Is Becoming a Crestron Certified Programming a Waste of Time?

In this video, I wanted to share some thoughts about the Crestron "Certified Programmer" designation and why I feel it is important in the sense of personal growth and accomplishment.
(apologies for the audio, I should get an external microphone for on-location stuff like this)

[@ccates98]

As a Certified Crestron Programmer, I can say without a doubt that unless you're going to dedicated your career in A/V to doing nothing but Crestron programming, the Master level exams are NOT worth the time. By the time you've achieved your certification, you know almost everything there is to know about Crestron programming for your projects. Masters may make you a Crestron expert, but chances are you know enough after three levels of Crestron programming and years of field experience, that you aren't going to notice any significant benefit by going further. I'd recommend you branch out and learn other technologies. Because as COVID taught us, Crestron is NOT the only game in town, and you need to diversify if you want to stay in business.

[@ProAVSchool]

I agree with your points, but I see the master level exams as a chance to apply new skills and techniques to a problem and challenge yourself. I attempted the silver exam last year (couldn't finish it in time) but I basically forced myself to approach it in a way that I would learn new things instead of just churning out another project. I used a lot of C# which I didn't know very well and had to learn and develop those skills. This was personal development that isn't Crestron specific and I would say has made me a much more well rounded programmer in general. The next stage for me would be learning the front end development for the HTML5 based interfaces and those skills are also transferrable outside of the Crestron realm. Overall though, you're right - don't box yourself into the Crestron ecosystem, fundamentally that leaves you at the mercy of outside forces you have no control over!

[@tourism.Indian]

Sir please provide video crestron Home OS

[@Soyantar333]

Hi, thanks for the video. I made a simple UI in crestron construct and try to run it but don't know how? Can you please guide me on this, how to run this crestron construct made UI?

[@ProAVSchool]

I will add this to the list but I need to spend some time learning Construct myself. One of the reasons I haven't really spent any time with it yet is that as an initial release I expected some changes to roll out over the first few months. I guess that period has somewhat passed so it is time for me to schedule some time to look into Construct in more depth

[@andriygolumbovsky]

So, basically, not worth it? I had my CTS but let it expire because I see no value in it; I wouldn't want to do the same with a cert that takes 10 years to get. Thank you for your training vids, those really are useful

[@ProAVSchool]

That's a fair observation but I've given it some more thought and I'm not actually sure what else you could pursue in AV that would get you any better direct results. By that I mean any sort of AV training doesn't really guarantee career or pay level advancement. Crestron certification is sort of the same. I do know that as a former Integration department manager, if a resume came through the door with "Crestron Certified Programmer" it would certainly stand out. I think differentiating yourself is something that is valuable.

[@andriygolumbovsky]

@@ProAVSchool of course it's better to have it than not have it. I was just trying to determine the value of the certification for myself. I guess if someone has been programming Crestron systems for 10 years, might as well get certified. Thanks again for your content, not too much of it around the internet

[@DeanDetton]

I took the certification exam in 2019-20 and it was really hard and took far too long. Anyone with a full time job where the employer did not give you time to work on it would have a difficult time completing it in 90 days. Also, if you are running a company, it can be difficult to prioritize exam time against billable work. It should be challenging so that it means something when you pass. But I think that Crestron should narrow the scope so that it doesn’t require so much time. I did it more as a personal challenge and so that I could attend masters. Not sure if I would do it again. Btw, there is a Platinum level in between Gold and Diamond.

[@ProAVSchool]

Platinum - crap I messed that up! I agree @DeanDetton it is a LOT of work. I'm looking at doing the Silver again (because I didn't finish it) and was going to commit to doing when I recorded this video...but I have another thing I am working on that has a higher priority for right now and I just realistically don't have the time. So I totally get it!

[@Lame-Over]

This obvious commercial was paid for by Crestron

[@ProAVSchool]

Indirectly most of my revenue is derived from doing Crestron related projects, but as a CSP I actually pay Crestron every year; no sponsorship by them to make this video. But I get your point, my opinion as a Crestron programmer is somewhat biased. One of the challenges of our industry is that training and certification is siloed and it is almost impossible to make an apples to apples comparison. It also depends on industry trends in your region. As an alternate example, I took the Extron programming course about 4 years ago (the initial one, not the advanced python one) and to this day I don't even think I've made back the money I spent on the flight and hotel because nobody needs me to do Extron projects locally. This doesn't mean it is "bad"; for me personally it wasn't really worth it, but overall that isn't a very useful comparison. Overall, I like the challenge of the Crestron certification BECAUSE it is challenging and not everyone has it. Arguably this gives you more career options but again it depends on regional trends. There are other options and admittedly I have not fully explored them all.