Jul 27 2011 6:59PM GMT

Microsoft Seeks Recert Feedback

Ed Tittel Profile: Ed Tittel

Just saw this post on the MS Learning Born to Learn blog: “We need your feedback about recertification.” It’s from Krista Wall who I’ve dealt with over the past few years in connection with all kinds of credentials, and cert-related programs and activities. The post kick-off includes this statement

…to maintain the value of your certifications, we need to ensure that Microsoft Certifications keep pace with changing technologies and remain a meaningful indicator of a candidate’s continued competence

Then she brings up the notion that technologies keep changing even for current products as new service packs, revisions, and product versions get released. No kidding! The seemingly interminable lifespan of Windows XP throws this into stark relief, with a life cycle of 9 years and still counting in many corporate offices and business locations. She also adds the observation that recertification provides a way to update “…an advanced-level certification…” so that holders can validate skills on newer stuff than their original cert included, without having to retake an entire certification’s exams (this only matters for certs that require more than one exam, and matters progressively more as the total number of exams involved goes up).

Born to Learn Seeks Recert Feedback!

MS is conducting a survey aimed at cert holders and hiring managers for recertification on advanced certs, and specifically mentions MCPD and MCITP as examples for this kind of thing. They would like to understand how often recertification makes sense (2 or 3 years is my best guess), what kinds of activities “count” toward such a goal, and if an exam of some kind should be involved. If this sounds interesting to you, you can take the survey yourself. As for myself, I’ll be very interested in mulling over the survey data and analysis as soon as it becomes available!