I’m just back from ASTD’s TechKnowledge conference in San Jose – great conference and I’m pleased to say that my session on Making E-learning Stick was well received. I found a couple of great new training transfer resources that I’ll share in a future newsletter, but in this newsletter I want to respond to a question that several trainers at the conference asked me:
Should I get certified?
Elearning! magazine did a survey last year on this topic and here are the results:
- 89% of the HR and Learning and Development professionals surveyed said that a certification was important during the hiring process, and 92% said if two candidates had equivalent experience they would hire the person with a certification.
- 93% said that an individual with a certification credential would earn more money.
- 93% said it was important for a certification credential to be “portable”….that is, not industry-specific, so it would be useful to them regardless of industry or specific company.
That’s pretty impressive!
The next question of course is which certification is best? This of course depends on your specific goals. The ASTD CPLP certification is a rigorous, multi-faceted experience that includes study materials and requires testing as well as submission of work samples. The cost depends on whether or not you are a member of ASTD National. www.astd.org/Certification
Kirpatrick Partners offer several levels – bronze, silver, and gold – certification in their evaluation ROE process.
The Making E-learning Stick™ certification is the only certification for the transfer of technology-supported training. http://www.maketrainingstick.com/e-learning-certification.html
Interestingly, few certifications except Making E-Learning Stick™ in the learning and development field address learning transfer!
What’s the difference between certification and a certificate program? Certification is a demonstration of knowledge and competence. The participant needs to demonstrate in some way – test, work sample, implementation plan, etc. – their learning. On the other hand, a certificate simply indicates you have taken the class or series of classes. If you want the career advantages mentioned in the survey, get certified, don’t just take a certificate program.
Over 900 people signed up for my ASTD webinar on Making E-Learning Stick last month. This is a good indication that there’s a lot of interest in learning transfer, including but not limited to the transfer of technology-supported training. Leaders in organizations focus on results, and the learning and development or HR professional who can show through a certification that they understand how to transfer training into business results, will likely get the nod when it comes to promotion, choice assignments, and new jobs.
Shouldn’t you get certified?
Until next time…..
Making Training Stick 