Unique certifications

Creative Commons Certificate for Academic Librarians
Creative Commons Certificate for Educators
Creative Commons Certificate for Open Culture / Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums
https://certificates.creativecommons.org/

 

Salesforce Certified Business Analyst: https://trailhead.salesforce.com/en/credentials/businessanalyst ($200, doesn't require a lot of Salesforce-specific knowledge)

 

The National Sheriff's Association has a correspondence Jail Officer course with certification exam for $150: https://nsa.sheriffs.org/s/Store/Item_Detail.aspx?iProductCode=JOTP125

 

Anytime I see "certified" instead of "certificate," I have to ask, "Certified by Whom?"

Certifications have two sources: public and private. Public ones are usually used to permit someone to practice a particular trade, occupation, or profession. Private certifications take two forms, too. One type comes from a particular business, permitting someone to--or recognizing them capable of--using some sort of product. Microsoft does this. I am certified to administer the Leadership Circle Profile 360-degree assessment. In order to purchase and use it you have to pass their certification course.

Another type is industry-based. Usually, this comes from a prominent professional body representing the field. The Project Management Institute is an example, certifying people as Project Management Professionals. While not regulated legally, such bodies are widely recognized, as are their credentials. I used to be a PMP, and now carry several other, similar, designations.

And that's the rub: "Certified by Whom?" As with all education/training endeavors, you get an education and a credential. So, even if the learning is good, is the certificate useful and recognized by others?

 

Speaking of, I just bit the bullet and registered for my PMP exam late next month.

If I pass, I'll use the rest of the year to get my needed PDUs through PMI so I can hold my PMP at least thru 2026.

 

And "Board Certified" has to be watched. It's become a catch-phrase among shady providers who operate illegitimate "boards." The word can be misused just like "University." I've seen "boards" operated by degree-mill meisters and their acolytes. They make money both from awarding substandard degrees and "board certifying" the new grad.

Make sure the Board is legit. Not usually any more difficult than ensuring a school is.

 

@Acolyte Using "acolytes" in the broad sense here. No disrespect to anyone who posts on DI.

 

Wow! You put THAT up on the wall --and your kids ALWAYS behave! It's magic!

 

People who call you out for an honest effort to make a better living are NOT true friends. Good to know you lost them. Makes room for real friends. Kudos. You won.

 

My one tip: Learn everything "The PMI Way." Know their terms, their processes, etc. This is a huge trip-up, especially experienced project managers who think they can use their knowledge and experience to pass the test.

You can't. You have to learn it the PMI way.

 

Fellow, Member, and Associate Member of the Royal Society for Public Health; each carry post-nominal letters
https://www.rsph.org.uk/membership/grades.html

National Environmental Health Association, various credentials
https://www.neha.org/credentials

Board of Certified Safety Professionals, various credentials
https://www.bcsp.org/credentials-at-a-glance/

 

This one is interesting. Other Fellowships I'm familiar with (the Royal Society of Arts, Fellows of the Royal Society of London, etc.) require one to be nominated or vetted. Being able to join with a 200 pound application fee seems to diminish that honor somewhat.

 

Honorary - and worse, I think it's a propio. Everybody knows the REAL ones come from the Universal Life Church. $10 a whack.
Gedditoutahere! May the Farce be with you! See this Light Sabre? Want some? Bzzzzz!

 

Yep. A Jawa propio from Tatooine. Free with every Droid purchase... I KNEW it! I can sport 'em a light year away! https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Jawa#:

 

I thought about becoming a Jedi, but I didn't want to change light sabre colors....

 

I have a bedsheet-size diploma that says I'm a Fellow - of the Canadian Credit Institute. The designation carries post-nominals -FCI. The diploma is many years old and I'm no longer a Fellow because I let my membership lapse around the time I retired. When I passed the exams, in 1974, I became a Member of the Credit Institute - MCI. They changed the designation to "Fellow" in the late 1980s and issued me a new diploma - the bedsheet one. It's a completely legit organization and the courses I took were by extension, through University of Toronto -- but without University credit. I did manage to get credit for some, when I went to Community College some years later.

There was another rather millish organization I remember, that offered a Fellow "degree" in Credit Studies - a so called degree. I think it was the now-defunct Canadian School of Management. They also offered Scholar "degrees" as well. I think those names were chosen to avoid the negative attention awarding normal academic titles, Bachelor, Master etc. would have brought them.

Canadian School of Management was unique in another way. It's still the only school to have been accredited by DETC (now DEAC), lose its accreditation, be re-accredited by DETC and later struck off for a second time. I don't have one of their "Fellow" or "Scholar" "degrees" - but I knew people who did. One was a business owner, who was also pretty high up in the CSM hierarchy - leading seminars, awarding "degrees" etc. Interesting times...

 

Certified Manager, Certified Supervisor
https://icpm.net/

American Management Association-Certified Professional in Management (AMA-CPM)
https://www.amanet.org/certified-professional-in-management/

Certified Applied Sociologist, Certified Clinical Sociologist
https://www.aacsnet.net/become-certified

Certified Compliance & Ethics Professional, and related
https://www.corporatecompliance.org/certification

Certified in Healthcare Compliance, and related
https://www.hcca-info.org/certification

 

Credentialed Evaluator from Evaluation Canada:

https://evaluationcanada.ca/designation/about-the-ce.html