CIW - Is it worth it?

tawnymarie

Hello,

So, at the moment I'm enrolled at the Cleveland Institute of Engineering. I'm fast-tracking my way through their A.A.S. program in Software Development. I have some web authoring experience...HTML, CSS, PHP, Javascript. My ultimate goal is the SCJP certification and go from there...

In the meantime I keep wondering if the CIW certifications are worth it. I never see anyone requesting those certs when looking at job abs for your average web developer jobs etc. I don't even see it as a request for employers looking for web designers. The exams are very expensive...

So, I'm inquiring about what everyone thinks of the certification and whether or not it's even valuable to have. I'm not a graphic designer. I strictly just know code so it's going to be hard for me to have a "portfolio". Do I stand a better chance at getting a position if I have the CIW? What's been everyone else's experience?

Thanks A Bunch!

--Tawny

PC509

I got it through WGU. I wouldn't waste a dime on it. It is super basic (at least the one I took), and in my opinion isn't worth the paper they print the certificate on (and it's cheap paper). It felt like a high school exam. Now, I'm sure the other ones aren't going to be as easy, but I still wouldn't put too much faith in them. I've yet to see any employer look for them. I'm sure someone puts some value in them, otherwise they wouldn't be around, but I don't. If I were in charge of hiring and I saw someone with the basic one (that I have), I'd know that they can make a web page using Dreamweaver (is that still around) or another WYSIWYG program. Very little to do with actual HTML/PHP/MySQL/CSS. The next exam is supposed to be JavaScript, but even then I doubt it goes into too much depth.

My advice: save your money. Go for a different one. Not saying the information for the cert is irrelevant or not needed, it's just too basic for the price. If you have ANY experience with web authoring, you'll pass.

swild

I'm in the middle of the CIW Web Design Specialist course and I like the course materials if you are new to the topic, but if you have done web design with a modern GUI program, it's not a lot different. If I wasn't in WGU, I wouldn't waste my time with the cert as no one will know what it is. But the training docs are much better than the ones for the MTA Web Design Fundamentals.