Certifications have been around a long time, but they've really seen an uptick in recent years. If you are considering a certification, it's easy to feel overwhelmed trying to decide which to pursue. While I can't tell you which certification you need, I can share my journey with certifications. I hope it will help you as you navigate the road ahead of you.

Why pursue a certification

As education evolves, certifications have found a home in the new ecosystem. They tend to be more accessible than a college degree regarding both time and money, more on that in a minute. They are also more accessible because they usually don't have entrance criteria or educational prerequisites, unlike a degree.

Certifications provide value by delivering the following

1. Focused content
2. Practical application
3. Endorsement

As education evolves, certifications have found a home in the new ecosystem. They tend to be accessible than a college degree regarding both time and money

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Focused content

While some certifications can be very extensive, they are still focused on specific topics. Certificates offer you a targeted approach when considering professional development and career growth. They allow you to upskill where you may have gaps.

Practical application

By taking a focused approach, certifications get to the practical application quickly. Concepts and models are still taught, but in my experience, they are always in the context of how to apply the idea. Many certifications programs include hands-on projects that allow you to learn by doing.

Endorsement

If you're looking for a new job or making a career change, a certification can help close a gap, perceived or actual, in your past experience or education. The school or organization providing the certification is essentially saying on your behalf, "they have what it takes to do this."  You demonstrate you're willing to put in the work and effort by completing a certification. You show a level of competency in the content. Those projects you completed also allow you to demonstrate what you've learned and can now do. They're great for building your portfolio.

Comparing your options

Certifications now come in so many shapes and sizes. They can range from a day all the way up to a year. They can go from free to over $10k. On the whole, I've experienced you get what you pay for. That doesn't mean the free options offer less value. You're just usually paying with your time rather than your money.

Clarity about your priorities will clarify how to balance the trade-offs for the different certifications.

Questions to help you evaluate:

1. How much does it cost?
2. How long will it take? If it's a long-term program, how much time per week?
3. Is the content scheduled or on-demand?
4. Will you be able to interact with the instructors?
5. Does the entity providing the training have credibility in the industry?
6. How does this certification help you meet your goals?

As that last question suggests, it really comes down to your goals and priorities. What outcome are you trying to achieve? And what role does a certification play in that outcome? Clarity about your priorities will clarify how to balance the trade-offs for the different certifications.

You demonstrate you're willing to put in the work and effort by completing a certification.

Some certifications programs are almost as involved as an apprenticeship. Others border on selling you keywords for your resume. If you understand what you're trying to achieve by pursuing a certification, you will be able to navigate where along this spectrum is most helpful to you.

Getting started

Even when you know your priorities and have researched certification options, deciding to take the next step can still be intimidating. Here are a few steps you can take to get started.

Read reviews

When exploring something new, it's always helpful to learn from those ahead of you in the journey. Reading reviews is one way to hear about others' experiences. Two cautions I would give you:

1. If you're reading reviews on the website of those providing the certification, remember those are curated. They're not going to put a negative review on there.
2. Many programs reward participants for posting 5-star reviews via discounts or increased grades. This is why I would suggest even taking reviews on a third-party site with a grain of salt.

Some certifications programs are almost as involved as an apprenticeship. Others border on selling you keywords for your resume.

Reviews are still worth reading because they are usually easy to find, and they at least allow you to see what the provider of the certificate thinks is great about it. I treat them more like marketing copy. If you want more, you're going to need to talk to real people.

Talk to people

If you really want to know about the value of a certification, talking to others can go a long way. This may seem intimidating, but a few messages on LinkedIn can go a long way. There are two groups of people you want to talk to:

1. People who have the certification.
2. People in the industry.

Go to LinkedIn and search for the certification you're considering. Click on "People" to filter your results. If you were interested in becoming a Certified Scrum Master or CSM, your search results would return over 100,000 people! Let's narrow that down a little.

Use the search filters to focus your results further. You can filter by "Connections" to only see people you already know. You could filter by "Current Company" if you have a place you'd like to work and want to see how applicable the certification is to work there.

You can also use LinkedIn to find people in the industry or jobs where you want to apply the certification. Look for people in a role you want or work at a company you are interested in. If there is a specific job you think you need a certification for, reach out to a hiring manager over that kind of job and just ask.

Once you've found who you want to connect with, send a brief message to ask for an informational interview. Here is a script you could use or adapt.

Hey ____
I saw you have the _____ (whatever certification you want to discuss). I've been thinking about pursuing it too and would love to learn from your experience. Would you be up for a brief 30-minute interview on _____ (date and time)?

Start small

When I first considered various agile certifications, I started with the PSM. It's quite a bit cheaper, and plenty of free online resources are available. This allowed me to test the knowledge and experience I already had and consider pursuing it further. I enjoyed formalizing what I already knew and expanding my understanding. Since then, I've earned three other agile certifications.

You can also look into non-certification courses to get your feet wet. My go-to platforms for this kind of learning include:

• LinkedIn Learning
• Skillshare
• Coursera
• YouTube

You can also find a lot of long-form guides and tutorials online. Check out my future guides to see if any of them pique your interest.

My certification experience

I love to learn; it's in my top 5 strengths. This has led me to explore several certifications in recent years. Here is a brief overview of what I've tried. If you have any questions about one of them, definitely reach out.

Certifications I've earned.

Agile / Project Management

• PMP - Project Management Professional
• PSM - Professional Scrum Master
• CSM - Certified Scrum Master
• CSPO - Certified Scrum Product Owner
• PMI-ACP - PMI Agile Certified Practitioner

Marketing

• Inbound Marketing
• Content Marketing
• Email Marketing

Design Thinking

• Google UX Design Certificate
• Design Sprint Master

Other

• Predictive Index

Certifications I've considered.

These are certifications I've researched in the past and really liked. For some it was cost, some it was timing, and others I wasn't confident it matched my goals and priorities.

• Product School
• Career Foundry
• IDEO Foundations in Design Thinking
• Design Sprint Masterclass
• MBTI
• CliftonStrengths
• Other Agile Certs from Scrum.org

Certifications I'm looking at for the future.

These are some areas I plan to explore in the next year.

• UserTesting
• A-CSPO - Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner
• Google Analytics
• Google Marketing

This is just a tiny sample of the many certification options out there. If you want to know more about my experience or why I chose one over another, shoot me a message on LinkedIn.

Next steps

We covered a lot in the post. I hope it's helpful as you navigate through all the options. If you're still feeling a little stuck, here are some next steps.

1. Talk to someone. Find someone from who you could learn and reach out on LinkedIn.
2. Try something small and free. Try googling "free version of _____(the certification you're interested in)" and see what you find. You can also check out my current and upcoming projects to see if any are helpful.

As a bonus next step, I'm currently offering a handful of free coaching appointments each month. If you want help identifying your next steps, you can sign up for one.

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