I’ve been involved in software testing since the mid-90’s in some form or other as part of my original qualification (non-IT), and got my ISEB certification in 2001 when I switched to software testing full-time. At the time, I was told “get the certification, or you’ll get nowhere”. I did the course, passed the exam and entered the IT world. Since then, I’ve had a lot of different jobs in IT, and each one of them has been based on that first little addendum to my CV- ISEB. Has it made me a better tester? I don’t think so- I’ve managed to forget most of what happened then, and replaced it with real-world knowledge and skills.
What it has done, though, is establish that I have, at least, passed a formal exam and therefore know at least the basics of what I need to do.
Since then I’ve neen hiring and firing, and been hired and made redundant. The one common thread is still “have you got your xxxxxxx certification?”, which is simply HR’s way of filtering out applicants who do not meet at least that basic level of fitness for purpose. Some of the best testers I’ve met and worked with took the certifications as an afterthought, when it became clear that their new position would not be possible without it. They would not have made it past that initial hurdle of filtering the CVs even though they have been testing for years, and are extremely good at what they do simply because of a clerical requirement.
@sjwatsonuk 's comments below are extremely similar to what I ask new starters on my team when they arrive- I find these answers and their attitude and approach are more important than a piece of paper that satisfies HR.
In terms of value of the certifications? They all espouse “common this” and “common that”, but there is certainly very little “common” whatever, even within departments of a company. What is useful is the basic knowledge of what should be tested from a purely technical perspective, and the doors that these certifications open. Proper testing, though, is as much attitude and approach as technical testing, and that cannot always be taught, or revealed in an exam.