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Why a 30-Year Engineering Veteran Says Most Private Certifications Are Nearly Worthless

An Email That Brought Back Memories

The other day, while cleaning out my inbox, I came across a promotional email for the Web Analytics Consultant certification, a private credential offered in Japan.

It brought back memories. I earned that certification myself many years ago, before becoming a freelancer.

At the time, I wanted to make myself look more accomplished and have something impressive to show potential clients once I went independent. So I collected a variety of credentials. I earned the PMP and pursued quite a few IT certifications as well.

But after nearly 30 years as an engineer, I have reached a fairly clear conclusion:

Most private certifications were almost worthless to me.

I spent considerable time and money on them, yet I can hardly remember a single case in which one directly brought me work.

There are exceptions. Top-tier Oracle and AWS certifications, for example, can help someone win certain kinds of projects. But those are a small minority of all the credentials available.

Certifications Are Also a Business

Organizations that administer credentials such as the Web Analytics Consultant certification and the PMP naturally have business models of their own.

Candidates pay for courses, exams, and study materials. Some credentials also require renewal fees or ongoing maintenance costs after you pass.

I earned several certifications and then let some of them lapse because the maintenance costs simply stopped making sense.

Before earning a credential, it is easy to imagine that it might lead to new work. But after I became independent, almost nobody asked whether I held one.

I kept paying to maintain credentials while seeing little evidence that they helped my business. Eventually, I began to wonder whether I was maintaining my certifications or merely helping maintain the organizations behind them.

They Are Not the Same as Professional Licenses

Government-issued licenses and credentials legally required to practice a profession are different. Doctors, lawyers, and licensed architects, for example, cannot perform certain work without the appropriate qualification.

Private IT and marketing certifications do not work that way.

You can analyze website traffic without a Web Analytics Consultant credential. You can manage projects without a PMP. You can work with AWS without an AWS certification.

Ultimately, clients want an answer to one question:

What can you actually do?

What systems have you built? What incidents have you resolved? How large and complex were the projects you worked on?

For an engineer with nearly 30 years of experience, a record of real work conveys far more information than a list of credentials.

Top-Tier Oracle and AWS Certifications Can Be Exceptions

I am not saying that every private certification is completely useless.

Advanced Oracle credentials and top-tier AWS certifications, for example, are genuinely difficult to earn. They can be useful signals when a company is looking for expertise in a specific field.

Companies may also need certified professionals to meet partner-program or staffing requirements. In those situations, a certification has real market value.

Even then, however, the credential alone does not prove that someone can do the job.

Suppose I had to choose between someone with Oracle’s highest-level certification and someone who had operated Oracle systems in production for more than ten years. I would look first at the second person’s work history.

A certification is most valuable when it reinforces proven experience.

Meet One Potential Client Instead of Earning One More Credential

For a freelancer, the most important task is not filling the certification section of a résumé.

It is building relationships with people who may hire you.

If you are about to spend dozens of hours studying for a credential you will rarely use, consider spending that time getting to know a potential client instead.

Write a blog. Share your knowledge on LinkedIn. Reconnect with former colleagues.

For a freelancer, those activities are more likely to generate revenue.

Ten certifications will not bring you work if nobody knows you exist. On the other hand, one person who thinks, “I can trust this person with the job,” may be enough to create an opportunity.

That simple fact became unmistakably clear to me after I went independent.

Experienced Professionals Need a Track Record, Not More Credentials

I understand the anxiety people feel before going independent. I earned certifications because I wanted to make an unimpressive version of myself look a little stronger.

Seeing credential names lined up on a résumé can be reassuring.

But after nearly 30 years of work, I now think I should have spent more of that time meeting people.

Of course, a credential can be worth pursuing when it serves a clear purpose and the market genuinely values it, as may be the case with top-tier Oracle or AWS certifications.

But I would no longer pursue a private certification merely because it might be useful someday or because my résumé looks sparse.

I deleted the promotional email that started these reflections. It was nostalgic, in a way.

My certification expired long ago, but the emails are still working hard to sell it to me.

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I provide system development and technical consulting using AI, AWS, and Claude Code.

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