[TriLUG] Red Hat System Admin class

[Nick Goldwater]

----- "Marty Ferguson" <martyferg at nc.rr.com> wrote:
| >  They want to know 
| > which journals I've published in and how much grant money 
| > I've brought in.
| > 
| 
<snip>
| This testing would
| certify a set of minimum  acceptable standards for the candidate to be
| considered a subject matter expert in their area of concentration.

By what method would this testing be graded? Are the minimum acceptable standards arbitrary? Who sets them? What is the rubric by which the results are graded? The obvious certification is a person who can show that their grants get results.

Here is the same old chicken & egg. How do you write a successful grant if you do not have a job that requires it? And how do you get the job writing grants if you have not done so before? 

| 
| If you can accept this proposal, then you may also accept that
| plagiarism of successful candidates' work products would dilute the
| reliability of the testing mechanism.
| 
| > But your statements are in the guise 
| > of talking about the best training for the student, when in 
| > fact you're talking about the best outcome for RH.
| 
| No, my position is couched firmly in the aspect of maintaining strict
| confidentiality with respect to the contents of the exam, and in the
| necessity of the Non-Disclosure Agreement. 
| 

The contents of the exam are in the public domain by definition. The methods by which the exam is administered and evaluated are not. So if I wanted to comment on how to set up automount or some such thing I am free to do so but I am silenced when it relates to commenting on the methods stated earlier. 

So let me posit this: In an industry based on Open Source Software, how can I as a hiring manager rely on a closed test that I cannot verify sans pass or fail?

It appears that I'd be better off interviewing and possibly testing my own candidates.

BTW, I cannot express the comments I would like to.

Nick


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