The Value of a Professional Certificate

When working professionals want to advance their careers, or even make a career change, one of the most advantageous paths is to obtain a professional certificate or certification in their target industry or trade. At colleges and universities nationwide, professionals seeking to enhance their education for more and better career opportunities can pursue certificates in fields as diverse as networking, security, maintenance, and computer programming, hospitality and restaurant management, and paralegal studies among others¹. This demonstrates that certification is becoming an increasingly popular option for those who wish to advance their education and skills and make greater inroads toward a more lucrative career.

Notably, today’s employers are placing a higher premium on job experience and continual improvement of workplace skills than ever before; according to Maureen Crawford Hentz, talent management director for Massachusetts-based A.W. Chesterton Co., “Certificates and industry certifications also show employers that a candidate is continuously improving their skills” in order to stand out in the highly competitive workforce of the twenty-first century¹.

Although certificate programs have historically been the domain of community colleges and for-profit institutions, a host of traditional four-year colleges and universities have been rapidly growing certificate program offerings to attract those professionals interested in bolstering their résumés when they do not have “the time, money, or inclination to pursue a master’s degree”². This demonstrates that certificate programs are certainly a viable option for today’s working professionals who wish to advance their careers or shift gears in order to pursue a new and different career.

Acknowledging the value of certificate programs for professionals and businesses, Ramapo College offers seventeen distinctive certificate/certification programs through the Center for Innovative and Professional Learning (CIPL). Certificates are offered in a broad array of subjects such as hospitality and restaurant management, retail management, general management, web development, business essentials, and paralegal. Certification programs which require students to complete the requirements of an external authority such as the Yoga Alliance or the Project Management Institute, to name a few, include the Middle School Teacher Certification, Hypnosis Certification, Yoga Teacher Certification, Children’s Yoga Teacher Certification, and the popular Project Management Certification offered on the Mahwah campus and also in Lyndhurst, New Jersey. The Business Skills Certificate is also quite popular, as it allows professionals in non-business-related fields to learn the fundamental concepts in management, marketing, finance, and accounting, knowledge that provides a competitive edge in today’s increasingly multidisciplinary workforce. Successful graduates of CIPL’s programs are prepared for success with their newly acquired knowledge and skills.

To learn more about Ramapo’s certificate/certification programs, visit https://www.ramapo.edu/certificates/.

¹Source: U.S. News and World Report – “Short-Term Certificates May Offer Alternative to Graduate School” by Kelsey Sheehy. Retrieved from http://www.usnews.com/education/community-college/articles/2015/03/18/short-term-certificates-may-offer-alternatives-to-graduate-school.

²Source: The New York Times – “The Newest College Credential” by Motoko Rich. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/education/edlife/09-certificate-t.

Categories: CIPL