Certification
What is Certification?
In today's world, where competition is a fact of life and the need for a work force knowledgeable in principles and practices is a central concern for many companies, certification is a mark of excellence. It is formal recognition by an institution that an individual has demonstrated proficiency within and comprehension of a specified body of knowledge at a point in time. Passing an exam simply validates a baseline of knowledge. Maintaining your certification year after year demonstrates your lifelong commitment to the profession.
What Certification is Not
- proof of competency
- guarantee of performance
- claim of expertise
- a certificate
Why Become Certified?
For the employee:
- Professional commitment
- Career distinction
- Continuing education
- Resume enhancer
For the employer:
- Proof of employee's knowledge
- Competitive market advantage
- Validation of training investment
- Additional hiring benchmark
What are Some of the Organizations that Certify?
Why Choose QAI?
QAI has a very relevant and comprehensive Body of Knowledge (BOK) for their certification program. The QAI certification that is most applicable to the software testing profession is the Certified Software Tester (CSTE): http://www.softwarecertifications.com/qai_cste.htm
How Do I Become a CSTE?
- Education and/or experience: no degree & 6 years; 2 year degree & 2 years; or 4 year degree & 0 years
- Work ethic/character reference letter
- Examination: 4 part, 4 hour exam
The exam fee is $250. If you're accepted and pass the exam, you're certified for three (3) years. To keep your certification, you need to accumulate forty (40) Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credits every year.
Why Choose ASQ?
ASQ is the most recognized in the industry and has certified 85,000+ professionals during the last 30+ years with 10+ different certifications. The ASQ certification that is most applicable to the SQA profession is the Certified Software Quality Engineer (CSQE): http://www.asq.org/certification/software-quality-engineer/index.html
How Do I Become a CSQE?
- Education and/or experience: 8 years (1-5 years waiver permissible)
- Proof of professionalism: membership or two (2) signatures
- Examination: 4-hour, 160 question exam
The exam fee is $285 for non-ASQ members, $180 for ASQ members. If you're accepted and pass the exam, you're certified for three (3) years. To keep your certification, you need to accumulate eighteen (18) Recertification Units (RUs) every 3 years.
Why Choose IEEE?
With IEEE's new entry in the certification program market, their overall software certification is raising the bar and is one to watch. The IEEE certification that is most applicable to the software engineering profession is the Certified Software Development Professional (CSDP): http://computer.org/certification
How Do I Become a CSDP?
- Education: Baccalaureate or equivalent university degree
- Experience: 4 1/2 years
- Examination: 3.5 hour, 180 question exam
The exam fee is $400 for IEEE members, $500 for non-IEEE members. If you're accepted and pass the exam, you're certified for three (3) years. To keep your certification, you need to accumulate 30 Professional Development Units (PDUs) every 3 years.
How Can I Decide if Certification is For Me?
- Do some career planning. List your career objective and goals and create a roadmap for your future.
- Begin your journey. Research each of the different vendors and their corresponding certification programs, network and correspond with other professionals, and decide if certification complements your career goals.
- Select one (1) certification to focus on. Start preparing early. Decide if you'll benefit from a preparation course. If so, register early. Resolve to pass the exam the first time. Afterwards, you may decide to pursue other certifications.
- 4. Don't forget about recertification. Carefully review the recertification requirements and determine if you'll be able to maintain your certification.
NEW Computer-Based Training (CBT)
We've produced a CD-ROM set of our training materials for each of our certification exam review courses. These consist of the PowerPoint slides that we present to students during classtime. The CBT are Macromedia Flash movie files that you playback on your Windows PC using a browser. The PowerPoint slides are automatically shown in sequence with our audio commentary. You now can learn anywhere and at anytime! For more information, contact us at RapidSQA today.
FREE Certification CD-ROM
Only a few copies of our RapidSQA Certification CD-ROM are available! All the information you need about the ASQ, IEEE, IIST, ISTQB, and QAI certification programs for software quality and test professionals on one CD! Contact us today to receive your FREE copy (while supplies last)!
Visit our Events/Courses page to find out when the next exam refresher courses will be held.
We also conduct private, onsite courses at your company. Contact us for more information.
Email Us.
RapidSQA
40 Woodbine Street
Chelmsford, MA 01824 USA
+1 877 749 4586
info@rapidsqa.com
http://www.rapidsqa.com
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