[Haskell-cafe] [Call for Participation]: Haskell Certification Program

[jo at durchholz.org]

On 25.06.24 13:25, Noon van der Silk wrote:
>  > It's a minimal foundation that employers can assume so they don't have
>  > to check that themselves, they can concentrate on other aspects, and
>  > it's a known stable foundation, minimal as it may be.
> 
> But I think this is the precise problem with it being supported by the HF.
> 
> I don't think it's a minimal foundation at all (almost regardless of 
> it's content).

Oh but it is.
It may be useless, there may be better options, there might be other 
issues with it.
But being able to acquire a certificate in a field IS a foundation.

> I think we've learned by now 
> <https://sordina.net/blog/2016/03/26/1458976158-Aesthetic-Isomorphism_and_Hiring_Juniors.html>, as a broad programming community, that there's a classical logical fallacy here - (some) "good" programmers can do well on these exams, but that /doesn't/ mean you *must* complete this well in order to be a "good" programmer. There's many issues here among them that "good programmer" is only defined respect to organisational context anyway.

While the linked article does have a point, it's just one way to look at 
hiring decisions or engineer performance, and others are just as useful 
and valid.
So, no, not a logical fallacy. Just a different perspective.

> I think it's completely fine and reasonable for a private company 
> (Serokell) to be offering this certification, especially one such as 
> them that has real experience in the Haskell ecosystem and plenty of 
> people contributing; but I think what would be a very bad situation is 
> that if the HF itself, and the broad Haskell (hiring) ecosystem got the 
> idea that this was something all candidates should seek achieve.

Nobody is claiming that, and it would be a very unexpected outcome.
In practice, a certificate gives you a modicum of street credibility if 
your CV does not document a background in the area.

Regards,
Jo

P.S.: I do see your point about independence, and agree that's a 
potential concern.