While I was pretending to go to college I did tech support for a local ISP. Their entire value proposition was that they were the cheapest in the city. This caused me to encounter ethics for the first time.

We had a couple types of modem banks as this was when you had proprietary protocol wars. One of them had a RADIUS stack which didn’t really work with our billing software so people would be ‘logged in’ even when they were not. Eventually we needed to buy more as we oversold things a little too much so they bought… not a portmaster3 (or even a portmaster2) or a usr rack, but another of the computone racks — with sportster modems (real ISPs used couriers). So I quit; I couldn’t honestly tell the people on the other end of the line that things were going to improve which I thought was important.

So now we have the quandary.

Political / philosophical / moral issues aside, I think certifications are a general waste of time and money. However, the school I teach at offers a CSTE course as that seems to be the certificate with any sort of local market penetration. I’ve resisted being the teacher a couple times now on the grounds that I feel bad promoting something I don’t believe in; to do something counter to that feels like an ethical issue.

Seems pretty clear cut, except that even if I don’t teach it they are going to offer it and people will continue to take it. No problem yet except that the instructor who is teaching it is the schools go-to person who teaches anything and everything and started the most recent class with ‘So what do you want to learn about?’. Are you kidding me? Its a freakin’ BOK course; teach the BOK. Hearing this makes me lean towards teaching it so that people who want to learn, actually learn something (according to the BOK and when the ignore the BOK). I almost feel ethically bound to the students in this regard.

And then there is the whole CSTE thing itself. In order to apply for the examination you need one of the following:

  • A 4 year degree from an accredited college-level institution and 2 years experience in the information services field
  • A 3 year degree from an accredited college-level institution and 3 years experience in the information services field
  • A 2 year degree from an accredited college-level institution and 4 years experience in the information services field
  • Six years experience in the information services field

plus ‘Are working, or have worked at any time within the prior 18 months, in the field within covered by the certification designation’. The demographic of the school is largely people new to testing and/or IT in general. Typically there is only 1 of about 20 people who might be able to successfully sit for the exam — let alone pass it. So should I teach something they don’t have a chance of using in the certification context? Well, my bank account says yes, but I’m still pretty uncomfortable with the idea.

There looks like there might be another possible route though. QAI has recently started offering the CAST (Certified Associate in Software Testing) certificate which is aimed at new testers which is exactly who this school markets to. And they would be able to quality to take the exam.

But.

I don’t know what is in the CAST BOK so how can I prepare and deliver a course? You can buy the CSTE and CSQA BOK from the QAI bookstore, but you cannot get the CAST one unless you register for the exam itself. (Which is just dumb.)

Which leads to…

  • School is going to offer a testing certification course as the market is there for it
  • New testers will sign up for it thinking it will increase their marketability
  • There isn’t someone who knows testing teaching it
  • CSTE is not certificate I could comfortably teach them due to qualifications, but could do CAST
  • I have to sign-up (pay) for the CAST exam to get the BOK
  • Which means I might as well write the exam; and <cringe> become certified

But it still feels a bit slimy. I could make some not bad side money teaching it though which is where things stand. Am I more mercenary than set in my certifications-are-useless views.

Why does it always come down to ethics vs. money?