Certification helps sort the good grains (Score 1)

I second you on that point. Too few devs are up to date, even amongst graduates from 2010+. But there is a good certifications (namely IEEE CSDP) that tells you that someone at least knows the best practices in software development and that this person is engaged in yearlong self education in the field. I passed the test and believe me, its a full 3 hours of brain f***!