Certifications are (Just) Sales Tools
[D]o you find this kind of certificates any useful? Do you think, that candidate with such certificates (assuming the same achievements and experience) have any advantage over the others?
While I won't address the state of available certifications (as I consider that a searchable question with non-canonical answers) I think the question of the value of Kanban certifications is really no different than that of certifications in general.
Certifications are a sales tool for the candidate and (sometimes) for the hiring company. The value of any certification will depend on:
- Mind share of the skill that's being certified.
- Market share of the certifying body.
- How well the candidate is able to leverage the certification on a resume or cover letter.
- How valuable a company's clients find the certification, especially in the government sector or in regulatory compliance fields where the certification may be a contractual requirement.
- Whether the certification can be presented as valuable to the hiring company because it adds perceived value to their client base.
As an example of the last item, a security certification like the CISSP might add value to a professional services company whose marketing pitch is that all their experts are certified security management professionals. If the project is a regulatory compliance project, this may be important as part of the sales cycle. Both the candidate and the hiring company might use the certification as a sales tool in such a situation.
In most cases, though, a certification by itself has no value unless you can sell it as a differentiator. A Kanban certification could certainly help differentiate a candidate from a more traditional PMI practitioner, but any value will depend on the role and how well the candidate sells it as a key differentiator.
Your mileage will vary.