I have been a Zend Certified Engineer for just over a year now and I have to say that I am very pleased with the decision to take the exam.  There are several reasons to become a ZCE.  The first is that if you try you will see an increase in work or your salary.  I run a custom web development company called Codebowl Solutions, Inc.  There have been a few contracts that I may not have recieved had it not been for the certification.  When you are meeting with a stranger it eases thier mind to know that you are qualified to complete the project that they have available.  Sure you can say I have the knowledge to complete that, however the certification puts Zend on your side.  I did notice however that I have had to explain to a few people who Zend is and what they have to do with PHP.  I think this helped overall also, it shows the client that i know some of the history of PHP.

When i was preparing to take the exam i reviewed the online PHP manual quite a bit, I also bought the study guide and practice test book.  I feel these books had a big impact on my exam results, the study guide was well put together and covered most of the material on the exam.  I am by no means stating that you can run out and buy the book and ace the exam.  If you have no real world experience using PHP and do not know quite a bit by heart, you will have to dig deep into the online manual and practice before you think about the exam.

With the release of PHP 5 Zend has created a completely new exam.  Does this make the PHP 4 exam obsolete?  I do not think so.  Yes you may know enough PHP 5 to pass the exam however PHP 4 and 5 have several differences, if you do not know that in PHP 4 you have to pass by reference using the & operator you will find some nice bugs in your code.  An employer may like to have the comfort level knowing that you have taken both exams and you can complete any project that is tasked to you.  Clients will love the fact that you know both versions, some of the new clients wish to use PHP 5 however most who already have code in place will require PHP 4.

I mentioned before that php|architect has opened a mock testing environment that will aid in your exam preparation.  I believe this will be another great tool if you are preparing for the exam.  Not only does it cover the material on the exam but they have made the mock test more difficult than the exam itself.  Therefore if you score well on the mock test, you should score as well or better on the exam.  I just noticed this morning that the PHP 5 study guide has been released, I quickly ordered my copy and await it’s arrival.  I am a bit late when it comes to preparing for the PHP 5 certification, i just hope that i am within the first 1000 to become certified.  When i took the PHP 4 exam i was the 3rd person in the state of VT to become certified, as you can imagine the demand for PHP work here is not that great.  There are still only 3 people listed for VT in the Zend PHP Yellow Pages.

In closing I think that Zend is doing some really great things with the PHP Certification and I look forward to see what comes in the future.