Certain Benefit: A Look at Certifications

From reading a chapter or article a day, to pursuing continuous higher education, lifelong learning is part of the mantra by which many successful individuals live. Certification, a professional designation earned through accredited professional training programs, continues to be a viable solution for career advancement.

Acertification is not a certificate, though these terms are often used interchangeably. Like a certificate, a certification is earned after a period of academic study, but certifications attract a professional designation at the end of the course/ examination, while certificates do not. Examples of these include the PMP designation for certified project management professionals or the CPA designation for certified professional accountants.

Certifications also have a life span and require maintenance at a minimum of one year. The parameters and frequency are set by the governing body associated with that field. The monetary cost to be certified in a particular field can range from a few hundred to several thousand dollars at a time, depending on the discipline, field, level, course and quality of the certification, but it’s an investment worth making given the competitive professional climate.

There are advantages to being a certified professional. For instance, certifications can be obtained at almost any time in the professional journey. Individuals who may or may not have academic degrees can advance themselves by accessing the myriad short-term, high-quality offerings geared toward professional designations that are now available in a plethora of fields, including but not limited to accounting, business, IT, project management, human resources, sales, and other critical trades in our Floridian ecosystem, such as