Tech industry Certification: Why bother?
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IT Certifications: Worth It or Just Expensive Paper?
Over the last few months, I've spent a fair amount of time working towards professional certifications in technologies such as Vault, Terraform, Kubernetes, and Dynatrace.
That raises an obvious question:
Why bother?
Certifications cost money. They consume time. They compete with family, hobbies, rest, and everything else life throws at us.
So are they actually worth doing?
Professional Laundry vs Professional Development
As a contractor, I set aside time each week for what I think of as two categories of work.
The first is professional laundry—all the necessary but unexciting tasks like accounting, paperwork, administration, and keeping things running.
The second is professional development—activities that make me a better engineer, communicator, and consultant.
Certifications fall into that second category.
They're one of several outputs from deliberate learning, alongside side projects, home labs, technical writing, and videos like this one.
What Certifications Actually Prove
A certification doesn't prove expertise.
It proves that you passed a certification.
That's an important distinction.
If I'm interviewing for a role involving Vault, Terraform, or Kubernetes, a certificate doesn't make me better than another candidate. It doesn't tell an interviewer how much hands-on experience I have or how effectively I can solve real-world problems.
What it does provide is evidence.
It demonstrates that I've invested time in learning a subject and achieved a measurable outcome.
Without that, an interviewer only has my word.
The Bruce Lee Principle
One of my favourite quotes, often attributed to Bruce Lee, is:
A belt only covers two inches of your backside. You have to cover the rest.
The same principle applies to certifications.
A martial arts belt doesn't automatically make someone a good fighter.
A certification doesn't automatically make someone an expert.
Real competence comes from practice, experience, mistakes, and repetition.
The certificate is evidence of progress, not proof of mastery.
Certifications as a Forcing Function
One of the biggest benefits of certification isn't the certificate itself.
It's the deadline.
Once you've paid for an exam and booked a date, there's suddenly a reason to study.
Learning changes from:
"I should probably learn this someday."
to
"I've got six weeks before the exam."
For goal-oriented people, that's incredibly useful.
A certification provides structure, focus, and a clear destination.
Instead of vaguely trying to "learn Kubernetes," you're working towards a specific objective.
The Learning Process Matters More
The real value often comes from what happens while preparing.
For me, that usually includes:
- Courses on platforms such as Udemy.
- Reading official documentation.
- Building home lab environments.
- Running the technology myself.
- Creating test projects.
- Experimenting and breaking things.
When I studied Kubernetes, I built clusters manually rather than relying entirely on automated tooling.
When I studied Vault, I installed and configured my own environment.
That's where much of the real learning happened.
The certification simply provided a destination.
AI Has Changed the Game
One unexpected addition to my learning workflow has been AI.
When preparing for certifications, I often use AI to:
- Generate mock exam questions.
- Explain unfamiliar concepts.
- Compare implementation approaches.
- Create personalised study materials.
It's not a replacement for documentation or hands-on practice.
You still need to verify what it tells you.
But as a learning companion, it's remarkably effective.
Instead of spending hours searching for a specific answer, you can have a conversation and quickly identify what you need to investigate further.
The Downsides
Certifications aren't free.
The costs include:
- Exam fees.
- Training materials.
- Study time.
- Opportunity cost.
Every hour spent studying is an hour not spent doing something else.
For me, that might mean less time with family, less time making music, or less time working on personal projects.
There's also another downside:
Certification can become overly goal-focused.
You're aiming at a syllabus.
You're learning what's on the exam.
That can leave less room for experimentation, exploration, and curiosity.
Some of the most valuable learning happens when you're simply tinkering and seeing what breaks.
Don't Neglect Play
One thing I've learned over the years is that structured learning and exploratory learning both matter.
Certifications provide focus.
Experimentation provides depth.
A home lab, a side project, a Raspberry Pi cluster, a game prototype, or even a strange synthesizer project can teach lessons no certification ever will.
The ideal approach combines both.
Work towards goals, but leave room to play.
Should You Get Certified?
My answer is generally yes, with caveats.
A certification can:
- Demonstrate commitment.
- Provide structure.
- Open doors.
- Build confidence.
- Create learning momentum.
But it isn't magic.
It won't get you hired on its own.
It won't replace experience.
And it won't turn you into an expert overnight.
Think of it as one slice of the pizza rather than the entire meal.
Final Thoughts
Certifications are valuable because they create accountability and provide evidence of learning.
But they're only one part of becoming a capable professional.
Real expertise comes from applying knowledge, solving problems, making mistakes, and continuously improving over time.
Get the certificate if it helps you move forward.
Just don't confuse the certificate with the journey itself.