National Computer Science Academy Certifications?

Divine-Assault

Hey everyone,

The other day my friend told me about National Computer Science Academy certifications and told me how he was certified online. The tests are free to take but you are required to pay to be certified and pay extra to get a hard copy which is about 30 dollars total.

I was wondering if anyone else has heard of this and if these certifications are legitimate. Due to my curiosity I registered and actually took one of their timed exams and found it very detailed, not too easy and not too hard.

Thanks

Hyper-Me

Sounds like brainbench.

Im sure they are "legitimate", but that isnt synonymous with them actually being worth anything.

msteinhilber

Hyper-Me wrote: »

Sounds like brainbench.

Im sure they are "legitimate", but that isnt synonymous with them actually being worth anything.

Yep, this is the truth. Any tests you take online at your home are really questionable as far as verifying one's knowledge. Even if they use a service such as Kryterion or similar for establishing a secured testing environment (no other browser windows available, etc) along with a time limit, it's still easy to **** your way through it on another computer.

So the scheme works by letting you take a test free, hoping you pass. Then for a low fee you can become "certified" and more marketable to employers. I would spent $30 on a good book for a topic you are interested in and take a real certification exam instead.

Solaris_UNIX

What exactly does this test "certify" you to do that is going to be useful to a prospective employer?

Microsoft certifications certify you that you have useful knowledge and skills in regards to using / deploying Microsoft products. Cisco and Juniper certs state that you have effective networking skills with some of their respective products. Red Hat's RHCE exam certifies that you can be trusted to work on Red Hat Linux boxes...

So what does this cert do? Does it certify you to teach at the National Computer Science Academy?

JDMurray

Any cert exam that you take online at home is understood to be "open book," but the exams are usually structured to be so long and complex that it's impossible to look up every question in the short amount of time given to complete the exam. So there is some balance between "what you know" and "what you referenced."

Divine-Assault

Gotcha, thanks alot for the replies everyone