May 19, 2015

MBA020: The Value of Certifications – Interview with David Mantica

30 minutes

In this episode, David Mantica, President of ASPE-SDLC, shares his views on the value of professional certifications – both to the individual and to the organization.

David Mantica is president of the American Society of Professional Education Inc. (ASPE-SDLC) and has two decades of experience as a business leader in the training industry. David has participated in numerous certification committees and supported the work of certifying bodies including the Scrum Alliance, PMI, IIBA, and others. He speaks at numerous IIBA and PMI chapter meetings, and several conferences and Career Fairs.

After listening to this episode, you will understand:

The value of professional certifications to you and to your organization

The differences between the three major Business Analysis certifications

The benefits of joining a professional organization

What NOT to put on your resume

Next steps if you are interested in earning a certification

Key Takeaways

Certifications can help standardize a position and allows hiring professionals to get a higher level of comfort in hiring someone who can continue to grow in that position. You have a standard way of speaking, doing practices, and a standard skill set.

Employers are looking for master level capabilities. The first step is having a certain level of professional experience – whether through being a subject matter expert in a certain domain or a higher level of education and experience so you can synthesize the information in a complex environment. Once you have that first level of experience, that’s when certifications become more important to take your next steps.

Benefits to you:

A certification provides a level of credibility that a resume can’t give.

People with certifications earn more money even when holding everything else equal because you can quality and quantify your experience.

You get a level of professional recognition and connect with an association to grow and learn.

Benefit to the hiring organization:

The continuing education requirements needed to maintain your certification means that certification holders must continue to learn and grow in their profession.

Common Language: The software development lifecycle is so complex by itself that having a language issue and differences in common terms makes it even more difficult to work. The certification standardizes the language so that professionals can talk the same talk and avoid confusion simply because of different meaning in the same terms.

Hiring: Certifications give hiring companies a confidence level that people have a set level of experience.

Productivity: The hiring organization will also get increased productivity, less rework, and move value out of deliverables because the certification holder brings knowledge and experience.

Your next steps for certification:

Review the requirements for each certification and determine if you meet those requirements.

If you do not meet the requirements, begin tracking your experience so that you will more easily be able to complete the application in the future. You can also join professional associations before you take the exam to get the benefit of learning and growing with others.

If you do meet the requirements, you can begin filling out the application and preparing for the exam.

Links mentioned in this episode

ASPE website: http://www.aspe-sdlc.com/

Acclaim tool: https://www.youracclaim.com/

International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA): http://www.iiba.org/

Project Management Institute (PMI): http://www.pmi.org/

2010 BA Salary Survey

2009 BA Salary Survey

Thank you for listening to the program

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The post MBA020: The Value of Certifications – Interview with David Mantica appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.

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By Dave Saboe, CBAP, PMP, CSM | Certified Business Analysis Professional | Agile Coach

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