The Benefits of Certification

The Canadian Council for Career Development (3CD) has identified the following benefits of certification for career development professionals::

Benefits of Certification for Individual CDPs

• Certification confirms your mastery of critical professional competencies and recognizes your professional development and growth.
• Certification demonstrates to your clients, competitors, suppliers, peers, employers, and funders that you use industry-respected best practices.
• Certification can improve your overall performance, remove uncertainty, and widen market opportunities.
• The process of achieving and maintaining certification demonstrates that you are continually improving and refining your practice.
• Certification could enhance your career/promotion opportunities and/or your income.
• Certification can increase your recognition by peers, employers and recruiters/funders.  It can set you apart from the competition and help you gain a competitive edge professionally.
• Certification establishes you as an expert and innovator in your field.

 Benefits of Certification for the Career Development Field

• Certification raises the bar for our field, demonstrating to our employers/funders, policy makers, and the public that our work is grounded in professional excellence.
• Certification operationalizes the competency standards and ethical guidelines that were established through the Canadian Standards & Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners (S&Gs), defines our scope of practice, and supports quality service delivery.

Benefits of Certification for Employers of CDPs and Funders

• Certification can differentiate between hiring candidates. Beyond considering an individual’s experience, you can assess their knowledge and interest in professional growth and development.
• Certification helps you to identify those who have the desire to excel professionally.
• Certification is a tool to help you in targeting your staff training and professional development.
• Certification helps you to demonstrate to funders and other stakeholders that your business is run professionally.
• The application and renewal process of certification will improve staff responsibility, commitment, and motivation.
• Top-performing companies understand that properly training employees leads to direct, measurable, bottom-line benefits.

Benefits of Certification for the Public

• Certification gives the public the opportunity to make informed choices about the services and service providers they select based on the knowledge, training, and credentials of CDPs.
• Certified CDPs set a standard for excellence in the field.