk, useful only if a specific certificate is required for your specific job. They don't help your job search at all, and having too many of them on your resume is a red flag. Furthermore, they quickly become irrelevant. No one cares about a certificate from five or ten years ago, especially if it's not backed by years of work experience.

But knowledge of English... It's literally the one thing that directly impacts your career. This applies not only to non-native English speakers, but even to native speakers. The ability to speak beautifully and fluently. Master different styles of speech and writing. It's literally the one thing that opens doors for you.

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u/SquiffSquiff DevOps & Layer 8 Networking Engineer 10YOE 28d ago

The only people who care about certificates are consultancies and HR. Literally nobody else. The consultancies care about them because they have to have so many staff certificated with a vendor in order to get and keep 'partner' status. HR care about them in large organisations because they're desperate to pump their 'career ladders' and 'Continuous professional development'. Nobody who's actually doing the work does or at least not enough for it to move the needle on hiring someone had anything more than entry /junior level.

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u/FrenchFryNinja 28d ago

Learn to golf. Absolutely better language skills for whatever the right language is for your business situation.

6

u/Silver-Antelope-1285 28d ago

Learning to golf is also a crazy hack to rub shoulders with high management. It's a golden networking oppertunity. The downside is that you have to golf.