{"id":3323,"date":"2014-04-28T20:31:00","date_gmt":"2014-04-28T20:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/2014\/04\/28\/more-advice-about-taking-procurement-certification-advice\/"},"modified":"2023-06-05T06:41:51","modified_gmt":"2023-06-05T10:41:51","slug":"procurement-certification-advice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/blog\/procurement-certification-advice\/","title":{"rendered":"More Advice About Taking Procurement Certification Advice"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In my March 21, 2014 blog post, I wrote about the state of confusion that many procurement professionals find themselves in when they ask others for advice about which procurement certification they should pursue.\u00a0 I essentially said that each procurement professional should not wholly rely on the advice of others, but to also utilize their own personal observations.<\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t miss updates on Procurement &amp; Supply Chain, Subscribe here!<\/p>\n<p>I think even more specific advice needs to be given to job seekers who see a certification as an accelerator to obtaining a new procurement job.\u00a0 So, I\u2019ll dedicate this space to providing just that advice.<\/p>\n<p>In my extensive experience in dealing with procurement professionals seeking certification, I find that job seekers tend to want to get certified faster than already-employed individuals.\u00a0 Therefore, if you\u2019re in that situation and comparing procurement certifications, you need to consider:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>How quickly you can earn the certification you are considering.<\/b>\u00a0 Any certification organization should be able to consult a certification candidate on this matter.\u00a0 And that\u2019s going beyond just sharing the average time it takes to become certified.\u00a0 As with any normal distribution of statistical data, the average is between outlying data.\u00a0 People without current employment tend to have both the extra time and the extra ambition to get certified sooner than the average person.\u00a0 So, how much time can you expect to dedicate to your efforts until that magical time you get to add credentials at the end of your name?\u00a0 The availability of self-paced learning options, flexible testing schedules and locations, and quantity of study material all influence how soon you will be certified.<\/li>\n<li><b>Whether or not you have the prerequisite qualifications, if any.\u00a0 <\/b>Some certifications require years of experience and\/or degrees, while others do not.\u00a0 Therefore, you have to be careful not to overly swayed by a certification recommendation of a peer because you may not even have the prerequisite qualifications that they may assume you have.<\/li>\n<li><b>What is the likelihood that you\u2019ll pass?\u00a0<\/b> Again, any certification organization should be able to provide to you statistics on their pass rate.\u00a0 That\u2019s valuable to know, but see if they can provide additional information beyond just the \u201cpass rate on the first attempt at the exam\u201d like overall pass rate (which includes people who failed the exam on the first attempt, but passed on a later attempt).\u00a0 You should not be discouraged if the \u201cpass rate on the first attempt at the exam\u201d is not near 100%.\u00a0 It shouldn\u2019t be.\u00a0 If a certification was easy to get, it sure wouldn\u2019t be valuable because certifications serve to distinguish the top talent in the field from everyone else.\u00a0 But that being said, if \u2013 after all exam attempts, even multiple attempts at the same exam \u2013 a low percentage of candidates pass, it may indicate that the certification organization has made things unnecessarily difficult.\u00a0 It could also mean that all of your work dedicated to trying to earn the certification would go to waste if you\u2019re not among the best with academic performance.<\/li>\n<li><b>What is the likelihood that you\u2019ll stick with the certification program until completion?\u00a0<\/b> Again, if a certification isn\u2019t rigorous, it won\u2019t have much value \u2013 anyone would be able to get it.\u00a0 So, evaluate the materials issued by the certification organization.\u00a0 Do they interest you?\u00a0 Could you see yourself spending weeks or months poring over those materials?\u00a0 Or do they seem to conflict with your style of learning in a way that will make the studying process feel unpleasant?\u00a0 Let\u2019s face it, if you don\u2019t find the material interesting, there is a chance you\u2019ll give up before you reach the proverbial finish line.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So, if you\u2019re seeking a procurement job and think that earning a procurement certification will get you to your goal sooner, be sure to investigate the training and testing schedule, prerequisites, the likelihood of passing, and the appeal of the materials for the certification you are considering.\u00a0 Don\u2019t expect everyone else to make your decision for you.\u00a0 You may end up being disappointed later if you find that certification wasn\u2019t for you.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Recommended Reading<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"row-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/blog\/gep-takes-a-smart-approach-to-procurement\/\" aria-label=\"\u201cNLPA Vendor Review: GEP Takes a SMART Approach to Procurement\u201d (Edit)\">NLPA Vendor Review: GEP Takes a SMART Approach to Procurement<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"row-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/blog\/procurement-certification-advice\/\" aria-label=\"\u201cMore Advice About Taking Procurement Certification Advice\u201d (Edit)\">More Advice About Taking Procurement Certification Advice<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"row-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/blog\/purchasing-supply-management-salary-trends-revealed-on-april-30\/\" aria-label=\"\u201cPurchasing &amp; Supply Management Salary Trends Revealed on April 30!\u201d (Edit)\">Purchasing &amp; Supply Management Salary Trends Revealed on April 30!<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"row-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/blog\/tricky-cost-savings-calculation-example\/\" aria-label=\"\u201cTricky Cost Savings Calculation Example\u201d (Edit)\">Tricky Cost Savings Calculation Example<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"row-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/blog\/your-supplier-needs-to-get-hisher-boss\/\" aria-label=\"\u201cYour Supplier Needs To Get His\/Her Boss Involved In Your Negotiation\u2026Now What?\u201d (Edit)\">Your Supplier Needs To Get His\/Her Boss Involved In Your Negotiation\u2026Now What?<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In my March 21, 2014 blog post, I wrote about [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":4047,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-procurement"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v19.4 (Yoast SEO v19.13) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>More Advice About Taking Procurement Certification Advice - Next Level Purchasing Association (NLPA)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/blog\/procurement-certification-advice\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"More 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