Ready to Start Your Career?
By: Olivia
November 17, 2016
Dude, Where’s My Skill Cert? 7 Ways that our CPE Granting Skill Certifications Add Value
By: Olivia
November 17, 2016
Let me start by asking you a question. What is your education worth to you?If your immediate thought was, well, not too much, then let me ask you another question. Would you be willing to spend about 40 minutes to learn a whole heck of a lot and get the certification to back what you just learned?Maybe you’d rather spend that time watching 2 episodes of The Office instead. Or maybe, your education means a heck of a lot, but you don’t see the added value of the certification itself.That’s where I come in.First, let’s start with the basics and talk about CPE (Continuing Professional Education), which is generally defined as “a type of education that is conducted for participants in various professional fields that consists of updated knowledge and other pertinent information that will help these individuals to attain broader understanding of their chosen industry.”Many fields mandate professionals to partake in ongoing education, sometimes as a requirement for keeping their jobs. This can be extremely valuable in placing you where you want to be in your current organization or advancing you to a new field altogether.So if you’re still thinking your education isn’t worth that much, I say you reconsider.According to Barnett Berry, Founder & CEO of the Center for Teaching Quality, “So many good reforms and really good ideas haven’t gone to scale or became caricatures of what they were supposed to be because people didn’t get the quality experience.”The knowledge gaining aspect however, is just piece of the puzzle. Displaying that you’ve actually gained that knowledge is at the heart of the value. Think about it.
Imagine having completed 4 years of college and no proof that you have ever taken a single class, let alone completed 4 years -worth. Seems kind of pointless right?Jennifer Gibson, CEO at PD Learning Network equates it best: “Meaningful learning = meaningful micro- credentials.”Now your next question to me is probably surrounding your doubts around the authority of the certification itself.Formally, micro-credentialing is defined by Study.com as “a process of earning mini degrees or mini certifications in a specific topic area.” And the number of bodies who award and recognize certifications has been growing each year.Companies such as Credly and Open Badges, commercial badging platforms, are among the first to recognize this value and allow easier access for the giving, getting and sharing of certifications.The real value is that certifications open up so many possibilities. They can be rich in metadata in a way that traditional transcripts and resumes cannot. They can also easily show who issued the credential, and specifics about the skill or course earned.Still not sold?Here’s my breakdown of 7 Ways that our CPE Granting Skill Certifications Add Value:
Imagine having completed 4 years of college and no proof that you have ever taken a single class, let alone completed 4 years -worth. Seems kind of pointless right?Jennifer Gibson, CEO at PD Learning Network equates it best: “Meaningful learning = meaningful micro- credentials.”Now your next question to me is probably surrounding your doubts around the authority of the certification itself.Formally, micro-credentialing is defined by Study.com as “a process of earning mini degrees or mini certifications in a specific topic area.” And the number of bodies who award and recognize certifications has been growing each year.Companies such as Credly and Open Badges, commercial badging platforms, are among the first to recognize this value and allow easier access for the giving, getting and sharing of certifications.The real value is that certifications open up so many possibilities. They can be rich in metadata in a way that traditional transcripts and resumes cannot. They can also easily show who issued the credential, and specifics about the skill or course earned.Still not sold?Here’s my breakdown of 7 Ways that our CPE Granting Skill Certifications Add Value:- Backup your relevant training; the training alone isn’t enough
- Provide necessary skill building to keep you aware of the current industry and trends
- Expand on existing knowledge and qualify IT professionals for jobs within a new domain of IT
- Help employers match candidates for job placement and growth, both internally and externally
- Personalize learning by allowing you to keep track of your efforts
- Connect people with relevant communities and increase professional learning networks
- Instill a sense of competition among community members or groups and strengthen motivation for continued learning
