What is Unity Certification?
Unity certification is like any other college degree certificate that you get after passing an exam. Just that unlike a college degree you can take the course at your own pace and get certified whenever you want. People who have taken the unity exam get a badge saying that they are skilled to work on Unity game engine. It has many types of certifications; they are broadly divided for beginners and experts.
For beginners
- Unity certified Programmer.
- Unity certified 3D artist.
For Experts
- Game play programmer.
- Technical artist: Rigging and Animation
- Technical artist: Shading and Effects
Based on your requirement you can take whichever certification you want. Once taken the certificate is valid for 2 Years.
What I need to learn before applying?
Unity certification is a difficult exam, one must not take it without proper preparation. What you need to learn depends on the type of certification that you need to get. If you feel you are well versed with all the aspects of Unity then you can take a practice test that is cheaper than the actual test. The practice test includes 60 days of test that closely resembles the Unity exam.
Unity also has courseware for each type of certification. They include all topics needed for the exam. Unity provides a 40% discount for people buying the bundle which includes Unity courseware, practice test, and Unity certification exam. There are many other types of bundles like certification and practice test or certification and courseware. It is more beneficial to buy the bundles rather than going for individual packages.
If you want to take the exam without any practice test or courseware from unity, then you must be well prepared in all aspects. I wouldn’t recommend taking the exam if you have not completed at least two fully playable games of different genres. If you want to apply for unity programmer you must be able to type in the code without looking into the Unity manual.
Most unity programmers use the autocomplete feature to finish their line of code, but that feature is not available during the exam. So, if you feel confident about these aspects go ahead and take the exam. Just remember that the practice exam and certification bundle costs only a few dollars more than the certification.
Do i need Unity certification?
Unity certification is definitely worth for some people and totally useless for others. Let me list put the scenarios when you need Unity certification and when you don’t.
Who needs it?
- New game developer.
- Looking for your first job in game development.
- No work experience in Unity but need to apply for a job.
- Want to take up freelance game developer work.
- Make your resume standalone.
Who doesn’t need it?
- Years of experience in the gaming industry.
- Many completed projects to showcase.
- Learning Unity for developing your own games.
Unity certification is mainly for people looking for jobs in the game development industry. There are so many people wanting to learn unity to make their dream games they do not need to get certified to make games. Those people can learn unity using Unity learn premium, which is a consolidated way to learn Unity.
How to get unity Certification?
Once you decide on what unity certification you want and whether you want to buy the courseware and practice test, you can go to the Unity Certification website and select your country. The cost of certification is different for different regions and also you need to select the test center where you want to take the test. You need to have a Unity login before you can buy the certification, login, and buy whichever package you want. You will have two options while purchasing standard and inventory management. Select standard if you are an individual, select inventory management if you are an institute.
The Unity certification exam voucher is valid for 12 months. You must schedule and take the exam within 12 months. Once scheduled, rescheduling will cost you more so be careful while scheduling your exam. After you clear your exam, you will get a badge that you can share will recruiters to get a job. If you are still not sure if you should get certified or learn Unity in other method, you can check out our post on how to learn unity for more details.
Conclusion
Unity certification is totally worth the money if you are new in the gaming industry, it will surely get you the recognition you need to start your game development career. Your resume will stand out from the crowd. If you are learning Unity as a hobby and want to make your own games, then this is not for you.