Thanks to all who answered our Linkedin poll, "Documentum Managers: Does EMC
Certification Matter When You Hire?" The conclusion seems to be "not so much."
You can click here
to see the real time results. One of the nice things that has happened while conducting this survey is that
we've both spoken to, and received back-channel e-mails from, folks who wanted
to give us their two cents on the subject. Almost everyone said that
certification is not enough, that Documentum and its application tends to be
quite complex, and that a broader skill set is required. That being said, I did get at least two responses that suggested that
certification might be a huge plus when companies in need of Documentum
resources didn't have in house expertise to conduct a technical interview. 
While that point is well taken, I will say this; I'd trade a smart person who can think logically and systematically and has strong references over someone who can pass a test. As many of you know, I interview a great number of people each week and I find it very troubling when a person can't tell me why they did what they did (other than they were told to do so.)
I'm ranting a bit because I've reviewed a few too many resumes lately where the buzzwords, bulletpoints and certification badges on them seem to have very little to do with their owners. Unless something changes drastically, I don't think that Documentum certification should become a barrier for entry in the ECM world, the way it is in the SAP world; we'd be excluding some of our best professionals and inviting others, who may not have as much to offer, into the game.
Finally, I know this post is a bit of a downer, but budgets are tight and stakes are high and I want my customers to have the very best players on their side.
My next post will be kinder, I promise.
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