SMQS

The Value of Qualifications

There are many advantages to seeking a professional qualification.  As the USMBOK states, the value of anything is a comparison of the desired results achieved, compared with the cost of acquisition and use - the cost.  Qualifications are no different.

A professional qualification, a 'certification', is the public's assurance that an individual has met rigorous, peer-developed and standards endorsed by a national professional body and/or certification agency.

The majority of managers and employers think that qualifications will become more important in the next five years, and that they allow individuals to improve their career prospects and earning potential

There are intrinsic benefits to qualifications including better self-awareness and self-confidence and they allow employers to up productivity and attract a higher caliber of staff to drive better organizational performance, and for individuals to build transferable skills, continuously develop their career through maintaining a broader knowledge.

Employers welcome and respect certification by a national body, especially one that is endorsed by one or more relevant professional associations. The certification agency is often used to verify credentials. and occasionally certification limits liability insurance premiums.  Certification is a fundamental standard among a profession and is important for peer recognition, external verification, and accountability.

The benefits of certification based qualifications from a personal perspective include :

• Industry recognition of your knowledge and proficiency;
• Certification advances knowledge and skills in the field;
• Certification provides a basis for trusting a professional's work;
• Certification creates a need for further education from which all can benefit;
• Individuals who are certified are models for others to follow;
• Certification provides more leaders for the field;
• Certification enables standards and practices to be clarified, organized, codified, and publicized;
• The process of testing individuals generates new standards and proves old ones;
• Certification promotes good practices in the field;
• Certification confirms a commitment to the profession;
• Certification offers a career differentiate, with enhanced credibility and marketability.

The benefits of certification based qualifications from an (service organization) employer perspective include :

• More effective and efficient use of resources by use of a standard of proven set of professional practices;
• Improved alignment between roles and objectives and increasecd chance of achieving stated goals;
• Assisting the establishment of a results-driven approach to providing service based upon the proper definition of customer requirements and translation into service level objectives;

• Less risk of unexpected service outages through greater consideration of the true scope and consequences of infrastructure and resource usage and change.

In every case the value of a qualification is maximized by making it applicable to the work environment and the desired results of the individual and/or organization they are working for.

As the Society mottos states, "Value from Knowledge and Experience".