In research conducted by both certification providers and independent entities (e.g., Purchasing Magazine\u2019s annual salary survey), it is clear: on average, purchasing professionals with certifications earn more. Plain and simple.<\/p>\n
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Yet, the percentage of purchasing professionals who have earned a certification is nowhere near 100%. I\u2019ve seen posts on sites like LinkedIn where the non-certified criticize something about a certification provider or rant about something ideological how experience is more valuable or state some other reason why it isn\u2019t worth it to be certified. I know I\u2019m not the only one who recognizes these as nothing more than thinly veiled excuses<\/strong> for not having the drive to achieve a goal.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve pondered this in light of my work interacting with certification candidates and I\u2019ve come up with a hypothesis. My hypothesis is that it is actually the fear of failure that keeps these individuals from achievement.<\/p>\n I speak to a lot of people before taking their SPSM Exams and they tell me how nervous they are. Why? It\u2019s an exam. It has never killed anyone.<\/p>\n The worst that can happen? You fail and have to try it again. It will cost you a mere $75 to do so.<\/p>\n Let me share some more information that has led me to believe that fear of failure is a culprit. Here at Next Level Purchasing, one of our key performance indicators is the number of SPSM\u2019s to be certified in a given year.<\/p>\n Like all good goal-setting, we then break down our strategic goal into more tactical goals, like the percentage of students that take the SPSM Exam within three months of passing the six courses of the Senior Professional in Supply Management\u00ae<\/sup> Program, the percentage of students that submit their applications within three months of passing the SPSM Exam, etc.<\/p>\n What we\u2019ve found is that only about 80% of students that pass the six courses take the SPSM Exam within three months of doing so. This is despite the fact that the pass rate drops dramatically when students wait more than a month (the longer you wait, the more you forget). They\u2019ve expended all the effort required to pass six courses (about 44 hours of study) and won\u2019t take the step to take a 90-minute exam. I attribute this 80% rate to fear of failure.<\/p>\n The shame is that it is costing these students earning opportunities. Purchasing Magazine\u2019s research indicates that SPSM\u2019s earn over $10,000 more than purchasing professionals without a certifiation. Our own research suggests that number is over $14,000.<\/p>\n All because of fear of failure. It\u2019s a shame, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n When it comes to scheduling a certification exam, just do it. You just may pass on the first attempt and have a credential that will increase your earnings potential.<\/p>\n An extra $10,000 per year seems worth it, don\u2019t you think?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In research conducted by both certification providers and independent entities […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":4080,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-procurement"],"yoast_head":"\n