If I need to hire sharepoint consultant/developer. Why should I hire Microsoft certified sharepoint consultant?
With Beau & Fred explaining their view points, I do agree with them as a technology with this scale, versions & a history of more than a decade, you cannot afford to find someone who knows everything & cannot judge only based on the certifications he/she has.And yes, you need decide based on the skill set you require & whether the person can fit in the required role. But having certifications has real positive edge in few scenarios. Finally it falls in two cases.
- Are you looking for a consultant for a short term association or just for a project completion? If yes, then you need to see whether he/she has the skills to execute the implementation.
- If you are a company, looking to build a team having a long term goal of creating skills, expertise & values, having a certification helps. He/she do have a knowledge to the depth in terms of administration or development, which ever stream he is certified with. And the most important part when you are planning for a MS partnership, having people with certifications is vital for you.