Why you should upgrade your skills - 6 reasons

A globally-recognized certification for your practice area offers a number of benefits:

Become a global professional: Organizations around the world have realized the importance of filling their skills gap in order to have an edge over competitors, boost revenue, increase customer satisfaction and accelerate the development of new products and services. In such a scenario, as the demand for skilled professionals becomes more acute, certification holders have an edge. For instance, Project Management Professional (PMP) credential holders have the opportunity to earn more than $100,000 in the US, UAE, UK and Australia.

Stand out from the crowd: For hiring managers who are inundated by applications for coveted jobs, a professional certification on a resume can help them select the cream of the crop for a particular role. In fact, according to the ManpowerGroup’s ‘2013 Talent Shortage Survey’, 34 per cent of hiring managers globally have cited a lack of technical competencies (or hard skills) required for a particular role as the chief factor contributing to talent shortage. A globally-recognized certification attests to your knowledge and skills in the practice area and can give you an advantage over uncertified candidates for the job.

Compete in a global economy: Certification training and skill upgradation bring you up-to-speed with the latest knowledge in your practice area from a global perspective. With this education, you can benchmark yourself as someone who can apply best practice methodologies to any work scenario and drive mission-critical projects to a successful conclusion anywhere in the world.

Improve productivity and enhance business performance: By updating you on best practices in your domain and introducing you to a common terminology and methodology for effective teamwork and collaboration, certification training can enable you to enhance your performance at the workplace.

Step up the corporate ladder: At senior level roles within organizations, holistic understanding of the practice area and domain expertise are expected. As you achieve higher-level certifications and apply that knowledge and skills in your practice area to deliver results to your organization, you will be recognized for your specialization in the stream and will be able to move into leadership roles.

Keep one step ahead of technologies: For professionals in the IT sector, the demand for skills evolves on a continual basis. For instance, the public cloud market is expected to become a $191 billion industry by 2020 and cloud computing certified professionals have a huge potential for career growth. With the advancement of this practice, along with others such as e-commerce, m-commerce, business intelligence, Big Data and analytics, the requirement for qualified specialists in these domains and their associated technologies will also increase. Accredited certifications in the technologies of tomorrow will boost the scope of your career in a dynamic job market.

In conclusion, training and skill upgradation offers immense benefits to professionals across job roles, industries and geographies. Selecting the right governing body and authorized training organization for certification training is an important decision to be taken in this process.