Certificate vs Certification

[sanantone]

Yes, some people get a little bit confused as to what you're asking them sometimes.  When you ask if they have any IT certificates or certifications, they may just be thinking too quickly and thought you meant one thing when you meant another.  Interpretation may be different for people, someone beside you may understand exactly, the person across from you may think differently.

I'm usually direct in asking someone if they have any certificates from a college or any vendor specific certifications, so they would understand which I am referencing.  I usually get the "correct" feedback, especially when I ask them if they have ABC Certification instead of asking if they have a certificate in ABC.  I'm not that great in getting my points across so I like to ask more...

I'm not asking them anything. They're asking people which certification they need to get started, and they'll give a list of certifications and certificate programs they're looking at. I usually sit back in horror as people confuse the concepts of certificates and certifications. At this point, I don't have the energy to explain the differences every other day, so I just let them be wrong.

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They both mean the same thing. They're used interchangeably.

Exhibit A