Subject: RE: General opinion wanted
From: Joe Hruska (jhruska@gci.net)
Date: Thu Nov 29 2001 - 12:35:07 AKST
We have been using BrainBench in a couple of different capacities for
the last year.
As an Alaskan IT employer - I have found that BrainBench is a valuable
tool in the decision making process. However, it comes with caveats.
I have personally taken quite a few of the BrainBench "long" exams
which will provide you with a certification after successful
completion. Knowing what I do know about the exams - I would not give
a whole lot of merit to a BrainBench certification unless I knew it was
taken in a "controlled" environment. BrainBench exams are geared
towards the tester using certain reference materials during the exam,
but it can not control the tester being assisted by another individual
or the tester having programs and utilities at their disposal that
could skew the results.
One example: The Oracle PL/SQL and SQL exam. I was able to maintain a
SQL*Plus connection to a live server while I took this exam. Clearly -
many of the questions wanted you to ferret out the results of a code
snippet by parsing through the code yourself. However, I was able to
copy and paste the code snippet into a SQL*Plus session and see the
results immediately.
With that said, ISI has been testing all prospective employees. We
generally administer two exams depending on the level of experience and
resume experience. ISI is also using BrainBench to determine which new
technologies we will offer to clients. Our goal is to use BrainBench
to test developers on new technologies - and those technologies that we
can rate a 3.0 or better - can be marketed. We control the environment
in which the developers and prospective employees take the exams,
therefore I put a fair amount of weight on the scores that are received.
I will step off my soapbox now and answer your questions Arthur ;-)
(All answers relate to the long versions of the tests only)
1) How accurately do you believe the tests are in determining
your skill level in any given topic?
A) In a controlled environment - moderate to high accuracy
2) Have their certifications helped you to gain new employment?
A) In a controlled environment - We have hired individuals
based on high BB scores.
3) How much respect do you think these certifications are
accorded by your average employer?
A) Unless we have administered the tests - I don't hold as much
respect for a BB certification as I would a controlled vendor specific
exam. Purely on the basis that the exams are not controlled.
Sorry about the longish post...
Joe Hruska
This archive was generated by hypermail 2a23 : Thu Nov 29 2001 - 14:54:40 AKST