Do professional certifications help in getting better jobs?

"Yes" or "No"...???

With a number of professional certifications in Supply Chain Management such as APICS CSCP, CPIM, PMP, CPM, CPSM, etc., a commonly asked question by many of the early and mid-level professionals relates to their usefulness in job-search. As a Director and co-Founder of a worldwide network that primarily helps people aspiring to get certified by offering them online practice tests, my honest answer to this question would be "Yes" and "No". The reason behind this dual stance can be explained in the nature of the question itself.

Firstly, I would say "Yes, a professional certification may help in getting a better job" because it basically authenticates your knowledge and skill level in that particular domain or subject. A professional certification is a sort of recognition that is provided to a person who has demonstrated a certain level of expertise and companies usually value such certifications.

Now coming to the second part, professional certifications maybe a "good to have" thing but not necessarily a passport to getting better job. Ultimately what count most are things like your basic degree, experience, soft skills, presentation, confidence and in many cases your overall personality. If you work hard on improving some of these things, then you probably do not need any additional certifications. But, unfortunately it is easier said than done. So in order to increase our chances of getting a better job, most of us find it easier to work towards getting a certification in our field than anything else.

In my opinion, nowadays several professional bodies provide certifications more on a commercial basis than anything else. They charge hundreds of dollars from candidates just for conducting the exam. Even the study material meant for preparation is exhorbitantly priced. In most of the cases, if the candidate fails the first time, he/she has to retake the exam by paying the fees again. In fact, there is a strong motivation for such persons to reappear by paying once again as they want to validate their own knowledge and skills.

When I took one such certification exam for Supply Chain Management, offered by a leading body, I ended up paying a huge amount for the preparation, exam fees and travel. That was when, I decided to form SCMZone network which can provide a low-cost alternative to people who are preparing for such certification exams. Those of you who are interested may visit my website to try out some free practice tests on Supply Chain Management and SAP. You are also welcome to contribute questions, feedback and suggestion. Thanks a lot!

Shad Masum (President and co-Founder)

www.scmzone.org

SCMZone Network supports multiple payment systems

SCMZone Network supports three payment systems - Paypal, Moneybookers and direct Bank Transfers (in INR). The two main online payment systems supported on our website are PayPal and Moneybookers. PayPal is the most commonly used online payment system and most of our users opt to pay via PayPal over the other programs. Moneybookers is a good alternative, but it is less commonly used. Both are fairly simple to use and considered as most trusted online payment gateways. You can safely add funds to you account through credit card or bank account. When you want to send money, you can either enter the e-mail address to whom you want to pay or click on the payment link/button on the website and the money will be sent instantly after you confirm. Our website integrates both of these Payment Gateways for your convenience. So, you can purchase the online practice tests as per your own choice.

PayPal - Secured payment processor with low fees. It is one of the most popular online payment gateways. It facilitates money transfer to/from the bank accounts in US and other countries. Free to sign-up if you do not have a Paypal address. You can send money from 190 countries and regions worldwide. PayPal currently supports 23 local currencies.

MoneyBookers - Low fees and international service. Recommended by experts as being more user friendly. You have the option to transfer money to your bank account directly from your Moneybookers account. It is also free to sign-up a new account. Supports over 30 local currencies which is more than most of the other payment gateways. It has over 9.8 million users worldwide and the number is growing.

Managing your skills: ...how do certifications help?

Skills are one of the most valuable assets of a person in today's knowledge economy, eg. programming skills of a software professional, managerial skills of a corporate leader, specialized skills of a doctor, etc. One of the most difficult things, besides acquiring the much sought after skills, is to effectively manage and market those skills. What I mean is that once you have mastered a skill through relentless hardwork, perseverance and effort then you must work hard to manage that skill effectively. The worst thing would be to loose that skill over a period of time.

Many a times, we forget what we actually learnt in our school. Similarly, some skill that we had picked up in the early years of our career gets lost in oblivion, simply because we never thought of refreshing that knowledge at a later stage. Certification exams help us in revisiting those concepts which are fundamental for that particular skill. With internet and online resources, preparing for certification exams has become quite easy. There are a number of websites which help professionals in their preparations for certification exam by offering practice tests, mock exams and other resources. Some of the popular sites like www.skill-guru.com offer mock tests on Java, EJB, Oracle, Groovy, etc. besides a number of other subjects while there are other sites like www.scmzone.org which focus only on specialized subjects such as Supply Chain Management. Whatever be your skillset, you need to find the right source to prepare for the certification exam of your interest. That will go a long way in helping you to manage your skills effectively and get ahead in your career.

Get certified to get hired during recession

Recession has changed many things around us, particularly the way people used to look at things. More so, if you are on a job hunting mission. Getting a job is really difficult nowadays unless you are well qualified, experienced and lucky, all things combined together. If you are short on one of these factors, chances of getting your dream job may elude you till the monster of recession goes away. Although now people are saying that the worst is over, but no one really knows what lies ahead. Recruiters, these days, have become more cautious about hiring. While shortlisting the right candidate, they are not only looking at the formal educational background and work experience but also giving more weightage other factors. These factors may include skills or knowledge acquired after graduating out of the college. Probably that is the major reason why professional certifications are gaining more and more importance nowadays. A survey by the ITAA indicates that in recent times, employers value certifications as the third most important criteria while selecting an applicant. The other two criteria are obviously relevant work experience and educational qualifications. Almost a third of survey respondents reported that they considered certifications important: 39 percent of IT firms and 32 percent of non-IT firms.

According to one of the leading websites providing online certification practice tests on supply chain management, this trend has resulted in increased demand for online preparation related to popular certification exams in non-IT areas as well. Earlier the demand was more tilted towards the widely popular IT certifications such as SAP certification, Java certification, CCNA, MCSE, etc. These days even non-IT professionals such as those working in manufacturing and core-industries opt for getting certified in their key areas of expertise. Supply Chain Management is an important aspect for all industries – manufacturing, services or government organizations. SCMZone Network’s website www.scmzone.8m.com focuses on certification practice in non-IT core areas like Inventory Control, Materials Management, logistics, supply chain management, etc. and basically offers different versions of practice tests through the online platform. It, however, also includes some IT-related practice tests on SAP and Java. Since the users are free to take the tests anytime and from anywhere, it has become quite popular, especially among the test takers, whether they are preparing for APICS Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP) exam, CPIM or SAP certification. As readers might be aware, CSCP is a much sought after certification among Supply Chain professionals and is highly rated in the industry. Similarly, apart from the IT certifications, there are other exams like PMP, Six Sigma, etc which are being preferred by many non-IT professionals these days.

This increased interest and focus of recruiters on certifications in non-IT certification exams these days has opened floodgates for online service providers like SCMZone Network. More and more professionals who are working in core and non-core industries such as manufacturing, retail, logistics, service, engineering, etc. are visiting these websites to gather information about these certification exams. Thus, the new mantra to get hired during recession is to get certified.

Online Practice Tests at www.scmzone.8m.com

↑ Grab this Headline Animator

Please visit http://www.scmzone.org/ for Online Practice Tests on SCM & SAP.

How it all started....

It all started way back when I decided to start preparing for my APICS certification exam. After a lot of web search, what I realised was that the cost of preparation and study material itself was so high that it was nearly impossible for a person like me to take the exam. As a SCM professional myself, I was looking for some economical means to prepare for the certification exams. As you maybe aware, APICS offers online modules but it is priced exhorbitantly high and not everyone can afford it, especially junior level SCM professionals. So I thought that getting this SCMZone test module developed would be a good idea so that people get an cheaper alternative to self assess their level of preparation before taking the actual exam. So I started this SCMZone Network. SCMZone invites all professionals and everyone else interested in Supply Chain to try out the online tests at website http://scmzone.8m.com . In addition to the FREE test, there are a couple of paid tests. The pricing is fixed at very low just to cover the costs and to ensure that only genuine people use it. That also helps me to keep a check on bandwidth usage. The main motive behind introducing online Practice tests at www.scmzone.8m.com is not exactly commercial. I would appreciate your support and feedback. So, what actually started out as a search for an effective and inexpensive solution for preparation turned into a small venture.

Thanks for your support!

http://www.scmzone.8m.com/