Percentage of Members with Recruiting Certification
At Top Echelon, we have always stressed the importance of recruiting certification and continuing education for recruiters. That was the case before I became the Director of Network Operations, it’s true now, and it will be true well into the future.
As such, we encourage Network members to earn an industry certification (or multiple ones). These include the Certified Personnel Consultant (CPC), Certified Temporary Staffing Specialist (CTS), and the Certified Employee Retention Specialist (CERS).
But how many Network recruiters have earned one of these? How many hold more than one of them . . . and how many don’t hold any of them?
To find out this information, we polled the membership by posting the question below:
Do you have a recruiting certification?
Results:
The choice of answers that we provided is listed below, along with the percentage of recruiters who selected each one:
- Yes, I have the CPC — 22.0%
- Yes, I have the CPC and the CTS — 2.7%
- Yes, I have the CPC and the CERS — 2.0%
- Yes, I have the CPC, the CTS, and the CERS — 0.0%
- Yes, I have a certification other than these — 4.7%
- No, I don’t have one. — 68.7%
Summary:
As you can see, approximately one-third of the Membership has a recruiting certification of some kind (or multiple ones), and two-thirds does not. The majority of those who answered in the affirmative own the CPC (22.0%). Another 2.7% possess the “CPC and the CTS,” and 2.0% have the “CPC and the CERS.” (I fall into the latter category, having earned both the CPC and the CERS.)
Another popular answer was “Yes, I have a certification other than these.” So while the ones we have listed here are certainly the most common within the industry, there are other ones available to recruiters.
Analysis and Conclusion:
Of course, having a certification is no guarantee of success in the recruiting industry. Not only that, but there are countless recruiters who don’t have one, but they’re doing just fine for themselves. Without a doubt, the choice to pursue a certification is a personal one. Preference plays a large role, although it seems logical that even if you’re already a great recruiter, going through the certification process would help you to become even better.
What are your thoughts? Do you have a certification? If you don’t have one, do you feel the need to pursue one . . . or are you just fine without it?
We share information on the differences in salary for certified vs non-certified candidates. Is there such data for he CPC, the CTS, and the CERS?
We don’t have those specific numbers, but the National Association of Personnel Services (NAPS) might. Here’s a link to their website with FAQs about certification: http://www.naps360.org/?page=FAQSCertification#.