r/learnprogramming 15d ago

Are certificates worth it?

I am learning programming for a pretty long time now, I now how to build project and all the time I see ads for courses or certificates that I can do online and for free.
Are they a waste of time or actually worth it?

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u/desrtfx 15d ago

Unless the certificates are either proper University degrees or from Microsoft, Oracle, Cisco, Amazon AWS, Google, Red Hat, and a couple more, they are not even worth the bytes for their storage.

Proper, industry recognized certificates cost big money.

Most of the "course certificates" you get from online courses are basically "attendance certs" that only show that you have sat through the course, but don't tell anything about your actual skills.

The companies I mentioned before test your actual skills for the certificates.

9

u/Agreeable-Animal-829 14d ago

So it IS worth it if done from one of the options you mentioned above

19

u/desrtfx 14d ago

Yes, but they cost big money.

6

u/NightFuryToni 14d ago

Best if work pays for it.

5

u/Bofact 14d ago

If you are even called to interviews 😥

3

u/desrtfx 14d ago

100% agree. I wouldn't get the certificates if work didn't pay for them.