Maybe I’m an over-acheiver, but I decided recently to take the Macromedia Certified Designer Exam, even though I’ve already passed the Developer version. I took the test yesterday and passed, so according to the good folks at the testing center, I should really know what I’m doing now. Unfortunately though, while I now know what each drawing tool is supposed to do, I still wouldn’t be able to do anything pretty with them. If there had been a drawing test instead of multiple choice, I’d have been screwed. Luckily, the test includes more than just the drawing tools, and covers stuff like publish settings, project organization, the functions of the various panels, and more.

Why bother doing this? There’s the obvious reasons of “It looks good on a resume”, and the possibilty of getting a raise in pay at work. I think that it also shows to your clients or potential clients that you know your stuff. Sure, there’s lots of people that have amazing Flash skills, and I’m not going to say that I’m better because I passed a certification exam, because I’m not. (I find that the second you start to think you’re the best at something, that’s when you find someone who’s much better.)

Others may think that it’s worthless to bother with this certification stuff. That it doesn’t really mean anything. In some cases, that may be true. I’m sure we all know someone who has any number of certificates hanging on their wall, proclaiming all sorts of knowledge, but when it comes to actually applying that knowledge, they can’t. The IT manager at one of my previous employers was a prime example. His wall was covered in all sorts of certificates and diplomas, but when it came to actually fixing something that was wrong with a computer, his solution was to re-image the machine because “it must be a virus”. (This guy also had a strong distrust of anything open-source and was sure that Flash would immediately corrupt his network with any number of viruses and worms. But I digress…)

The main reason I chose to do this was because it forced me to learn more about Flash. By forcing myself to try and use every feature available and to begin experimenting with the ActionScript classes I’ve never used, I’ve really increased my knowledge of Flash, and what it can do, and how it can help me to work better and faster. I’ve discovered all sorts of little features in the authoring tool I didn’t know existed, and as a result of the Developer exam, I think I’ve used almost every single class and method available, just to make sure I know how to use it.

So, the main reason for taking the exams is actually kind of selfish. It’s mainly to help me make sure that I stay at the top of my game, so to speak. It’s a matter of personal pride, and if someone else thinks it’s not worth their time, then that’s their opinion. For me it’s been worth it, just because of what I’ve learned.

And, although we’ll have a new version of Flash announced in less than a week, and hopefully available to use in a couple of months, I don’t think it was a waste to certify with the current version. And you can be sure that as soon the Version 8 certification exams become available, I’ll be preparing for those as well.

Previous: Wow. I now OFFICIALLY know what I’m doing with Flash.

(One of the other deciding factors in taking the exams is that my job will pay for them. So why not?)