Developer Certifications that will Advance your Career

Promoting yourself is way easier when you are backed by a strong IT credential. And apparently, there’s no better way than to have a reputable certification. Below are top developer’s certifications that will help you upgrade your career level― be it in the financial aspect, job position, promotion or the entirety of your IT career. These certifications will help your professional undertakings become more productive, progressive and fulfilling. Also, these are not just prestigious developer certifications but also high-paying and well-regarded among many companies.

Microsoft Certified Solutions Developer (MCSD)

Through the years, Microsoft certifications have been hugely recognized across the globe and have been a vital step in the advancement of several professionals’ careers. MCSD certification enables a candidate to show that they possess the required skills essential in building modern mobile as well as web services and applications. If you can pass the requirements of the exam, this means that you are highly qualified to fill the position of an application developer.

You must successfully pass 70-532 exam and prove your proficiency in developing techniques, approaches, and tools in the construction of scalable and resilient solutions. Or you can sit for 70-487 exam which has been designed for developers but in this case you need to have from 3 to 5 years of experience in developing We Services. Aside from that, you must have to be knowledgeable in approaching Microsoft Azure solutions, in terms of the design, program, implementation and other processes. The exam prep video along with the practice test will help you prepare for the exam. Other than that, you can also access books and even participate in online training sessions or an instructor-led training.

Certified Secure Software Lifecycle Professional (CSSLP)

CSSLP certification by ISC is ideal for software developer which helps verify their respective skills in securing applications. It’s a vendor-neutral credential that is priced at $549. The topics encompassing the exam include each of the phases of the development lifecycle. Plus, it will also evaluate a candidate’s knowledge of secure software concepts. CCSLP certification is essential in various development projects and is known to be the sole credential that highlights building security into the software lifecycle phases.

Cloudera Certified Apache Spark and Hadoop Developer (CCA Spark and Hadoop Developer)

Another leading certification in the big data market, this is intended for candidates who wish to validate their skills in the big data domain. Since 2016, this certification has benefited many professionals in their career because of its competent and high-quality exam. Basically, the performance-based exam would assess your expertise in solving given scenarios, wherein Impala or Hive may be used, and in coding Python and Scala. Within two hours, you must complete the 8-12 hands-on tasks on Cloudera Enterprise cluster. Upon taking the exam, you must ensure that you possess the necessary IT skills. This would include knowledge of data ingest, transform, stage and store, data analysis and configuration. Under data ingest, topics would cover on importing and exporting data from and to a MySQL database into HDFS through Sqoop and processing streaming data, among others. In configuring, a candidate must be familiar not just with writing codes but also with each and every aspect of generating a result. Another skillset needed is that you must be able to apply Spark SQL in interacting with metastores in your application, filter data and join disparate datasets through Spark as well as convert data values into new data values effectively.

For USD $295, you can take CCA175 exam without any prerequisites. The passing score for the examination is 70%. To further ready yourself before the exam date, a training course is available at Cloudera Developer Training for Spark and Hadoop. You may renew your certification after two years.

Amazon Web Services (AWS Certified Developer – Associate Level)

Highlighting different cloud computing platforms, Amazon Web Services continues to offer some of the most in-demand developer certifications to the delight of IT professionals, companies, and even government units. And if you’ve got a thing for designing, building and managing various web applications on the AWS platform, then the AWS Certified Developer- Associate Level is well recommended for you. With no prerequisites needed, you can take on the journey and prepare for the multiple-choice exam that contains a maximum of 60 questions to be completed within 80 minutes. For only $150, you can expand your skills about AWS fundamentals as well as harness your mastery related to comprehensive cloud-based solutions.

Red Hat Certified JBoss Developer

For reputable open source software solutions, Red Hat provides you with an array of brilliant options. This widely-acclaimed provider caters more than half of the Fortune 500 business around the world, and it’s nothing short but fitting than to take at least one of their excellent certifications, such as the Red Hat Certified JBoss Developer or commonly known as RHCJD. This credential proves your credibility in terms of building Java Enterprise Edition applications on different platforms. To pass the $400 exam, you need to take the performance-based session that lasts for four hours. This extensive exam develops your mastery about enterprise-ready Web projects.

International Certifications for C and C++

Recognized worldwide by many companies, colleges and universities, these certifications range from associate, professional to senior levels. There are several credentials offered by the C++ Institute. Aimed at C and C++ programmers, they are as follows:

• C Programming Language Certified Associate (CLA)
• C++ Certified Associate Programmer (CPA)
• C Certified Professional Programmer (CLP)
• C++ Certified Professional Programmer (CPP)

Each credential will test your ability in the different coding tasks. For the CLA, it will assess your skills in accomplishing coding tasks that are relevant to the fundamental programming techniques and terminology in C. The CPA, on the other hand, will evaluate your skills in performing coding tasks in C++ along with the basic techniques and concepts of object-oriented programming. CLP will test your skills in executing advanced coding and programming techniques as well as in design tasks. Lastly, CPP will measure your skill in completing advanced coding tasks in C++ along with using templates.

Conclusion

Your ideal certification may take some careful time of thinking, and so will the process of availing your preferred certification. But the benefits you will soon gain will only be in a shorter time! Just dedicate yourself in availing the certification and once you’ll be able to pass all the requirements and ace the exam, your hard-earned certification will do the rest of the job.