Certifications needed?

What I should have said is that certification programs are a modern invention. They are a marketing tool. Awesome. Yet a cert doesn't equate to competence nor does not having one equate to incompetence.

I know, talk to, and learn from people on both sides of those certifications. I've also listened to people on both sides who clearly had no idea what they were talking about.

There are incredibly knowledgeable people with and without those pieces of paper. The more people are trained to think critically, the more they will be able to judge for themselves who to listen to or learn from regardless of that paper status.

No excuses!