Is the AMBCS worth having? 1

[russellhancock]

Hi all,

I am trying to get some form of qualifications or recignition / society membership that will help me develop my career.

I have 3 years experiance in network administratration and also internet development. I never went to university so my highest current qualification is two A-Level's, in computing and Maths.

I am currently studying for the MCSD.Net as one form of "paper" qualifications and i am also looking at the British Computer Society -

http://www.bcs.org

- And the Associate Membership and was wondering if anyone has this qualification.

More importantly i want to know do employers recognise this as a "good" thing to have. Also are there any other benifits that i am missing.

Basically i just want to know if it is worth the time taken to become a member.

Thanks for any replys

Russell

Do not follow the path, leave a new trail for others!!

 

[Craig0201]

Russell,

AMBCS is not a qualification. It is a membership of the professional body in the UK. I am an AMBCS at the present and I am working towards full membership.

Now whether you believe being a memebr of the BCS is worthwhile is a value judgement. The BCS has for many years been somewhat of an elitist organisation due to it's charter. This has meant that in many organisations, the BCS is not recognised at all. However, the charter had been recently changed to allow a much wider membership with levels of qualification within that structure. It is my belief that this will allow the BCS over a number of year to increase it's profile and at the same time, greater recognition of the quality of it's qualifications will occur.

Now, back to the orignal question. I believe that what you are referring to is the Professional Examinations which can lead to membership of the BCS. These are wide ranging, going from how the internals of a computer work right through to System Design via coding in Assembler and project management. They are non technology specific and are equivalent at the highest level to a degree in Computer Science.

I certainly believe they are worth while, certainly more so than MCSD. You will learn about why and a general how which can easily be converted to a more technology specific how. With MCSD, you will learn a technology specific how but will miss out on the why and general how. The BCS/Computer Science method has massive advantages in the long run in that learning, for example, a new language is about learning the syntax rather than the whole form scratch again.

For providers, I highly recommend distance learning with Southamption Institute. On average, 40% of BCS exams are failed (and the pass mark is only 40%) meaning that candidates are underprepared. Southampton Institute candidates have a pass rate of over 90%. This may be, in part, due to the discipline instilled in distance learning candidates but is in my opinion also down to the high quality of teaching from the Institute. As an idea of how good it is, I averaged over 80% at Diploma level (equivalent to an HND) in less than 1 year. Admittedly, I had been a programmer for 3 years or so and worked on the study programme for at least 3 hours each work night but to get to that level in some subjects which I had never studied before was fantastic.

Craig

 

[russellhancock]

Hi Craig,

Thank you for the reply. You have given me some really usefull things to look at and investigate. It was usefull to hear from someone that already has joined and has "been there done that".

Also thank you for the information about Southampton, i will definatly be looking at them.

Russell

 

[Craig0201]

Russell,

Note that when I refered to exam failure rates, I was referring to an individual paper. Over 40% of each paper on average are failures. The failure rate at each exam level is around 50%.

Also, if I can be of any more help, post an email address.

Craig

 

[jrbarnett]

I hold a degree from a university that gave BCS exam membership exemption, but I was a student member during my studies it was very useful for getting books, papers etc from their library. As employers didn't look upon membership as an asset, I didn't renew after I graduated in 1999 and it was money (at the time) I could ill afford.
I still don't see many job ads listing BCS membership as advantageous or mandatory for specific roles, so don't think this has changed much.
Unless membership of such trade associations is made mandatory for professional working, as in other professions such as law or medicine, I don't see this changing soon.

John

 

[Craig0201]

John,

I have to disagree. Compare the BCS to an organisation such as the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. This is widely recognised and seen as a benefit. The BCS is manouvering towards this position and may well have a great deal of success.

Craig

 

[Zelandakh]

I have to disagree.

Member for the foreseeable will only be of benefit to some members applying for some jobs. They may well be moving towards that comparison, but at the moment employers are unlikely to make a wholesale swoop towards mandatory membership.

Join if you see the benefits, but as am employer, a BCS membership would not put you above someone without it.

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