Comments on: Certifiably something I’m sure.

By: Marie

Marie — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 04:43:15 +0000

Like Denise says, certifications are very common in our area - HR. I am currently certified as a SPHR - Senior Professional Human Resources and find it very helpful. I had my MBA when I started my HR career but focused on mostly Employee Relations/Labor Law - so this helped me to be more well-rounded and get a bit more industry cred. Hope this is helpful.
Good topic.

By: My CEO has pushed me over the edge. - Who Stole My Stapler? - Work It, Mom!

My CEO has pushed me over the edge. - Who Stole My Stapler? - Work It, Mom! — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 01:04:59 +0000

[...] ago I posted on the subject of professional certifications here on Who Stole My Stapler. I don’t have one and have never felt the need to get one in [...]

By: Denise

Denise — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 02:16:25 +0000

Certification is very common in my area as well (HR) and many companies require it for you to be an HR Manager or above. I am definitely considering getting SOMETHING in the near future- whether it be my MBA, my Masters in HR or just getting a PHR ceritification. It will certainly help my career in the future.

By: KathyK

KathyK — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 06:58:24 +0000

There are certifications available in my area of expertise (configuration management) but I have not pursued them. My view was influenced heavily by my former boss and mentor, who didn’t think the coursework was very applicable to our specialized type of work. Now, some of my colleagues have their certification and I’m thinking it could be a good move. However, I plan to make a career change in 2-3 years to a different kind of work, so I won’t pursue the cert.

I have belonged to some professional management and business organizations. Membership can definitely have its rewards - visibility,networking, educational opportunities, etc. Unfortunately, over time the groups I joined evolved to mainly a social function and I withdrew. If I’m going to have social time, I’ll spend it with the people who mean most to me, not fellow business people.

By: Florinda

Florinda — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 17:18:26 +0000

Certification is extremely common in my field - many people tend to use the terms “accountant” and “CPA” interchangeably, especially when they talk about getting their small-business books or taxes done.
However, I don’t have it. I never wanted to work in public accounting, which was much less family-friendly in my early career, and that’s a requirement (in addition to a college degree, a professional exam, and annual continuing education) for obtaining it. I’ve considered pursuing my CMA (certification in management accounting), which is more applicable to the accounting I do, but it’s far less recognized and I haven’t gone very far with it. In my observation, an MBA is designed for people who didn’t major in a business area as undergrads, and since I did, I don’t see it in my future.

I’m pretty sure that certification would have gotten me further career-wise, but for the most part I’m comfortable with the level I’ve reached. I also suspect that not pursuing it is probably, deep down, a sign of my lack of passion for my profession.

By: Kate

Kate — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 15:45:34 +0000

Hi there! Yes, I am PMP certified. Mostly because my company offered to put me through their internal training program and paid for the test and membership to PMI. However, I am actually really glad I did it. While I agree that certifications are ‘nice to have’ the PMP is such a pain in the neck and expensive to get and maintain that I think anyone that does it is seen as having proof that they are organized and capable of long term business commitment. Plus, from now on if I change companies, they know they don’t have to pay for me to get certified!
I also think it tends to hold the same weight in management positions as an MBA these days. And really, it’s a lot quicker and cheaper to get your PMP certification (even if you are audited – yup they audit randomly) than MBA as long as you have 5-7 years of Project Management experience. Of course, once you are through the 2 years of MBA pain you have it for life. There are pros and Cons to both. Unfortunately, at least in the DC area it seems that you have to have one or the other (or both) to move up the management ladder.