Why certification is crucial to secure your professional future

I have supported the work of APMG International for 20 years, first as the CEO of a training and consultancy company and latterly as the Chief Examiner for the Agile Change Agent certification. I am a passionate believer in the value of professional certifications, and I can track that back to my early career success, where being the most qualified person in the room gave me credibility and helped me stand out from the crowd.

After graduating, I joined an investment bank, with lots of ambition to do well, get promoted and get paid well! I set my goal to become a Director by the time I was 30 so I knew I would have to push myself - ambition achieved at age 29 in case you were wondering!

It was mandatory to take professional qualifications in banking and finance but once I completed these, I made sure I widened my skills. I studied for the Chartered Institute of Marketing, and I also took several specialist courses and qualifications in bond trading and settlement systems.

I then started studying for project management qualifications, and then took a qualification in programme management. The courses gave me insights I would not have gained from my colleagues, who were experts in their areas, but did not have a broader business knowledge.

My strategy paid off, because I was able to leapfrog my peers, and had some truly fantastic jobs which were challenging and stimulating with the bonus of flying all over the world, staying in 5-star hotels. I know my qualifications made the difference in interview, and these are the key reasons:

• It is difficult to justify not interviewing someone if they have relevant (and more of them) qualifications than the other candidates = that gets my foot in the door
• Attending the courses demonstrates I put effort into building my skills and that I am genuinely interested in learning = I can be relied upon to put the effort in
• Studying for the qualifications gives me new insight, broadens my understanding and gives me something to talk about in interviews = provides evidence that I seek out innovative ideas

As a Program Director on a global transformation program, I apply the same values to those I interview for roles as was applied to me. I refuse to see people who have not recently invested in their skills development. If they have not attended a course in the last 2 years, how up to date and fresh are their ideas?

In a candidate rich market, I am also seeing a variation of this thinking, where employers are looking for those that have done something useful whilst on lockdown/furlough and those out of a job or contract. It is far easier to prove that you are energetic, committed and passionate about your job if you have evidence that you studied to increase your knowledge.

To help you stand out from the crowd, write an article on LinkedIn highlighting what you learnt. All interviewers google the names of those they are interviewing and your LinkedIn profile will be the first thing that comes up in the search engine. An article demonstrates extra effort and that you have an ability to reflect, analyse and identify improvements, which is a core skill of any role.

Make sure you share details of certifications you have earned - You'd be amazed how many do not share a certification achievement or digital badge on LinkedIn or on their CV.

And in case you think that at my level I am done with certifications, this is definitely not the case. I am taking two on-line courses this summer to make sure I am up to date, and learning new things.