Is it worth it to pursue NI Certification in an individual basis?

[adolfo_e]

Greetings

I'm an Electronic Engineer from Costa Rica, I'm trying to improve my skills by taking different seminars and trainings about different topics related to my field.

I'm considering to invest some money (of my own) in taking Labview Core 1&2. The cost of these courses is really expensive compared to the average income of an Electroic Egineer. So I was asking myself: Is it really worth the effort and investment to take these courses and get the certification on my own? or are these oriented to companies that want to train their staff?

My main worry is that I could end competing against the same people that give me my training, or agains the staff of the only authorized distribuitior (that has direct support from N.I. Costa Rica) in my country. People that has more experience and more resources than me.

I hope you could share your opinions with me.

[crossrulz]

The training courses are really oriented towards companies training their staff.  But there is no reason some one couldn't do them on their own.

Do you have LabVIEW?  It doesn't help taking the training if you don't have a current version.  The reason I ask is because, if you have a current SSP with NI, you can take the training online for free.  Try this link:Self-Paced Training

[JÞB]

Adolfo,

Let me preface this with "This is only my opinion."  But, you asked for opinions so...

Anyone who plans on using LabVIEW could benefit from Core I and II.  The Self-paced online versions may offer some advantages for a guy on his own. (it will interfere less with your day job)

Certification let's your employer and prospective employers have confidence that you can demonstrate applying key knowledge and skills needed to provide sulotions successfully.  That is a competitive advantage when seeking employment and negotiating raises!  the cost of certificcation is easilly recouped in wages IF programming in LabVIEW is a required compentancy of the possition.  As a contractor myself, I do carry the costs of Licenses, Professional event attendance (NI Week, local events etc...)  training and certification out-of-pocket.  I have not regretted the choice.

Notice that big "IF";  IF, your goals involve "Make signifigant use of LabVIEW to..." then yes, training and certification are a sound investment in yourself to meet career goals.

Most companies understand that the investment in developing their personel pay off with greater productivity- you can sell productivity.

[T.Hamberger]

hi adolfo,

first, you won't compete AGAINST anybody when you go to Labview exams. Evaluation is on an objective base

(multiple-choice for CLAD, which you would do first - more sophisticated exams for CLD and above).

So, you won't have to be afraid of your local NI staff, they will not bite! 

More information (e.g. sample questions and exam scope) you will find at the certification section of NI page.

Whether spending so much money for the CLAD (which comes after core1+2) depends on whether you have employers or customers who appreciate your labview skills. If you want to take CLAD, simply because you like labview, I would first try to study labview on my own (literature and more practise or self-paced training). This can be hard, but maybe you get the core1-stuff in this way and perhaps only need a core2-course (e.g. core2 contains things like events and methods/properties which may be not so intuitive but may be in spite handled by an autodidact).

I dont know whether spending so much money only for the aim CLAD is efficient (especially without a concrete employer/customer interested).

But if you would try afterwards to take the CLD, this could be valuable for your career. Here I would definitely recommend to take the Core3-course, even if you must pay on your own. (but be aware: CLD only possible when you have CLAD!)