What Makes a Good Certification?

Three Green Flags to Look for in Certifications

Let’s be honest: the certification market could benefit from some improvement. As soon as schools opened up to the possibility of providing their students with certification opportunities, it seemed that companies hopped in to provide their own options, not always focusing on quality options! Now, schools and their staff must wade through a substantial collection of exams and certificates to find meaningful certifications for their students.

But how can schools differentiate between a good and a bad certification? Below we outline three key traits to look for to find valuable certifications for students:

Green Flag #1: Relevance

The first trait to look for is relevance. The certification must be one that matches the skills that are in demand right now. To determine what skills and concepts are relevant, it’s important that someone who understands the industry is either part of the decision-making process or available for consultation.

There are many certifications in the technology and computer science fields that appear relevant to the untrained eye. But some certifications may be misleading. Among the certifications in use today, many available options that were relevant 15 years ago have…