Cordell sent me an interesting article about how IT Certification is becoming less important. Some bloggers -- like James -- believe IT Certifications could have value if they just raised their standards a bit... but I'm not so sure. You used to be able to take the average tech-inclined person, send him through a training course, and then get him a decent job in IT. Not so much these days, and its not because of the ailing economy. Here are some other reasons:

1. Certifications are Vendor-centric: they should instead be solution-centric, or more like a mentorship program
2. Certification’s Life Cycle Is Short: significantly shorter than a college degree
3. Certifications Are Not Real-World Oriented: they are brain dumps which present technology you may never use
4. Certifications Have Been Devalued: some are just high-tech diploma mills.
5. No Oversight Body: who gets to say who is certified to train database management? Oracle? Microsoft? Both? Neither?
6. Degree vs. Certification vs. Experience: with experience and a degree, why on earth would you need a certification?
7. HR People Are Not In Touch with the Real World: and nowhere is this more true than in IT
8. Budget Cuts: no more training dollars from big companies, so certification companies are desperate for bodies
9. Glut of Certified People: anybody can get one, so everybody does get one
10. No One Knows Which Certifications Matter: some are very tough to pass, other have a 100% passage rate

The fundamental problem is that it is unbelievably difficult to determine how good an IT person will be based on a piece of paper.
Folks on The Daily WTF and Joel On Software have discussed endlessly on what is the proper mix of education, experience, and certification... each has benefits... but most employers prefer college degrees to certifications.

However, this raises another question... since all education loses value over time, why would an employer prefer a candidate with a 5-year old college degree, compared to a 6-month old certification?

Probably because people have a general idea of the quality of education that is possible at a well-known college. They can look up the name in any number of schools that rank college programs, and have some level of third-party validation. Also, you never quite know where a new employee's true talents may lie... Most of what I learned for my Computer Science degree is outdated, and not frequently relevant for my job... However, those were not the only courses I took in college. I took dozens of non-computer courses that helped me be meticulous when experimenting, write more clearly, think more abstractly, and visualize complex integrated systems better. These courses helped me develop true skills and talents, as opposed to just filling my head with stale knowledge.

Personally... I feel that a college degree means you can learn, experience means you've made the typical rookie mistakes, and certifications/conference attendance means you're dedicated to continuing your education. Of course, none of these demonstrate that your knowledge/skills/talents will be of any practical use for your employer... so its always a risk.