Microsoft and Novell’s certification schemes have been criticised for being too vendor-specific, and failing to test candidates’ experience.

Jeremy Rawlings, education manger for Unisys, said vendor certification models focus too much on learning material parrot-fashion – rather than industry experience. “All certification proves is that you can pass an exam,” he said.

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Speaking at the IT training show, held in Birmingham this month, Rawlings – an MCSE and MCT (Microsoft certified trainer) – said Microsoft and Novell need to make their certification schemes more generic and cross-platform. He claimed that too much importance was placed on vendor-focused exams, and not enough on actual experience. “Who would you trust, someone with 10 years’ experience or someone with an MCSE?” he asked.

He also told how Unisys is regularly approached by job candidates who have qualifications but no experience. “We get people coming in who claim to be MCSE certified, then we find out that they only passed their exams the day before and have no experience at all.”

He said Microsoft and Novell should learn from companies like Cisco, which runs “more in-depth courses” and has a two-day practical exam included in its Cisco Certified Internetworking Expert (CCIE) programme. “You have to build a network from scratch and then halfway through the examiner snips a cable and you have to get the system working again,” he said.

While admitting that “certification is here to stay”, he said that the industry should seriously consider National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) as an alternative. “The important thing about NVQs is that they are not academic, but based on your day-to-day job role – so there are no exams or essays.”