Top 5 Ways Certifications Advance Your Career

There are many intentions you may want to pursue professional certification. Perhaps you feel stagnant in your current role, want to deepen your skill set, or are planning a complete career change. No matter your motivation, professional certification can help you reach your goals.

It's only human to wonder, "what's next?" when it comes to professional advancement and increased earning potential. However, this raises the question of how much you can advance professionally by earning a certification. At skillograph, we help answer this question and others you may have as we break down the greatest benefits to your career.

If you are already sold on the benefits of certifications, read our top 5 recommended ways to achieve your certification goal. Certification can help you land a promotion, salary raise, or new job, and we want to make sure you have all the tools and information you need to succeed.

#1. Increased salary

An increase in pay from a certification can be realised in many ways. The first is that it provides you with a stronger case to request higher pay during salary negotiations or your job performance reviews. Not to mention it is a point of differentiation from your colleagues.

Another way is that some employers increase your wages simply for receiving training or earning a certification in a competency. This could happen, for example, if an employer requires all employees to be certified in order to work in a certain area or handle certain tasks and you are already certified. In this instance, being certified gives you an edge over other employees who are not certified and may result in a pay increase.

#2. Promotions, development, and the onset of challenges

Certification can often be the deciding factor when pitted against your peers for promotion. If you have the same responsibilities and are just as qualified as a peer for a promotion, having a certification can give you the extra push needed to demonstrate your initiative and commitment to higher learning.

People usually take notice of an individual's abilities and the yearning to better themselves over time. As a result, it's more likely that you would urge the people you manage to do the same and strive to improve.

#3. New Job Opportunities

Even if you're not job hunting right now, it's still a good idea to think about which certifications will make you the most marketable to potential employers. The job market is constantly changing and those with the most up-to-date skills and experience are the ones who will get hired. Showing that you can help a company stay current with the latest market trends is something that will impress hiring managers and help you stand out from other candidates.

Indeed, Glassdoor, and LinkedIn Jobs are excellent job posting sites that can help you find open positions in your area of expertise. You can also use these sites to research the demand for certain certifications in your industry. This will give you a better idea of which certifications will help you get the job you want.

#4. Subject Matter Knowledge is enhanced to the next level

Everyone can benefit from learning new things, especially if those things happen to be interesting or related to our goals. However, it can be difficult for some to maintain focus on a topic long enough to understand it fully. This often means that the information isn't retained or used in practice, and the skill is lost as a result.

At a certain age, it can become more difficult to manage multiple responsibilities simultaneously as our list of priorities begins to grow longer. For some of us, we may also have others who rely on us - like family or friends. So it becomes a greater challenge to juggle everything and still dedicate quality time to the people and things that matter most.

#5. Increase in Education Credits

Many credentials have multiple levels, and the order of certifications is important because it defines the best learning path. This also helps confirm your desire to reach higher levels of subject matter expertise. Even more importantly, however, is that this helps to ensure you invest time and money in the direction you want to continue growing.

Most of the time, you won't need to achieve the highest level of certification to boost your career. You'll need to evaluate the costs and advantages to see if it's worth it in the long run.

Conclusion

Certification can have a hugely positive impact on your life, opening up new job opportunities and increasing your earning potential. With such a wide range of certifications available, it's important to do your research and consider taking training courses to build up your knowledge in the subject area.

Getting a certification can be a great way to get a leg up on your fellow job applicants, but it can also be an important part of your professional development. In the modern-day workforce, it’s important to stay on top of the latest technology trends and to continue learning so that you can contribute your best to your company. We hope that you were able to find some valuable information in this article and if you would like to learn more about certifications and how they can benefit you. We are always happy to help you find the best solutions for growing your business.