What Did IPA Advanced Certifications Bring to a 30-Year Career?

Recently, I came across news that IPA’s advanced exams are being revamped again — leaning more toward DX (digital transformation). Note: IPA is a private Japanese organization that sets rules around information technology in Japan. It also runs certification exams.

The other day, while rummaging through old files, I came across my pass certificates for the Project Manager exam and the IT Service Manager exam. The paper had yellowed a bit, and I felt a strange wave of nostalgia: “Ah, there was a time like this too.”

Back then, I was serious about it.

I studied after work. I solved past exam questions on weekends. I prepared for the essay portion. I was young, so I had the stamina. And I genuinely believed, “If I get this, I can go further up.”

So, after nearly 30 years in this industry — was it actually useful?

The answer is both yes and no.

When I was junior, certifications did matter

Especially in the early years when my track record was thin, they served as proof that “I’m at least someone capable of studying.” Also, in Japan’s SI (system integration) industry, the number of certified employees becomes the company’s “signboard.”

There really is a world where “X advanced-certification holders on staff” matters — for bid qualifications, for rate negotiations.

So as an entry ticket, I think they still hold some meaning.

But the moment you step onto the actual job site, that effect fades fast.

Late-night incident response, projects on fire, unreasonable spec changes, friction with clients. In those places, nobody looks at certifications.

What they look at is just: “Can this person actually move?”

Something I learned painfully as an interviewer

Honestly, I didn’t pay that much attention to the certification field on resumes.

Of course, it’s not zero. It works as a reference point: “Okay, this person can study properly.”

But it’s never the reason to hire someone.

What I looked at in interviews was something else entirely.

Work history? No.

Will this person clash with the team? Are they nursing some weird pride? Are they the type who runs away when things catch fire? Or conversely, the type who takes on too much responsibility and breaks?

And above all: “If I throw this person into the current site, will things actually run?”

In the end, it always came down to that.

Even technical skill, in the final analysis, gets swallowed by “fit with the organization.”

Was studying for certifications a waste, then? Not that either

Looking back now, I think the greatest value was in “systematization.”

When you only do field work, knowledge inevitably fragments.

“On that project, this is how it went.” “For this incident, this is how I handled it.”

You accumulate empirical rules, but your head becomes idiosyncratic.

Studying for certifications forces you to organize all of that at least once.

Service level. Availability. Risk management. ADR. Change management. Things you were doing vaguely get given a “name” and a “shape.”

That turned out to be surprisingly big.

When I was young, I probably thought, “If I get certified, I’ll be evaluated more highly.” But now, in my 50s, it’s the opposite: “I study to organize my thinking.”

The purpose has completely transformed.

In today’s world

If we’re talking purely about direct relevance to work, AWS and Azure certifications probably have far more market value.

The era of making a living solely on IPA advanced certifications is over.

But even so, I still believe the “act of studying itself” was not wasted.

The hours I spent reading books while rubbing sleepy eyes — those were probably worth more than the certificates themselves.

A certification is not a magical piece of paper that guarantees the future.

At best, it’s a letter from your past self, confirming: “You used to work hard, didn’t you?”