Professional certification
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A professional certification, trade certification, or professional designation often called simply certification or qualification is a designation earned by a person to certify that he is qualified to perform a job. Certification indicates that the individual has a specific knowledge, skills, or abilities in the view of the certifying body. Professional certifications are awarded by professional bodies and corporations. The difference between licensure and certification is licensure is required by law, whereas certification is generally voluntary. Sometimes the word certification is used for licensure.
People become certified through training and/or passing an exam. Individuals often advertise their status by appending the certification abbreviation to their name (e.g. "Jane Doe, RHCE"). Strictly speaking, most certifications do not grant post-nominals and it is usually the professional certifications that do.
Certifications may be perpetual, may need to be renewed periodically, or may be valid for a specific period of time (e.g. the life-time of the product upon which the individual is certified). Although it is more common in regard to licensure, sometimes as part or whole of the renewal of an individual's certification, the individual must show evidence of continual learning — often termed continuing education — or earning continuing education units (CEU).
Certifications are offered through a certification body. This is usually a business organization, and sometimes a professional body. Sometimes, the organization's business is directly related to the certification, as in a software firm that certifies individuals as competent to use its products. In other cases, an organization (often a not-for-profit organization) exists wholly, or in large part, to offer a particular certification. Whatever its nature, the certifying body determines the policies of the certification program. Potential consumers of a certification wish to understand the nature of the certifying body and the certification process. An individual who bears a designation but appears unable to perform competently is said to be a paper tiger because their resume suggests that they are more effective than they actually are.
Certifications are very common in industry, and in particular the computer industry. The National Organization for Competency Assurance (NOCA) is a US-based organization which helps certification bodies by providing with information on the latest trends and issues of concern to practitioners and organizations focused on certification, licensure, and human resource development. Many members of the Association of Test Publishers (ATP) are certification bodies.
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Certification in the computer industry
Certification is often used in the professions of software engineering and information technology; however, it is a contentious issue. Some see it as a tool to improve professional practice; others point out that very few traditional engineers bother with any form of certification.
The most successful certification programs are oriented toward specific technologies, and are managed by the vendors of these technologies. These certification programs are tailored to the institutions that would employ people who use these technologies.
- Microsoft Corporation sponsors the Microsoft Certified Professional program
- Sun Microsystems sponsors the Sun Certified Professional program
- IBM sponsors certifications [1]
- Cisco Systems sponsors the Cisco Career Certifications program
- Red Hat sponsors the Red Hat Certification Program
- Object Management Group sponsors the Certified UML Professional program
- MySQL sponsors a certification program [2]
- Novell sponsors a certification program
- Oracle Corporation sponsors the Oracle Certification Program
- Citrix Systems sponsors the Citrix Certified Administrator program
Third-party commercial organizations that sponsor certifications include:
- CompTIA
- Linux Professional Institute
- European Computer Driving Licence (also called International Computer Driving Licence)
- Brainbench
- SAGE (organization) sponsors the cSAGE program
- SANS Institute operates the Global Information Assurance Certification program
General certification of software practitioners has struggled. The ACM had a professional certification program in the early 1980s, which was discontinued due to lack of interest. Today, the IEEE is certifying software professionals, but only about 500 people have passed the exam by March 2005.
- The IEEE Computer Society sponsors the Certified Software Development Professional
- The Institute for the Certification of Computing Professionals sponsors the Certified Computing Professional (CCP) and Associate Computing Professional (ACP) certifications
- The Canadian Information Processing Society sponsors the Information Systems Professional certification in Canada.
Information Systems Security Certification
In an information systems environment that requires formal security accreditation. Certification refers to the comprehensive evaluation of the technical and non-technical security features of an information system. Certification is formally defined by Krutz and Vines as:
The comprehensive evaluation of the technical and non-technical security features of an information system and the other safeguards, with are created in support of the accreditation process to establish the extent to which a particular design and implementation meets the set of specified security requirements.
Criticisms
The exponential growth in the number of computer-related certifications coupled with the relative ease of their acquisition has led to their devaluation in the eyes of many people in the technology field. Exam content is sometimes available on the Internet allowing them to gain certification without knowing or understanding the content. Certifying agencies have responded in various ways. Some certification tests have incorporated hands-on testing, although there is no evidence that this reduces cheating or improves reliability or validity. Many have explored anti-cheating methodologies or expanded their exam content. Others have simply raised the price of certification, in a bid to reduce exam resits (and increase the profit margin per head).
Certifications in the legal profession
An increasing number of lawyers are choosing to be recognized as having special knowledge and experience by becoming certified specialists in certain fields of law. According to the American Bar Association, a lawyer who is a certified specialist has been recognized by an independent professional certifying organization as having an enhanced level of skill and expertise, as well as substantial involvement in an established legal specialty. These organizations require a lawyer to demonstrate special training, experience and knowledge to ensure that the lawyer's recognition as a certified specialist is meaningful and reliable. Lawyer conduct with regard to specialty certification is regulated by the states.
Certifications in business
- Better Business Bureau and others administer Small Business Certification
- International Charter
- Chartered Financial Analyst
- Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA)
Other miscellaneous certification programs
- The Certified Beer Judge Program (BJCP) has certified over 2000 amateur brewers and beer-lovers, mainly in the United States
- Certified Professional Ergonomist (CPE) and Certified Human Factors Professional (CHFP).
- Help Desk Institute certifies for the service industry
- Other professional certifications include pilots licences and professional drivers licences, and other certifications such as Medical licenses, Membership of the Royal College of Physicians, Bachelor of Science in Nursing, diplomas in social work and probation work.
References
- Krutz, Ronald L. and Vines, Russell Dean, The CISSP Prep Guide; Gold Edition, Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana, 2003.