Does Vmware's Spring Professional Certification help Java Programmers in Jobs and Career Growth?

One of the frequently asked questions among Java and Spring developers is whether Spring certification is valuable? Or does Spring Professional Develop Certification help you in Job and Career? These questions are not very different from what a Java developer asks about Oracle's Java certification (see here). The short answer to these question is Yes, Spring Professional Certifications (VMware EDU-1202  are valuable, as it's not just provides Industry recognition for your knowledge, experience, and skill but also improves your knowledge about Spring Framework, Spring Boot, Spring Data JPA and Spring Ecosystem which sets you apart from the millions of Java and Spring developer who are not certified. Of course, as with any certification, the most valuable part apart from recognition is the learning process, and this is true for Spring certifications as well.

You will learn both the Spring framework and Spring MVC in-depth, which will go a long way in your career when it comes to switching jobs or performing day to day work on your current job.

Increasingly, many companies have also shown more trust in certified programmers. Since Spring is used virtually everywhere, Java is used, It pays to become a certified Spring developer. You not only entitled to a huge number of jobs available to Java and Spring developers in the market but also become eligible for jobs that require certified developers like Oracle Certified Java developer or Pivotal Certified Spring developer.

This certification also plays a huge role in getting an onsite opportunity on service-based companies like Infosys, CTS, Wipro, or TCS. Since many big Investment clients almost always prefer certified programmers, it's become easier for resource managers to put a profile of Spring certified developer to the client.

So, if you are still waiting for your first onsite opportunity or want to give your resume a big boost for your next job search, I suggest you go for Spring certifications. It's the only certification other than traditional Oracle's Java certification which every Java developer should aspire to.

By the way, if you are new to the Spring framework then I also suggest you join a comprehensive and up-to-date course to learn Spring in depth. If you need recommendations, I highly suggest you take a look at Spring Framework 5: Beginner to Guru, one of the comprehensive and hands-on course to learn modern Spring. It' also the most up-to-date and covers Spring 5.

5 Reasons to become a Spring Certified Professional  in 2024

Here are some of the practical reasons to go for Spring Certification and become a Vmware Certified Spring Developer (VMware EDU-1202).

1. Industry Recognition

The most important benefit of doing any certification is the Industry recognition and Spring Certification is no different there. Spring is the most popular Java framework and it is used almost everywhere from small companies like startups to big organizations e.g. Investment banks.

Similar to Oracle's Java certification, the Industry also recognizes Vmware's Spring certifications. You immediately get the trust of the employer for your knowledge and skill by looking at the certification logo on your resume.

Due to expensive mandatory training and high pass percentage (around 76%), there are not many certified Spring developers around, which means it's a great opportunity to boost your profile with Spring Professional certification also known as Core Spring V5.0 certification.

2. Learning Spring in Depth

Of course, with any certification, the most valuable part, besides recognition, is the learning process. I have stressed this point many times in my articles on Java certification and Spring certification is no different here.

By preparing for Spring certification either by self-study or by attending corporate training, you will be guaranteed to learn and improve your Spring framework knowledge. This knowledge will go a long way to help you in your day to day job, career enhancement, and doing well on any Job interview.

Once you gain enough knowledge to pass the Spring certification, you are already well prepared for your next job interview which requires Spring framework skill. Believe it or not, but I have learned better while preparing for certification like I learned core Java in deep while preparing for SCJP and I learned SQL Server in depth while preparing for Microsoft SQL Server training.

3. More Career Opportunities

It's a bitter truth that Professionals holding the Spring certification are preferred by the employers and they also get preference in promotions and onsite opportunities. Though I am not a big fan of judging someone's skill and experience just from certifications I can also say from my personal experience that a guy with certification like a Java developer with OCAJP 8 certified knows much more than a normal Java developer.

They also tend to know API better than a non-certified professional and hence know how to write better code by using more up-to-date and right API for the job.

Increasingly, many Fortune 500 companies are giving preference to certified developers for maintaining and supporting their mission-critical application hence job offers for Spring certified people are increasing every day.

In short, after becoming a certified Spring developer:
1) Your resume will become more selective, hence you will get more interview calls.
2) You will be able to easily clear telephonic and face-to-face interviews due to better confidence and knowledge.
3) You will receive more job offers than before.

4. Official Certification and Logo

Once you pass the Spring Professional certification, you will get access to official certificates and logos from Pivotal. You can put this logo on your resume to give it an edge over the resumes of other Java developers. You will also get both soft and hard copies of your certificate, which you can again use on your resume, LinkedIn profile, websites, or personal blog.

5. Cost of Certification

For many developers, the cost of the Spring certification was also an important point on whether to go for Spring certification or not. Until May 10th, 2017, you need to go for an expensive, mandatory Spring training before you can appear for Spring certification.

The cost of that Spring training, around 3200 USD in the USA, and around 50K INR in India deter many experienced Java developers to become a Pivotal Certified Spring developer.

Pivotal has now lifted that restriction and it's not mandatory to take training before spring certification, effectively opening the door for many experienced Java and Spring developer to get recognition for their skill.

But after that Vmware acquired Spring and put the training requirement back but things have improved now and you can do online training courses with fraction of cost to become eligible for Spring certification. The courses are also provided by Vmware which is very well created and certainly improve your knowledge about Spring Framework, REST API and web development with Spring in general.  You can also learn more about certification requirement here on official Spring portal on Vmware site. 

The cost of Spring certification is now reduced to 250 USD which is just the cost of the exam voucher you need to enroll for Spring certification at any PersonVEU center.

This means many programmers, especially from cost-sensitive countries like India can now afford various Spring certifications like Spring Professional Core certification.

The cost is no problem if your employer is paying for it and if that's the case I even suggest you go for a professional Spring Training provided by Pivotal and their training partners like SpringPeople on India.

Useful Spring Certification Resources

If you think that Spring certification (VMware EDU-1202)  is worth of money and effort and ready to go for Spring certification, here are some of the useful resources which will help you in your journey:

1. Online Courses and Notes

While Classroom training is the best way to learn anything, an online course is another way you can learn on your own at a fraction of the cost. If you want to prepare for Spring professional certifications, here are some free and paid courses you can take a look at.

• Spring Professional Certification Module 01 to 08 
• Spring Framework 5: Beginner to Guru
• Vojtech Ruzicka's Spring Core training notes
• Vojtech Ruzicka's Spring Web training notes
• Jeanne Boyarsky's Spring 3.X Certification Study Notes - PDF
• My 250+ Questions Spring Certification Test 

2. Books

While online courses are very good to start with and you will learn 80% important things in just 20% of your time, you need a book for more in-depth and comprehensive learning. Books are generally written by an authority on course and they cover the top in-depth. 

Here are a couple of books you can read to prepare for the Spring Professional certification exam

• Spring in Action 6th Edition
• Spring Boot in Action by Craig Walls
• Spring Certification Practice Questions

3. Mock Tests

This is another important thing to succeed in Spring Professional certification. You need to practice as many practice tests as possible to build the speed and accuracy you need to solve all the questions and pass the Spring certification exam on the first attempt. 

Here are a couple of free and paid practice tests you can solve to prepare for the spring certification exam:

• My Udemy Spring Certification Practice test (250 questions)
• Java and Moies Spring Certification dump (50 questions)
• Vojtech Ruzicka's Spring question deck (200 questions)
• 50 Free Spring certification Questions for Practice (50 questions)

4. Spring Certification Study Guides

If you really want to score high then you should also spend some time reading Spring certification study guides. They contain a lot of useful information with respect to exam patterns, topics, and types of questions. It's mandatory for you to read them well before starting your preparation and periodically revise to check if you are on the right track. 

• Official Spring Certified Professional Study guide (download)
• Official Spring Professional Certification Exam brief (download)

That's all about some practical reasons to become a Spring Certified Professional. Since Spring is the most popular framework to develop Java applications and it is used by almost everyone, passing Spring Certification (VMware EDU-1202) opens doors to more opportunities for you.

It not only distinguishes you from all the competition for Java development job which requires Spring framework experience but also gives you a better chance because many Employers prefer Spring Certified Professional over a developer with some experience and skill.

In short, if there is a certification in the Java world to pursue (except for the traditional Oracle Java certifications) then it is definitely the Spring certifications.

Other Java and Spring articles you may like

• 5 Spring Boot Annotations for full-stack Java developers (tutorial)
• 5 Courses to learn Spring Cloud and Microservices (courses)
• 10 Spring MVC annotations Java developers should learn (annotations)
• Top 5 Courses to learn Microservices in Java? (courses)
• 5 Spring Boot Features Every Java Developer Should Know (features)
• 10 Things Java Developer should learn (goals)
• 10 Tips to become a better Java developer (tips)
• 10 Courses to learn Spring Security with OAuth 2 (courses)
• 10 Pluralsight Courses to learn Spring in depth (courses)
• 3 ways to change Tomcat port in Spring Boot (tutorial)
• Top 5 Books and Courses to learn RESTful Web Service (books)
• 10 Tools Java Developers use in their day-to-day life (tools)
• Top 5 Free Courses to learn Spring and Spring Boot (courses)
• 10 Advanced Spring Boot Courses for Java Programmers (courses)
• 5 Course to Master Spring Boot online (courses)
• 3 Best Practices Java Programmers can learn from Spring (best practices)
• 5 courses to learn Spring Boot and Spring Cloud ( courses)
• 15 Spring Boot Interview Questions for Java Programmers (questions)

Thanks for reading this article so far. If you find this Spring Professional Certification useful then please share it with your friends and colleagues. If you have any questions or feedback then please drop a note.

P.S. -  If you are an experienced Spring Java developer and want to get certified for your skill I suggest you go through Udemy's Online Spring Mock test, It's a paid test and if you can score over 80% then you are ready for the real exam.