Question
Which industry certifications best help you achieve career advancement?
Hello Everyone,
My name is Lisa Nadile and I am Pegasystem's blogger for Pega's Insights Blog. We're working on a post that takes a look at the trending technology certifications we can use to shape how we work. My hope is to create a post that assists you as you decide which certifications will support your career evolution. Which technologies are essential for you to know right now? Which technology certifications can help you reach new career goals? For example, do you recommend becoming certified in cloud security, AWS, Cisco, or project management? Which Pega certifications are most helpful? What are the most important programming languages to be certified in—C and C++? How about becoming a Certified Secure Software Lifecycle Professional (CSSLP)?
I'd love to hear your opinions. Please feel free to contact me directly if you prefer at lisa.nadile@pega.com
Thank you,
Lisa
This is wonderful information. Why do you think PRINCE2 is less important in the US? Are people interested in getting Cisco certifications? Thank you again, Lisa
From what I've observed from American professionals I've met, it seems that the leading project management certification done there is PMP. There aren't that many comparisons around but you can start here:
https://www.projectsmart.co.uk/pmp-vs-prince2-certificates.php
As to the reason why PMP is more popular there, I don't know. Providing advice on which certs to do needs to be region specific. For example, advising Australians to do PMP is a waste of time when the majority of our job ads state "PRINCE2 certification required", the reverse can be said asking Americans to do PRINCE2 when your job ads require PMP.
Cisco certifications are infrastructure/networking certifications and won't be of much practical use to business or system architects. We operate in the applications space and do not configure networking equipment (ie. we don't work in data centres).
I think you'll find that it will depend on the region. Here in Australia, Certified Scrum Master has recently become quite popular. If you're in the government sector in Australia then PRINCE2 is another leading certification. I believe it is the same deal in the UK, western Europe, but NOT in North America.
And just on cloud or security certifications... focus seems to be mostly on the infrastructure side of things. If you are a Pega business or system architect you are less likely to benefit from these infra-centric certifications.
Business architects may benefit from CBAP. CISSP is possible but their stringent work experience requirement may be a roadblock (they require at least 5 years direct IT security experience). TOGAF certification is something I would recommend for both BA's and SA's in regions that value the certification. It will help them navigate and work across organisations that model their business architecture on TOGAF.