Certifications are they worth it? A Testers Perspective

 

Certifications: Are they a must-have, or just a checkbox? Over the years, I’ve been on both sides of the debate. I’ve collected certifications like badges in Scouts, but later, I found myself moving away from them. So, are they worth it?

Certification, Certification, and more Certification 

The motivation for certification for many is self-improvement and advancement. Personally, I have completed several certifications over the years. Perhaps it all started when I got hooked on completing badges in the scouts.

My first official certification was the Cisco Certified Network Associate Exam(CCNA) while still completing a degree in software development for computer networking.  Having completed a Master’s in computer networking, next was the Red Hat Certified Technician(RHCT) Exam.  By my late twenties, I decided to do a second Postgrad (Post Grad Dip in Business) and in the meantime passed the ISTQB Foundation and Advanced Test Manager Exams.

Then I joined the global Public Speaking Organisation Toastmasters to move away from IT certification. Although over the next 8 years I completed the component leadership and 4 levels of  Communicator awards (component, bronze, silver, and gold).

Despite all these achievements, I started questioning whether certification was the best way for me to grow.

Switching away from Certification 

3 years ago I started to shift away from certification. There were many reasons for this shift away from certification but in all honesty, one of the key reasons was certification often results in studying alone rather than engaging and learning from others. 

Perhaps I had gotten to a point in life where I felt secure enough not to worry if someone didn’t want to hire me because of a certain certification.

Also, I had grown an interest in Context Driven Testing movement and Exploratory Testing, it felt like it was something you could not be certified in, but something you learned through experience.

The time freed up from not doing certifications resulted in more time for reading books and blogs and listening to podcasts. I began to go to conferences, and workshops and eventually became the Co-organiser of a Meetup for Software Testers in Cork(Ministry of Testing Cork). 

Courses that looked interesting but with no certification appealed to me, a 2-day Coaching course and a 3-day course in Rapid Software Testing course(RST).

The moment of realization 

The RST and Coaching courses seemed to capture perfectly where I had come to in relation to certification. I no longer wanted to spend hours alone studying subjective material that I would probably soon forget. Instead, I wanted to follow my passions and interests, I wanted to engage with others and ultimately learn from people who are further ahead of me on a similar journey.

 

Prescriptive vs Open Ended

Looking back, I see a pattern. My early certifications were in prescriptive areas—Cisco, Red Hat—where structured knowledge is essential. But as I moved into exploratory testing, the open-ended nature of learning became more valuable.

AWS or Cisco exams are prescriptive—they focus on specific services, configurations, and best practices. If you work with these technologies, certification makes sense because the exams test concrete, applicable knowledge.

Other learning areas may be more open-ended. For example, getting certified in “Exploratory” thinking wouldn’t be as meaningful since it’s less about rigid knowledge and more about adaptable problem-solving.

 

Summary 

Certifications served me well in the past, and I may return to them someday. But for now, I’m more interested in learning through real-world experience, discussions, and exploration. Whether certification is right for you depends on your goals—but the real value often comes from the learning journey itself.