If you are finishing up your MBA in marketing, you may be wondering whether you will need any special certification to work in the field. There are two schools of thought regarding certifications to work in marketing. Many people do quite well in marketing without them. However, many marketing professionals do take the time and effort to obtain marketing-specific certifications as a way to enhance their resume and to build additional trust among clients. In this article, we will analyze what types of certifications are available, the potential benefits of obtaining them, and the overall need for these certifications.
Types Of Certifications
There are many professional certifications available for marketing, many of them industry-specific. Here are just a few of them.
Certified Financial Marketing Professional: This American Bankers Association-sponsored certification is specific to the banking and finance industry, and is intended to demonstrate proficiency and ethical adherence to professional standards and applicable laws. With this certification, a broad range of topics is covered including US law, financial principles and marketing principles. This certification requires 35 Continuing Education (CE) credits every three years to maintain currency.
Certified Internet Marketer: This certification is sponsored by the Internet Marketing Association to assure a minimum baseline competency in the ever-changing world of Internet marketing. The course covers topics such as search engine optimization (SEO), client retention and online analytics.
Certified Marketing Executive: This certification is designed specifically for midlevel and upper management in the marketing field, such as marketing managers and chief marketing executives. This course focuses on strategic marketing, global marketing, marketing management and ethics.
Additional Resource: What is a Marketing Manager?
Certified Marketing Professional: Sponsored by the Direct Marketing Association, the DCMA certification program is intended as a broad-based direct marketing certification program which covers element of print, mail and digital marketing.
Benefits and Drawbacks of Certification
Certifications fall into three general types: experiential, education-based, and test-based. Experiential certifications require a minimum amount of experience in a field before you are permitted to apply. Education-based certifications offer classroom education prior to certification. Test-based certifications are frequently considered to be the least valuable, and they also tend to be the least expensive.
To determine if a certification is going to confer any advantages for career advancement, professional networking sites such as LinkedIn are ideal. You can learn fairly quickly if a certification has value and if so, use that value to negotiate for a better position or more income. Study job openings for your ideal position to see what employers are looking for. Many of them prefer experience to book knowledge. Some employers have specific preferences regarding what kinds of certification their employees carry.
The biggest benefit of certification is the ethical and continuing education consideration that accompanies it. A certification indicates you take your professional development seriously enough to seek out new information and conform to the ethical standards of the certifying organization. This by itself might be worth the money, but mileage will vary by job description, employer and other factors.
Conclusion
The short answer to the question, “Will I need any special certifications to work in marketing?” is, “It depends.” While such certifications are generally not required, some employers will specify that you have them. In addition you can reap definite benefits from your certification in terms of increased employer and client confidence. However, before taking a certification program you should research it with others who have taken it and your employer to ensure you are receiving the maximum return on your investment.
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