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Social Media Certifications Seek To Legitimize the Profession

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As a proud member of the social media industry, I often feel that, to borrow a phrase, ‘I don’t get no respect.’

My social media brethren often feel the same.  Many of us came from corporate communications or PR roles, where we didn’t necessarily need a certain degree or professional designation in order to get or keep a job.  As social has proliferated across industries and companies large and small — and with it the ability to start a Facebook Page or Twitterfeed for free — everyone suddenly could become a social media ‘expert.’

But that’s all about to change.

Several organizations, companies, and groups have begun in earnest to create professional designations and certification programs.  These allow social media practitioners to have the bragging rights and ownership of a cert to call their own (‘Take that, MCSD’s and MCSE’s!”), and companies could be sure that they are getting an experienced, fully vetted professional to add to their staff or hire as a consultant.

Below, a review of a few of such programs, present and future.

Social Media Security Professional

http://certification.comptia.org/getCertified/certifications/smsp.aspx

This is a new certification offered by IT training and credentialing giant CompTIA.  It is not yet fully live, and is being administered by a partner organization, Ultimate Knowledge Institute (UKI).  Via Twitter, UKI informed me that the program will be available soon.

 

I like the fact that CompTIA has elected to explore a social media cert.  One of the largest credentialing organizations — over 900,000 IT professionals claim the basic, ‘entry-level’ A+ cert — this group could really make a mark on spreading the concept of social media professionals gaining visibility, credibility, and additional job opportunities via a cert.

HootSuite University

http://learn.hootsuite.com

One of the largest social media marketing and engagement platforms, HootSuite began to offer a social media certification more than two years ago.  As a full disclaimer, I went through the certification process, which included watching on-demand videos and taking multiple quizzes.  (Additionally, one must pay a monthly fee during the certification process and beyond.)

(OK, it needs to be updated, but you get the idea.)
What I like about HootSuite’s certification is that it’s not simply a test of the features of the software platform — after all, things change constantly on all of the social platforms.  There are also discussions of bigger-picture strategies, as well as some useful tips of how to engage properly with all of the major social networks.  A weekly Twitterchat, Tuesday afternoons at 2pmET, via the hashtag #HSUchat, helps spread the word, along with archives on Storify.
However, once certified, I must admit, my phone wasn’t exactly ringing off the hook.  In fact, in close to one year of getting certified, I have yet to receive even a single inquiry for my work as a social media marketer.  (This is not a slight on HootSuite, but rather a lack of awareness of the certification or the need for companies to seek it out.)

Salesforce Marketing Cloud

 

http://www.salesforce.com/marketingcloud

 

Enterprise software powerhouse Salesforce gobbled up social media monitoring provider Radian6 in March 2011, and along with the acquisitions of Jigsaw and Buddy Media, created a stack of services dubbed the MarketingCloud, christened during Dreamforce last year.  While Salesforce has offered several certifications for its basic CRM system products for several years, the company has yet to offer a certification for social media monitoring or its new MarketingCloud suite.
I expect this will change, as the business of offering certifications is quite a business unto itself (classes, study materials, and exams can cost upwards of $3,000).  And of course, as we all learned from Microsoft’s strategy from the 1980s, the certification is portable, recognizable, and ensures that a recommendation will be made by a certified professional at a future workplace or consulting site.
If anyone has sought a certification in the social media space, and you’d like to share your experiences, please contact me — I’d love to hear from you.

 

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