What do you do when you receive thousands of applications representing wildly different qualifications and experiences, each expecting an interview call?
To tell the wheat from the chaff, employers establish certain criteria, say experience level and education, among others. Certifications amongst those are increasingly gaining ground as employers’ desired qualifications for HR profession.
According to HR Certification Institute’s (HRCI) survey on the Value of certifications, one of every second hiring manager prefers certified candidates. Unemployment rates, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), are more than double for people without any certifications or licenses when compared to those with certification or license.
Earning an HR Certification in USA is not a must, but it will certainly give you an added advantage over others. The reasoning being the disposition of employers towards certified HR professionals and prospects of better career advancement when validated with a best HR certification.
Here we explore prime reasons why certified HR professionals are more in demand.
Certified Candidates inspire Credibility
Top managers, regardless of their profession and whether they themselves have any certification, typically consider HR certified professionals in USA over others when making hiring decisions, shows HRCI stats.
Dwyer, Fertig & Lester’s study (2011) depicts, as much as 90% of the organizational leaders perceive HR certification to be beneficial for their HR professionals. This number is particularly impressive as 61% of those surveyed didn’t possess a certification of any kind, and a mere 23% had HR specific certification, which eliminates any possibility of biases.
HR certification in USA is considered to inspire greater trust and confidence in hirers, create credibility and give organizations a competitive edge in the market.
Court Higher-level Positions
HR professionals at a higher level are more likely to have an HR certificate than lower levels, according to Payscale survey. While about 13% of HR administrators (at the lowest level in the pyramid) had at least one credential, as many as 35% of HR managers were certified and 51% of Vice-President HRs had an HR certification.
Magnetic powers of an HR certification in USA are exponential in courting higher-level positions. A certification positively influences one’s chances of gaining promotion at any job level.
Fit for the Global Market
The profession of HR is highly people-centered which makes it challenging for the employers to gauge one with college degrees and experience alone, since, all vary in quality with location, market-reputation, and other factors. Globally recognized best HR certifications create objective standards for this subjective profession on which professionals are evaluated.
In this manner, HR certifications also immune the integrity of existing degrees in the global marketplace.
Never Become Redundant
Certified professionals showcase a tendency to establish themselves as strategic planners. Business leaders find certified HR professionals to be better motivated and potent to create a positive impact on the organizations’ financial performance.
Due to these, holders of best HR certification are seen as high-level planners who can consult with top executives to chart strategic direction and shape key policies.
This perception insulates the certified HR pros from layoffs by integrating them strategically to company’s success.
Get Higher Pay
For management occupations, median weekly earning of full-time workers holding a certification is about $300 more than those without any certification or license, which translates to additional compensation of $1200 every month (BLS, 2018). Surprisingly enough, the Return on Investment on certifications is even greater than that of licenses in the management profession; licensed management pros get about $177 higher every week than non-licensed or certified pros. HR certifications in USA give quite a boost in the pay to HR professionals.
This should be noted that certifications alone will not translate into better-paying jobs, same as with college degrees; but they act as an additional mark of competence which leads to higher pay.
Sunnyvale in Santa Clara, California pays the highest premiums to professionals with HR certification in USA compared to the other five metro areas (Payscale Survey Report: Impact of HR certifications on pay and career trajectory).
Some of the Best HR Certifications in USA
Data from varied sources suggest that an HR certification will boost your effectiveness in the job market. Some of the juggernauts with most clout in providing HR certification in USA include HR Certification Institute (HRCI) which offers PHR and SPHR; Talent Management Institute (TMI) offering TMP and STMP HR certifications; Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) extending SHRM-CP and SHRM-SCP and Association for Talent Development (ATD) offering CPLP.