August 10, 2014

Why You Need To Be Certified

Are you certified? It’s a question you’ll probably face at your next job interview. If you want to get hired, a certification is your ticket to success.

Certifications are designed to ensure that your skills and competence meet certain standards. They show that you can perform a job or task at a specific level. Often, certifications are required to get hired. Professional certifications come in all shapes and sizes. Usually a professional society, association, or group will oversee the certification process in your field. These groups can be locally, nationally, or internationally recognized.

Typically a certification must test your skills and industry knowledge independent from training courses. They require continuing education to ensure you stay up to date, and they must be renewed and maintained. Most certifications require you to pass written and skill based tests

Not only will being certified help you stand out from the competition, it can help you demand a higher wage, be more employable, and be more confident in what you are doing. Certifications create a standard that all members must meet – making it easy for employers to know your competency when you apply.

Nearly every single niche has certifications that you can earn – accounting, finance, architecture, aviation, guiding, business, environment, genealogy, healthcare, hospitality, tourism, snowsports instruction, risk management, language education, forestry, driving, real estate, security, information technology. Whatever you want to do, you can earn a certification.

You can become a certified:

  1. Medical Assistant
  2. Vocational Nurse
  3. Cosmetologist
  4. Rock Guide
  5. Automobile Technician
  6. Emergency Medical Technician
  7. Massage Therapy
  8. Welder
  9. Truck and Bus Driver
  10. Dental Assistant
  11. Ski Instructor

If you apply yourself, you can earn one of these certifications that relates to what you want to do. For example, if you want to become a snowboard instructor a certification with American Association of Snowboard Instructors is ideal or if you want to be a crane operator you may want to earn a cert from the National Commission For The Certification of Crane Operators. As you can see, you need to pick the best certification for what you want to do.

Highlight your certifications on your resume. Often they can trump education and sometimes experience to set you apart from the competition. Certifications make you extremely valuable. Basically if you want to find a job, go out and get certified right now. Then start applying for jobs.

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