The growing tendency among college students to get all kinds of certificates has now evolved into a craze. Just randomly¹ ask a student what he or she is busily engaged in doing, quite possibly, you would get the answer that he or she is preparing for a certificate of some kind. So, why's the craze?

The reason behind this phenomenon² is common — the enormous pressure of finding a job. Faced with a harsh job market, most students have no choice but to seek more certificates to parlay their qualifications. Another factor is that diploma and certificates still weighs heavily in terms of signifying one's ability. For the sake of increasing their odds³ of landing a better job, the students are compelled to run from one exam to another.

Though I have an open mind toward the craze on certificates, I suggest that students should be more rational when it comes to certificates, since they do not necessarily tell their ability. Instead, they should be more involved in learning and capability⁴ boosting, thus, opportunities would come quite naturally.