Читать книгу Start & Run a Computer Repair Service - Lynn Spry - Страница 13

For the purpose of actually fixing computers, certifications provide very little value. You can teach someone to troubleshoot a computer and in a few weeks he or she will be amazing, but he or she can have all the certifications in the world and not know how to open a computer case. There are some certifications that are commonly required to work at many of the big-box stores but I’ve interviewed hundreds of people with those qualifications and they rarely display any actual knowledge.

The exception to the rule is certifications from Microsoft: They still don’t replace experience but they indicate a degree of knowledge that can be useful when determining whether to hire one candidate over another.

Honestly, a certification is mostly just for show. Despite the buzz value placed on them by some, they’re generally only good when you’re doing advertising. “All our technicians are ABC Certified so you know you can trust us!” So are we to believe that someone with ten years of experience and no certification is less valuable than someone with a nice piece of paper?

Certifications are nice to have and they show someone was interested enough in working on computers to get them, but that’s probably it. We have seen plenty of certified technicians that are not half as competent as self-taught technicians. The difference is always experience. Sure, wiping a computer and reloading the operating system is easy 95 percent of the time. However, it is that 5 percent of the time where the operating system doesn’t load, the updates won’t run, or the drivers can’t be found that makes the difference between a qualified technician and a “certified idiot.” With that said, if you employ people who do have certifications, by all means, display the certificates everywhere you can.