Did you know that the Joomla! project now offers official certification?

People are already becoming Joomla! certified. Exams were recently held at JoomlaDay Italy, JoomlaDay Poland, and the Joomla! World Conference in Vancouver.

We spoke with Luca Marzo from the Joomla! Certification Team and asked him about these questions:

Question #1. Hi Luca. Can you introduce yourself?

Hello, I’m Luca Marzo, and I’m the newly elected team leader of the Certification Team.  I’m 26 years old and am a student and web consultant.  I live near Lecce, Italy and am involved in several ways in the Joomla! Project. Beyond the Certification Team, I serve as a member of the Production Leadership Team and am a JED listing manager and a Trademark Team member.

Question #2. What exams are available?

Currently the Joomla! Certification Program (JCP) provides only the Joomla! Administrator Exam. It covers all the knowledge that a skilled Joomla! website administrator should have.

During the next year, JCP will also provide the Joomla! Template Designer Exam and the Joomla! Extension Developer Exam. Stay tuned!

Question #3. Who is taking the exams?

Different kinds of people take the exam. We have met website integrators, developers, web agencies, community members and so on. In the first sessions, we saw people who wanted to increase their knowledge and improve their professional profile. 

Question #4. How do people take the exams? 

There are different ways to take the Joomla! Certification Exam: attending a session at a Joomla! Learning Partner (JLP), attending a session at a Joomla! User Group locally or attending a JoomlaDay. People could also attend events like the Joomla! World Conference.

To discover the upcoming sessions, just visit the Exam Calendar at certification.joomla.org.

Question #5. How are people preparing?

People should study and train before attending an exam session: the exam is not just a poll or a game. It’s an exam for professional use. The JCP has provided a Learning List that contains all the necessary knowledge that a candidate should have in order to pass the exam: click here to see the Learning List. 

Furthermore, we recommend that people train using a clean Joomla! installation, taken from downloads.joomla.org, without any customisation or extension and with the default settings and templates. 

Question #6. What plans does the JCP have?

As mentioned previously, JCP will start working soon on the next exams for Developers and Template Designers. These will hopefully be released during the upcoming year.

The JCP team is working on a tool that will involve the Community in the exam building process, allowing people from the Community to suggest questions and answers that will be evaluated, reviewed and eventually “merged” by the Certification Exam Team. 

Find out more about Joomla! Certification

The official certification website is a great place to find out more.

The exams are computer based, in a multiple choice format. A total of 60 questions need to be answered in 90 minutes.

What is the Joomla! team hoping to achieve? Here are their goals for certification:

1. To establish a standard: Certification isn't a replacement for experience, knowledge and a solid portfolio of work, but it can show employers and the Joomla! community that someone has a high level of knowledge about Joomla.
2. Provide a documented measurement of knowledge: The development of a clear roadmap for study and skill building will show the IT community what a Joomla! Certified professional should know. It will also give Joomla! professionals themselves a clear benchmark to see where they stand in their own career development.
3. Important role in choosing a Joomla! service provider: Certification can be an excellent starting point for people looking to hire Joomla! experts. 
4. Ensure competence and develop a qualified workforce: While Joomla! currently has a strong set of trainers, a professional certification can unify some of this knowledge and provide a measurable level of competence.

One interesting thing to me is that the exams are priced differently around the world. People in Venezuela only pay $10, but the cost in Switerland is $100.

If you pass the exam, you get to show the official certification on your website:

Over to you ...

Will you be taking the Joomla! certification exams? Do you have any questions for the certification team?