Gere,

There are many diplomas you can buy for a fee, mostly from “self-proclaimed” leading institutes that have no formal accreditation by recognized associations.

Look for the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) database for programs that are accredited by United States accrediting organizations that have been recognized either by CHEA or by the United States Department of Education (USDE) or both.

http://www.chea.org/search/default.asp

Is your education, don’t buy cheap diplomas. Who do you think an interviewer will give higher valuation when formal education is relevant, for sure is not going to be to a person with a diploma from an unrecognized institution? Be real, Texas is on the USA, the interviewer in case of doubt will play it safe.

Best Regards,
Rafael

As a currently unemployed planner/estimator in the oil industry piping trades, I have been working continuously for the past six years without interuption until the bottom fell out in Texas back in late 2008. Since then, I have found that accredidation is indeed invaluable even if only to get you past the know nothing recruiters I routinely face when applying for openings which for all intents and purposes I am highly qualified to perform according to the job descriptions posted. Unfortunately, I got all of my previuos work thru word of mouth from referrels by folks who had worked with me and knew of my skills at this work. As I was always told that field planners were always in demand because they had the experience behind them to know what was needed to plan a job, I have found it quite demoralizing to now see that most planner openings are really looking for a seasoned P6 scheduler instead. Having worked inside of P3 and Access schedules I find it hard to figure out why I am now deemed unemployable most of the time and not even worthy of a call back or phone inteview. So, in my opinion, the paper trail is needed in today’s documentation first mindset with employers.

Did anyone take part in the industry peer review of the CIOB’s draft Guide to Good Practice in the Management of Time in Complex Construction Projects?

I think the main objective of accreditation is for continuous professional development, such as the PMI, CIOB, ICE, AACE, PEO and alike. It will add value and compliment your experience, not only it will proved your level of competency at a company level but more importantly to the industry.

We live in exponential times, change occurs very fast and we must keep up and adapt with changes in order the profession to prosper. The only way we can keep up is with through accreditation.

Cheers,

Ernesto

The purpose of cert/accr is for the society or institute to ensure members meet their requirements, demonstrating that to be considered a professional member of such a body, they have not only acquired qualifications in a relevant field but have extensive practical application of the methods and processes specific to that profession. And once accepted as a member they must continue their personal development which is usually assessed every three years, failure to do so results in suspension or removal of the members affiliation with the institute. In the case of PMBOK PMP and PSP this is the current situation, you pass the exam but you must then maintain an online log of CPD points, which will be checked every 3 years by PMI for compliance, points are awarded for writing reports and research anaylsis if successfully posted on the online PMI website and attending PMI accredited seminars and workshops. So in conclusion I do disagree that cert/accr is just buttering your profile, top organisation take a dim view of qualified but no experience "software jocks" and I have had the displeasure in working alongside them (read this as carrying them:)

I think the aim of the accreditation should be to do both. I would like to see:
1) A lower-level qualification that guarantees a minimum level of knowledge and expertese, to filter out those who sell themselves as a planner after a 2-day Forgetrak course.
2) one or more higher levels of qualification that is dependent on experience and some form of peer assesment, to guarantee appropriate candiates for senior planner & planning manager roles.

These accreditation, recognition, etc... will benefit the individual with less experience just to boost their cv with the intension of application acceptance. These additional certificate is redundant in the sense that employer are looking for planners with professional background experiences gained from prestigious projects by the highly rated companies. Suffice it to say, that cert/accr is just like buttering up your profile.