Warning: That $500 certification course I bought was a total waste

I spent $500 on a project management cert from some online academy. Thought it would look good on my resume. Two months later I applied for 15 jobs and nobody even mentioned it in interviews. Meanwhile my friend spent $200 on a local workshop that came with a referral network and got hired in 3 weeks. So which is it - do certs actually help or are they just cash grabs? Anyone else have a cert that either paid off or did nothing?

4 comments

4 Comments

jamieb802d ago

What is it about networking that feels so much harder than buying a course though? I spent $300 on a coding bootcamp cert and it didn't do squat for me either. But then I went to a local meetup for hobbyists, just talked about my side projects over pizza, and someone from a small startup offered me a job on the spot. Now I tell people to skip the fancy certs and just go find a group of people who share their interest, even if it's just a book club or a gaming group. The cert checks a box on paper, but a real person vouching for you checks a box in their head. So maybe the lesson here is to spend more time finding your people and less time chasing alphabet soup?

jadej504d ago

Two months later I applied for 15 jobs and nobody even mentioned it" - that pretty much tells you everything right there. Maybe instead of stressing over certs, people should just network more and stop treating every resume line like it's life or death.

king.eric4d ago

Read somewhere that most jobs come from people you know, not some piece of paper. Kinda makes you wonder why everyone chases certs instead of just buying someone a coffee.

kaigibson4d ago

Oh man, THIS. I spent YEARS stacking certs and the job that actually changed my career came from a random chat at a friend's BBQ. It's like we're all SCARED to just talk to people.