The Importance of Certifications on your CV. When applying for a job, it is crucial to have the certifications that the employer is looking for since, very often, the reason for rejections is the lack of certifications to match your desired career choice. The employer often lists these as non-negotiable and without them your CV will be overlooked and you will not be considered for the position. A 2013 Microsoft Certified Professional study found that 91% of all IT managers consider IT certifications to be effective yardsticks to judge a candidate’s worth and demand these on CVs.
When starting your career, it is important to understand the recruitment process. Ensuring that you have the right certifications on your CV is crucial to make it through this HR sift.
The Recruitment Process
Employers will go through the following five steps before an interview when recruiting – ensuring that they know which candidate is going to be best suited to the post.
What is the job?
The employer will begin by gathering information about the nature of available the position. Looking at the duties the employee will be expected to perform, the purpose of the role and the skills and attributes needed to succeed within this position. This will lead directly onto the next stage in the process of recruitment.
Job Profile
From this point on, certifications become increasingly important. Here, employers are deciding on the most important skills, certifications and personal traits relevant to the position. Employers will require job-specific qualifications as proof of your knowledge and skills. This criterion will shortlist their applicants and those that don’t meet this expectation will be phased out.
Finding Candidates
Depending on whether you are an existing employee or being recruited externally, employers will perform this in two different ways:
Internal Recruiting: When recruiting internally, staff referrals, job shares and those employees looking for career progression will be considered.
External Recruiting: Companies will use various procedures to find the best candidates including networking and open days, online recruitment and press advertising when recruiting externally.
Managing the Application Process
This can be done using two methods. Some companies choose to use application forms where they can manipulate the form to provide them with only the information that they are need. Others make use of CVs where potential candidates are able to list all of their abilities.
Shortlisting Candidates
At this stage, examining the job profile and the required skills, certifications and personal attributes get put into place. When dealing with electronic job applicants, employers will use a search engine method to find the qualifications and skills that are needed. Most CVs that do not have these listed will not make it through this process. This is why having the right certifications is invaluable.
Following this, the candidates will be shortlisted again, sifting through the remaining CVs and leaving themselves with the candidates they would like to get in touch with. After contacting these potential employees, the list will be shortened again and the remaining candidates will be invited for an interview.
This is where you will need to show your knowledge through your certifications along with your personal attributes and how they will be beneficial to the organisation.
It is easy to see why your CV could be disregarded if you lack the proper certifications. Managers cannot afford to hire an employee who isn’t able to contribute to the company immediately.
Certified positions often secure a higher starting salary. As Robyn Tellefsen stated: “Don’t underestimate the role of certification in the hiring process. If employers are relying on professional certifications to aid them in their hiring decisions, give ’em what they want (and score a sweet salary in the process!)”.
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