Musings on (Re)certification
There are frequent articles in the IT and business press on merits of certification; about how certification helps candidates set themselves apart from their peers in the market, a differentiation strategy if you will. My musing is not about certifications per se but about another dimension: recertification.
To set the context for this discussion I am a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) from the PMI, and Open Group, TOGAF, certified Enterprise Architect. The certifications are in addition to my educational qualifications in management and computers. Now, every so often my peers and colleagues begin to muse about the impending expiry of their PMP or TOGAF or other certifications. There are endless debates in chat forums and discussion groups on ‘why should I pay to re-certify’ or ‘should I re-certify’ etc… my two cents:
Argument for re-certification:
- Professions-skills-upgrade argument: The real argument for re-certification is that newer topics, techniques and technologies continue to emerge in the field and ‘professionals’ should continually demonstrate their competence. This argument probably holds true of ‘professions’ like teachers and doctors [‘profession’ in quotes since one could debate if Computer Programming and Software development is really ‘Engineering or Art’ and if one subscribes to Donald Knuth’s argument, do artists need to be certified or recertifed to ‘prove’ their skills?]
- Club-dues argument: Just as many elite (social) clubs have an entry/admissions criteria and a means of enforcing a hefty club dues from those eligible and willing, re-certification is a ‘price’ to pay to remain a part of the club.
Note: this is just my personal interpretation; no certifying institution would make such an argument officially; though if one looks from an operational angle, club dues are necessary to keep the certification organizations going (unless they have a large corporate sponsorship or ‘grant’)
Argument against re-certification:
A brilliant student gets into MIT or Harvard and graduates; and for the rest of her/his life, carries the ‘Harvard graduate’ or MIT tag. She does not have to get ‘re’certified every so often. Years or even decades later, nobody questions the spark of brilliance that got him into the elite institution and expects the brilliance to manifest itself as he builds on other life experiences. [Even in this argument, one would see a ‘club dues’ angle: If you are from an elite institution; there will be an equally elite alumni association, that is bound to be after you for the alumni fee etc; right?]
At the end of the day it probably doesn’t even matter which side of the argument you and I subscribe to because … as with most things in life if you got to have it, you got to have it; and if there is a price to pay …
Comments
Mohan, I have several view points, some interesting and some disgusting. Let me list them. (1) PMI.org to my knowledge charges for every single event it holds. So what are they really doing of value to the PMI community with the money that flows in. This is one place where I want to see competition in action. On feeling the blazing heat of competition, PMI may adopt fairer methods (2) Perhaps, PMI examination is so easy that PMI wants to make it financially impossible for some of the brightest few. (3) I have read several papers which are truly enlightening about the PM profession, but have rarely read anything of good application value in the PMI Journals. To be honest, I have not read them indepth but skimmed through it all the time. (4) Re-certification is ok in my opinion. But I am hoping that during my lifetime, the PMBoK will be re-written so that a PM who knows English can understand the profession.
Posted by: j | May 1, 2007 2:09 AM