Dr. Ghastly wrote
>
> Also, where I work, they FORCE you to get certification. They make you get
> certified in EVERYTHING. At least they pay for it.
>

Why on earth would they want you to certify *after* the hire.  The entire 
point of a cert is to provide some gurantee of minimal competence.  You don't 
go through a cert process to become competent.  You don't even learn that 
much from it.  

A cert makes it unlikely the certification holder is out-and-out incompetent. 
 If a certification were sufficient to demonstrate competence and ability we 
wouldn't make lawyers and doctors go to school and do internships.  They'd 
just have to pass their board exams.