- English
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In order to get the certifications; I studied by my own for some of them and I attended to lessons for some others. What was the difference? Well! I took some lessons because I didn’t feel with enough knowledge to get the certification and even more I expected to learn something else from my classmates (and I did!).
For example, SCJP, obtaining this one it was not an easy deal. I studied by myself during a month trying to understand the nuts and bolts of the Java language, it best reward was to practically became some sort of Java pre-compiler. That for sure helps a lot when coding 
Obtaining the CAPM was a totally different story! By that time I have some experience with “software project” terms but I was not an expert at all. So I decided to enroll for some lessons (well! It is also a requirement but I have done this even if it were not a requirement); the course last for 3 months and all I can say “It was awesome!”. I learned a lot from my classmates who have much more experience than me managing projects for all kind of companies bank, insurance, software and government.
So what I like about the certifications? The process! You have to pass some days figuring out things, reading, learning and even meeting people (that in the future can become a job contact and/or a very good friend).
What I didn’t like? Specially this happened with CAPM, I was disappointed when answering the exam I realize that almost everyone who had previously memorized the material (PMBOK) would be able to pass the exam. I not saying that certification doesn’t worth it, I am just saying that I expected that exam show more challenges than just memorize.
If you want some good reading material for Java certifications, you can check Javaranch also you can look for head first series books. For PMI certifications almost all you need it is in ther site (There is a Head First Book, but I haven’t read it).
I will talk about my experience about certifications and job market, later…
See you,
Buho
2009-04-14 at 2.48 am
I didnt know about the CAPM until I read your post, so do you think that it really helps? or is like the java certifications that depend on a lot of things, the employer, the person, the moment, etc.
2009-04-14 at 12.28 pm
Yes it definitely helps, after that I saw software projects totally different. As programmers we use to think in modules, components, classes, objects and we forget about other things like budget, stakeholders, time, company process/standards. This certification is an entry point to PMP, for people that has some knowledge about project management but not enough to get the PMP cert.