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I am a software developer with 8 months of experience in the IT industry, currently working on the development of tools for BIG DATA analytics. I have learned Hadoop basics on my own and I am pretty comfortable with writing MapReduce Jobs, PIG, HIVE, Flume and other related projects. I am thinking of taking the exam for the Cloudera Hadoop Certification.

Will this certification add value, considering that I have less than 1 year of experience? Many of the jobs I've seen relating to Hadoop require at least 3 years of experience. Should I invest more time in learning Hadoop and improving my skills to take this certification?

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closed as off-topic by World Engineer Nov 21 '13 at 13:38



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6 Answers

up vote 4 down vote accepted

I can't speak to the value of the Cloudera Certified Developer for Apache Hadoop (CCDH), since I don't have it. However, I can talk about certifications in general, with my initial impressions of the CCDH certification.

On the surface, the CCDH seems like it would be one of the more valuable certifications to prove knowledge of development using Apache Hadoop. Cloudera appears to be well-linked to companies. However, it's also a commercial entity, and I tend to be wary of certifications by companies around things that they produce or are heavily invested in.

Taking a look at where you stand now, if you are truly interested in Hadoop development, I'd recommend continuing to learn Hadoop and develop applications using it, and adding this to your resume. If you have the time and money, obtaining a Hadoop certification. Having the certification along with projects that use Hadoop might (depending on the company and their hiring practices) get you an interview even though they are asking for 3 years of experience.

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thanks for finding time to answer my question. It helped –  Saumitra Apr 10 '12 at 10:04
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It's a fad. Concentrate on building a good foundation instead of such certifications.

This is not to say that the certification may not have any value - but it does not add any value to your career at this point.

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Downvoter, care to explain? –  talonx Apr 9 '12 at 11:45
I don't think you're right. For someone that has just 1 year of experience, having such a certification is HUGE. Sure, there are a lot of people out there who have Java or .NET certifications and that is indeed no longer that impressive. But people with an Apache Hadoop certification, that's rare... and impressive. If he can do it, I TOTALLY recommend that he should. PS: I'm not the downvoter. –  Radu Murzea Apr 9 '12 at 12:41
Not DV, but I don't agree. Having certification in a new and hot technology is a way to make good money in a short time, at least until everyone else hops on the bandwagon. I do agree that having a good foundation is essential but having the certification will help one get in a position to obtain that foundation. –  jfrankcarr Apr 9 '12 at 14:04
SoboLAN & jfrankcarr : I agree this might be advantageous in the short term. But it has no value for his long term career. –  talonx Apr 9 '12 at 15:58
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Hopefully you aren't seeing ads asking for someone with 3 years experience in Hadoop!

Certification can help you land a job where a company is looking for someone with a relatively new or rare skill. It proves that you have some knowledge in the area and that they won't have to be investing as much in training you. This can get you in the door even with less experience. You may need to manufacture some experience to get by the opening HR auto-screen though.

Long term, it won't mean that much. Technology changes and trends change. You could even get pigeonholed into working on obsolete systems after a while.

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I recently cleared the certification and I think its a good start to verify your understanding on the Hadoop technology.

I do agree that if someone is really experienced and think that he or she already know the concepts to the depth there is no point in the certification, but it's a really good thing if you just started working or planning to work on Hadoop.

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I am also preparing for CCDH can you please share some material and links to clear this certification –  Pramod Kumar May 18 '13 at 18:02
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Short answer is:

It will help someone who's new in the field or fresh-out-of-college get a job.

In the real field having the certification doesn't tell people that you have better understanding of Hadoop than someone who doesn't.

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My situation is pretty much similar to yourself. I am a IT graduate and now I am developing software applications on commercial basis and also preparing for certifications. I have seen improvements and the approach of HR towards us is much more positive if we have professional work experience accompanied with commercially developed and delivered applications on resume.

I would suggest you to get as hands on as possible and develop as many applications as possible and then get a certification for yourself. These will surely help you improve your resume and stand way ahead of lot many other people as pointed by Thomas Owens because their are many people who have degree's as well as certifications but do not have applications on their resume.

And also make it a point that you don't end up having these development experience as a freelancer. That is because I have personal experience that many HR's tend you put on lower salary grade citing that your work experience is of a freelancer and not of a professional developer when it comes to position which requires certain duration of work experience as qualification.

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