Something about journeys and destinations

"Do you find value in passing certifications?"

Ask this question to me three years ago, I bet that my answer could have been one of the following:

• "What will change in my day to day job if I had those certificates?"
• "Why should I spend that much time for a piece of paper only valid for a few years?"
• "Who are you all and what is that Coronavirus business you talk about?"

Ask the same question to me now and I will probably send you the link to this article. You know what they say about developers being lazy 🤷‍♀️

My experiences and the exchanges I had with my peers helped me understand some underlying concepts behind the simple piece of paper that is a certificate.

First, there is employability. Picture yourself as a recruiter, looking for the a senior software engineer with a strong experience regarding Javascript. You receive two résumés with more or less the same experiences, yet one of them is certified both for front-end and back-end Javascript frameworks. Who are you most likely to call first? I do not say that certifications are all that matter, but it can definitely help you get the job that you want.

Then there is the point that resonate the most with me. Preparing a certification puts you in a position where you need to dig deep into a specific subject. It is similar in that way to creating educational content. You need to become an expert on the subject and it exceeds the certificate itself.

Your certificate may not be valid anymore in a few years, but the acquired knowledge will last.

You may not know every piece of the most obscure APIs of the technology that you are learning, that is not the point. However, you will know what it is capable of doing and how to find the piece of information needed to put it in action!

Finally, certifications can be a good starting point when looking for valuable content for your technological watch.

Regarding MongoDB

MongoDB University is a learning platform providing many courses for you to learn how to make the best out of the NoSQL database. Whether you are a developer or a database administrator, you will find dedicated learning paths and even certifications.

I chose to follow the developer learning path to consolidate my skills. I used MongoDB with a bare minimum of knowledge for several years and I think that it is time to get the most out of this tool, both for professional and personal use.

The articles can be seen as many things, depending on what you are looking for. It can serve as a quick introduction to the concepts behind MongoDB, or event as additional content when preparing to take your own certificate. For me it is more like a log of my journey through the free training courses designed for developers.

I will try to make the articles as accessible as possible, assuming as little technological knowledge as possible when introducing concepts. Yet, I will certainly make parallels with other technologies for those already familiar with them. If you are not aware of those technologies, no worries! Take it as an opportunity to learn new fields 😉

Please share your experience regarding MongoDB and certification at large!