#AndyTalks 023 – Is it worth being Google AdWords certified?

TRANSCRIPTION

iowtek asks is it worth being Google certified? By that he means Google Adwords certified.

Short answer? No. I’m not Google certified. People don’t ask me whether I’m Google certified before they hire me.

If a business insisted I was, then it’s probably not a business I personally want to work with anyway, if they think a piece of paper is what it takes.

If you’re trying to get a job in an agency, or a client side business to do their AdWords campaigns
I’m sure it’ll help, so just do it.

Just be aware that when you take the exams you’re going to have to take a part of your brain out,
the part that’s actually going to do the work and make it happen, and answer how Google wants it.

When I was an Oracle DBA and I got interviewed for Oracle DBA contracts (Database Administrator) *sometimes* I’d get asked if I was Oracle certified.

My stock answer was always:

“I’m not. I thought I would spend time getting certified between contracts, when I was trying to get the next contract. And I’d never spend any time between contracts. I’m always getting hired too quick for me to spend the time to get certified.”

NO client has ever asked me I’m Google certified.

But there’s a little story/analogy that I’ve used a few times … and that is:

If you want to learn how to race a car round a race-track, would you learn from the people who built the car, from Ford mechanics for instance, or would you want to learn from people who actually race a car round a track.

So. Your choice.