Not long ago I stumbled accross a community driven certification site called Black Belt Factory. I've always enjoyed participating with the community over various software engineering topics but Black Belt Factory is not like any other community site I've been involved with. The most interesting thing to me is how Black Belt Factory creates a place where exams and courses for said exams can be created by a community of developers and is constanty improved upon by past and present exam takers. For instance, you may be taking an exam for say Java Fundamentals and when the exam is completed you have an opportunity to report problems with any question you were presented during the course of the exam. Exam questions are taken from a pool of questions designed, refined and voted on for inclusion, by the community. As a reward for contributing to the exams and other social funcitons of the site you are allowed to take additional exams.
Black Belt Factory contains a wide variety of topics such as: Java, tooling, XML, Groovy, etc.
When you join Black Belt Factory you are given a profile, and your exam progress and community participation are tracked by your profile. As I have been job hunting recently I've noticed some employers ask for URLs showing your internet presence or demonstrating work you've done. Your Black Belt Factory profile could be an excellent submission there. Building a strong profile showing all the topics you've studied and all that you've given back to the community can be a notable feather in your cap.
Anyway, if you need to study for any upcoming exams or are just looking to establish what you know, I highly suggest getting involved with the Black Belt Factory community.
Black Belt Factory: a great way to learn and show off what you know!
Tim Harsch, Friday, June 25, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)