The Global Success Sandbox

The Global Success Sandbox

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  • DeAnna Troupe
    DeAnna Troupe
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    Is certification worth the trouble?
    I'm curious to find out how certification has helped your business. Has it helped you get more clients than when you didn't have it?

    DeAnna Spencer
    • 06/10/2007, 22:28
  • Krissy Jackson
    Krissy Jackson    Utente Premium   Moderatore gruppo
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    Re: Is certification worth the trouble?
    Great question Deanna, and something I was discussing with a client on Friday.

    I am not sure that certification will bring you any more clients, but it will certainly reassure the ones you already have.

    Also if you have gone through the correct training to become the professional you want to be, it seems almost crazy to me not to make the effort to become certified. If you haven't done the training, and this is just my opinion, you should not be working in the field!

    The example I used with my client was that of Gillian Mckeith, who I knew from an acupuncture course I was doing in London 12 years ago. (I didn't finish it as I got married and moved to Switzerland)

    Gillian was doing a weekly spot as a nutritionist on breakfast television even then, she later went on to write books on nutritian and become very famous for the "You are what you eat" television show in the UK, She called herself Dr. Gillian Mckeith. A couple of years ago she was exposed for having done a quack online degree, which was not recognized by anyone except the people who provided it. She was discredited, and is now the butt of many jokes on You-tube and many of the well known online health forums.

    This is really a shame as Gillian was very passionate about what she did, some would say annoyingly so. She could have easily studied nutrition and got the accepted credentials for a nutritionist in the last 12 years, but she chose not to, and as they say, "the rest is history".

    My advice is if you want to be recognized as a professional then get your credentialing, if not simply because it is ethical, to save yourself from it coming back to bite you on the butt later on.

    That's my 2 cents worth, what does everyone else think?
    Questo contributo è stato modificato in data 07/10/2007 alle ore 10:37.
    • 07/10/2007, 10:29
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  • Bengt Wendel
    Bengt Wendel    Moderatore gruppo
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    Re^2: Is certification worth the trouble?
    Krissy Jackson wrote:
    I am not sure that certification will bring you any more clients, but it will certainly reassure the ones you already have.
    A certification does not bring you clients on its own but it tells prospective customers that you have a level of knowledge and experience which is valuable. Take the coaching business, anyone can call themselves a coach. Once you become a certified coach you do stand out from the crowd of non-certified coaches.
    Bengt
    • 13/10/2007, 21:30
  • DeAnna Troupe
    DeAnna Troupe
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    Re^2: Is certification worth the trouble?
    Krissy, this point brings up another question related to training:
    ago she was exposed for having done a quack online degree, which was not recognized by anyone except the people who provided it. How do I know if the organizatio I'm thinking about receiving training from is legit?

    DeAnna Spencer
    • 13/10/2007, 22:32
  • Victor Scicluna
    Victor Scicluna    Utente Premium
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    Re: Is certification worth the trouble?
    Certification does help.

    If you have been doing a job for an number of years and have been making a living out o fit than you have proven to be qualified enough to do it and most probably have in a way qualified through experience.
    Having said that qualification helps in more than one way. Forget the client part, I am only going to tackle the advantages it brings to yourself. Qualification means that at a certain point you are going to have to sit down and go through a series of steps which should further educate you in your career. You might actually not acquire much new stuff but it will supply you with the confidence that you are doing the right thing. This is turn translates into confidence and it will reward you by allowing you t win better clients.
    I have been working with computers since day 1 but I have always shied away from recognising my abilities. Two years ago I decided to put this to the test and got myself (after having to sit through a two year course) a Microsoft Office Specialist Certificate. Did the course help me, not that much really as I was familiar with round 90% of the contents already bit having acquired the certification led me to feel much more self confident and allow me to establish myself in a much better and clearly more confident manner.
    Nowadays when people ask me questions regarding this subject I do answer with much greater confidence as I have the certificates to back me up.
    So yes certification is a great help.
    • 13/10/2007, 23:14
  • Bengt Wendel
    Bengt Wendel    Moderatore gruppo
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    Re^3: Is certification worth the trouble?
    DeAnna Spencer wrote:
    How do I know if the organizatio I'm thinking about receiving training from is legit?
    There are (at least) two ways:
    + search the internet for more information about the organization.
    + ask people that are already in that line of business.
    • 14/10/2007, 09:17
  • Krissy Jackson
    Krissy Jackson    Utente Premium   Moderatore gruppo
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    Re^4: Is certification worth the trouble?
    I am not quite sure what you are studying, but does it have a governing body? For instance for Virtual Assistants you could call the IVAA (http://www.ivaa.org) and ask them about your course.

    Of course for unregulated industries there are some grey areas. For instance I did my course through an academy which was credentialed by the International Coach Federation. (http://tinyurl.com/g8z8w ) Others might rather be governed by the IAC (http://certifiedcoach.org/index.html ) or depending on your country, another body.

    However the rule is the same. Is your course recognized by the governing body of your choice, or is it self credentialing? There are certainly plenty of those popping up every day in the arena of coaching and I am sure Virtual assistance too. My advice would to be to avoid these options, there are plenty of others out there.

    Check courses recommended on these governing sites, If they all average one year in duration and yours only takes a month, or even in some cases a weekend, warning bells should go off for you right there.

    The next point would be to choose your governing body wisely.

    Does it have a good reputation amongst those in your industry?
    Is it recognized outside the industry?
    Does it provide support and further education opportunities on a regular basis?
    Does it have an annual conference where you can go to learn more and meet others from your industry?
    If you call the head office, is there someone to answer the phone and help you with your questions?

    Oops Deanna, seems I have added another level to your education.

    Yes I believe certification is necessary, but not just by the place where you study. I would highly recommend also being certified by the governing body in your field.
    Questo contributo è stato modificato in data 14/10/2007 alle ore 11:06.
    • 14/10/2007, 10:01
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  • Victor Scicluna
    Victor Scicluna    Utente Premium
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    Re^6: Is certification worth the trouble?
    Eddy you are clearly more than right, the real certification is gained through years of experience and hard work in your field and not a simple course but the fact is that certification gives you self confidence as you get to know what is normally accepted and what not in your profession.
    Another point is that certification helps you ward off critical comments; let’s take a very simple example. Language Training………… In theory as long as you know your language well and have natural teaching capabilities you can do the job. I had been training English for many years when I at one point decided to get myself certified I found that I was already doing 90% of what the course was telling me to do.
    So did it help me in getting better clients, doing a better job………….. yes & no.
    I find certification has helped me in the sense that if I am doing something I can point to certain established methods and before this it is was simply something I thought was OK. This has certainly improved my overall performance and self confidence.
    It’s just another tool to give you confidence and enable you to face highly qualified persons which in turn delivers you a better working conditions.
    Questo contributo è stato modificato in data 14/10/2007 alle ore 19:30.
    • 14/10/2007, 19:20