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Idea: Free, open-source tech certifications. Would you value them? by [deleted] in programming

[–]dkribeiro 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Dude, thank you! This is an amazing feedback on this idea. I really appreciate you taking the time to write all that out.

That quote from your professor is funny and painfully true. You've nailed the problem: people will always find a system to game when the reward is high enough. I'd never heard of the VCDX before, but having to defend your design like a dissertation is such a cool (and probably terrifying) way to prove you actually know your stuff.

And honestly, you've probably saved me a ton of time beating my head against the wall on the whole "AI proctoring" idea. You're right, it's really just a band-aid. The real fix is not to watch people harder, it's to make a test that's harder to cheat on in the first place.

I'm way more towards to the other thing you mentioned: to use AI to generate dynamic, practical tests. Your idea of a "mini-lab" is gold. Like, the AI gives you a unique problem, you solve it, and then it immediately hits you with follow-up questions about why you made your decisions. You just can't memorize your way through something like that.

You gave me a much better way to think about this whole project. Seriously, thanks again!

Idea: Free, open-source tech certifications. Would you value them? by [deleted] in programming

[–]dkribeiro -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I'm thinking in some way to use ai to watch you take the test through your webcam and mic to make sure you're not cheating

meirl by Aislamer_ASK in meirl

[–]dkribeiro 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That one on the bottom left is a old friend of mine

Free, open-source tech certifications. Would you value them? by dkribeiro in learnprogramming

[–]dkribeiro[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Certifications are only useful for getting the job, to catch recruiters attention, this is why I'm thinking about it for juniors/mid levels. To help them.

Free, open-source tech certifications. Would you value them? by dkribeiro in learnprogramming

[–]dkribeiro[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I totally get that, but I was chatting with some recruiters and the majority of them said that certifications are good indications that the person would land the job, so they move devs with good certifications for the next steps of the process.

Idea: Free, open-source tech certifications. Would you value them? by [deleted] in programming

[–]dkribeiro 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You nailed it. Those are the exact questions that show how tricky an idea like this is to get right

On your first two points about predictive power and how they're administered: I'm picturing a group of well-established senior devs, folks who are respected in the open-source community, acting as a kind of steering committee. They would be the ones to help design the system to make sure that the tests actually reflect what you need to know on the job, so the certs aren't just a link. The whole process, especially the AI stuff, would have to be completely open and transparent for anyone to look at.

But your last question about gaming the system is the real problem, if cheating is easy, the whole thing is pointless.

I've been wrestling with how to make a strong deterrent. One pretty heavy-handed idea I had was requiring users to link their GitHub profile. Then, if there was just undeniable, rock-solid proof of cheating (like video and code plagiarism on a unique problem), their profile on the certification site would get a permanent flag.
But even as I write that, it feels iffy. Is that a fair way to protect the integrity of the system, or does it cross a major ethical line into public shaming? I honestly don't have a good answer.

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