Credentials for the Workplace
Written by Celeste Altus
MAE 2011 Volume: 6 Issue: 3 (April)
Jobs are as scarce as they are volatile— layoffs, furloughs and attrition have made even employed workers nervous about their standing. The unemployment rate for veterans who served in the military at any time since September 2001—those referred to as “Gulf War-era II” veterans—reached 11.5 percent last year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics recently reported.
In response to this bad economic climate, competition among job seekers has spiked. It is an employer’s market, and those with hiring power are getting more and more specific about the qualifications they seek. They can call the terms.
As a result, students are looking beyond the associate, bachelor’s and master’s degree, and enrolling in certificate programs to give them a competitive edge. Many professions, such as law and health care, have always required licensing or credentialing as a barrier to entry. Now, more industries are increasing their professional qualifications. Information technology, finance and human resources are some examples of industries that are building more requirements in to even the most basic, entry-level jobs.
Standing Out
There are about as many certificate and credential programs as there are industries, so when transitioning from military to civilian work, students have many choices. They range from traditional certified public accountant licensure programs to highly specialized information technology programs to more general project management programs.
Justin Orgeron is a veteran who took the certification route and said he is happy he did. Orgeron, who served in the Marine Corps from 1996 to 2004, is an IT professional who looked into certification and decided it would be a smart investment.
He currently works overseas as a program manager in information technology, and has earned several certifications in addition to his college degree. He is a MCP (Microsoft Certified Professional), MCDST (Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician), Comptia A+Comptia Security+ ITIL, Intermediate CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) and PMP (Project Management Professional).
He said each of the programs varied in length. With prior knowledge and a bit of study to brush up on things forgotten, he said some certifications could be taken in as little as one afternoon, such as A+ and Security+. Others require coursework to be completed prior to sitting for the exam, and still others require months of preparation. “The CISSP and PMP both take serious study and also have requirements for real-world experience that must be met before you can sit the exams,” he said.
Some of Orgeron’s certifications cost $250, and others ranged from $500-$600. He also enrolled in refresher, “boot camp” programs that cost him $2,000. “They were worth the time and money,” he said. “Some [programs] are better than others.”
The boot camp classes helped students take a year of preparation and crystallize materials learned before the actual exam, he noted. “You can do without it, but I would suggest a refresh course for anyone attempting the PMP or CISSP. Living and breathing the material for a week with nothing else on your plate can make a world of difference. I attribute that to my passing the CISSP on the first try . . . many others have not been so lucky.”
Higher Wages
After he earned his CISSP and PMP certifications, he found that they translated almost instantly into a higher wage bracket. “They’re in demand with employers, and that equals a higher starting salary than would otherwise be offered,” he said. “If you’re looking for a job, certifications are an extremely effective way to separate your resume from the others.”
In addition, many recruiters have trouble understanding and translating the more technical aspects of IT positions. Sometimes resume searches are run based on keywords, and hiring managers do more vetting of the candidates. On-the-job experience is still “the gold standard” when actually sitting an interview, Orgeron said, but certifications make extremely convenient keywords when running those searches.
“If you are already in a job, hard work will get you promoted in IT, but certifications are an easy way to get noticed by upper management and help them justify a promotion,” he added. “If you already have the knowledge and experience … why wouldn’t you get the certification?”
Credentials are a wise investment, said Jennifer Dunleavy, president of Accuro, an executive staffing and recruitment firm in Raleigh, North Carolina. Accuro regularly works with Fortune 500 companies and places workers in high-profile technical and financial positions.
“Any additional credentials one could secure in order to confirm their expertise is really important,” Dunleavy said. “Any credential that can be paired with a college degree is really going to set an individual apart from the pack.”
Dunleavy frequently works with job seekers on strategies to improve their profiles and visibility with recruiters. She stressed that the certification itself has value beyond what is printed on the page.
“It really does not only show the level of dedication and ethics that the individual has to their career and their own potential, but also demonstrates to an employer what dedication and work ethic they can bring to a job,” she said.
Growing Together
“Companies right now are looking for individuals who can help them grow or help their company become more efficient,” Dunleavy added. “So, in our efforts, what we are seeing is companies are really investing in talent that can help grow a top line, or grow a bottom line of the business. These are going to be a lot of people with strong analytical capacities, analysts, for example, who can help evaluate opportunities as well as efficiencies and processes.”
Information technology is arguably one of the fastest-growing and fastest-moving sectors of the labor market. Daniel Benjamin, the interim dean of the School of Science and Technology at American Public University System, said certifications are in high demand in his field. “One of the challenges in the world of IT is if you are out for a month, you are obsolete,” he said.
According to Benjamin, the IT field doesn’t tend to hire people who have only studied concepts. It moves too fast for “armchair strategists,” he said. “We want it to be real-world. If there is no market for it, it may be a great topic, it may be a fun topic, but we don’t want to spend time on it. You want to make every minute count. We have adult learners here.”
IT has been a hot industry for many years, but the September 11 attacks sent it into high gear, especially in the area of security. Benjamin said the huge increase in cybercrime has created a demand for trained professionals in information security and assurance, and digital forensics. These are two areas of concentration AMUS offers in its IT studies department. “Cyber-terrorism has become a big issue, so protecting our assets has become a top priority,” he recognized.
Beyond Numbers
The financial world is another area of rapid growth that it virtually limitless when it comes to professional designations. At The American College in Bryn Mawr, Pa., Professor Kevin Lynch has taken his experience in the financial services industry, along with multiple certifications, and used them to boost his career in the education sector.
A Vietnam veteran, Lynch grew up in the military; his father was a Command Sergeant Major for Army Special Forces. He served in the Army from 1968 to 1970 as a Sergeant E-5 and went on to earn four degrees. Lynch is now pursuing his doctorate in business and has earned 15 professional credentials, some of which include a CFP (certified financial planner), ChFC (chartered financial consultant) and CLU (certified life underwriter).
His certifications also served him in his career before he was in academics. Before joining The American College, Lynch worked in the financial services industry. The CFP curriculum is a good example of the average amount of work it takes students to earn a certification. CFP designation consists of six different classes: Financial Planning: Process and Environment; Fundamentals of Insurance Planning; Income Taxation; Planning for Retirement Needs; Investments; and Fundamentals of Estate Planning.people too
Human resources opportunities are growing fast and have a strong employment outlook, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Experience and graduate degrees are often favored in HR candidates, but the field is using more certifications to screen employees.
The HR Certification Institute in Alexandria, Va., has been awarding credentials for 33 years. They offer a professional in human resources, a senior professional in human resources, and a global professional in human resources, as well as the California certifications of two of those.
“These are extremely popular certifications,” said Margaret Brown, spokeswoman for the HR Certification Institute. Currently, there are more than 108,000 certificants, in 70 countries, who have passed rigorous exams to demonstrate their mastery and application of HR practices, policies and procedures, she noted.
Students of the school report back that the certifications give them credibility and help them find new work more easily than their peers. Ed Lizotte, Post University’s director of military programs and veterans affairs, said Post keeps in mind its military students’ larger career and academic goals when advising which professional certificates to pursue. Post offers a range of certificates, including HR and paralegal credentials.
“With our military program, we have found that servicemembers like to feel a sense of accomplishment rather than just taking classes,” Lizotte said, “especially if they are deployed.”
The veterans affairs department at Post has created an analysis of the school’s credential programs to determine what military students can pursue while not losing time and credits. It makes sure the credential programs are credit-bearing and not a dead end academically.
“The student never loses anything when they complete a certificate with us,” Lizotte added. “Just as an associates leads to a bachelor’s degree, a certificate can be a very good stepping stone.” ♦