Professional Certification Defined
Professional certification or designation is earned by a person to assure qualification to perform a job or task. Almost all certifications used are on acronyms indicating an earned privilege from a professional or governing body acting to safeguard the public interest.
There are three types of professional certifications applied to different working industries from accountancy to computers, to healthcare, and even to the Internet: corporate certifications, product-specific, and profession-wide.
- Corporate certifications are given by companies to their employees usually on a program that the company has set up. For example: a company had a training course for sales or Java development. One of the advantages of having a certificate from the company is that you can use it when you are looking for another job. It gives you an edge because it shall reflect that you have a knack for learning. For example: Google-certified Adwords Associate.
- Product-specific certifications, on the other hand, are intended to be referenced to an information technology product like a software or hardware. For example: networking specialist or IT professionals would want to receive their CISCO career certification.
- Lastly, the most general type of certification is profession-wide. This kind of certification has qualifying exams to take (i.e. licensure exams), and years of learning to achieve it. This certification is something not to magic out of thin air. It is governed by an authority varying to different fields. For example: certified public accountant.
Profession-wide certifications adds value to anyone’s name, but such prefix or suffix to your name is not at all easy to receive. For instance: Atty. John Doe; Jane Doe, CPA; Engr. John Doe; Arch. Jane Doe; Dr. John Doe; and Jane Doe, MBA. These titles are worth everything; hard work and resources.
