The Delicate Balance of Managing Expectations Regarding Certification Examinations
During the AACE International’s Annual Conference and Expo in June 2020, the Certification Board sponsored a virtual session entitled “Ask Me Anything About Certification”. This article builds upon the success of that session and the interaction with individuals interested in our certification program. It also focuses further on one of the many discussion points related to candidate expectations about the certification exams. The intent of the Certification Program is to have highly regarded and accredited professional certifications, while managing the expectations of those candidates seeking to take AACE’s certification exams.
Background
AACE’s Certification Program comprises eight certifications ranging from early to mid-career with the Certified Cost Technician (CCT) and Certified Scheduling Technician (CST), to the professional level for those well-experienced through the Certified Cost Professional (CCP), Certified Estimating Professional (CEP), Earned Value Professional (EVP), and Planning and Scheduling Professional (PSP), and then the Expertise level certifications Certified Forensic Claims Consultant (CFCC) and Decision and Risk Management Professional (DRMP). The purpose for having different levels of certifications is to encourage continual professional development and career growth, as well as to support advancement among practicing professionals across a variety of industries.
Eligibility requirements, recommended study materials, and the examination structure for these certifications can be found on AACE’s website at web.aacei.org, specifically the Certification Hub page that provides a one-stop resource overview for all the certifications. On the individual certification pages, the “Apply Now” button will take a candidate to the certification application (after logging in) and provide general application instructions. The Certification Program has made a substantial effort to give candidates as much information as possible to make this career development journey as satisfying as possible.
Expectations
Over the years, the Certification Program has perceived a change in exam candidates’ expectations of what they will encounter during the process of completing one of AACE’s certification examinations. For instance, Certification Staff regularly receive calls from examination candidates looking for a study guide/book or material that can be memorized; hoping to sit for the examination and be able to recall/recite back the memorized information in providing answers to the questions. Other candidates are looking for “Teach to the Test” courses, which teach the exam questions and give an expectation of a “guaranteed pass” to those who enroll in such training courses. These candidates are often disappointed when the actual examination questions and correct answers are not written verbatim as may be found in the AACE recommended study materials or presented through the “guaranteed” courses. Any candidate with these types of expectations will find it hard to be successful with an AACE certification examination.
The main reason expectations of these types will not lead to a successful completion of an AACE certification exam is because all AACE exams are based on a set of required competencies. The competencies would have been acquired by candidates through education, training, and real-life experiences in industry in the development of skills. The dictionary defines competency or competencies as “the capability to apply or use a set of related knowledge, skills, and abilities required to successfully perform critical work functions or tasks in a defined work setting.”
The set of required competencies represented within any of AACE’s certification examinations is evergreen and have been developed by Subject Matter Experts in each certification discipline. Within the certification examination application process, the candidate must provide an acknowledgement letter from an employer regarding experience and validation of skills and knowledge. Therefore, it is understood and validated that a candidate making application for one of the AACE certification examinations has the appropriate experience level to apply their education, training, learned skills, abilities, and knowledge of the concepts and competencies tested.
While exam eligibility requirements for Technician and Professional level AACE exams allows a portion of experience to be substituted with a 4-year industry related college/university degree, the examination itself is based upon knowledge, skills, and competencies acquired through actual experience. There is no direct relationship with higher education or attaining a degree; holding a certification will not earn credits toward a achieving a degree (at least, none for which we are aware). Conversely, a certification is not designed to evaluate the mastery of an instructional course or certification-specific class. It should be noted the eligibility requirements for the Expertise level certifications require a 4-year industry related degree in addition to a requisite amount of certification-specific industry experience to achieve eligibility for those examinations.
Candidates have asked, “Since the exams are based on required competencies, where can you find these competencies?”
The AACE International Recommended Practices (RPs) are intended to be the main technical foundation of our educational and certification products and services. The RPs are a series of documents containing valuable reference information that has been subject to a rigorous review process and recommended for use by the AACE Technical Board. The RPs also are tied to the Total Cost Management (TCM) Framework, one of several documents in AACE’s Body of Knowledge. Digital versions of the RPs are included in the cost of AACE International membership; non-members can purchase the RPs for a nominal fee.
The following RPs outline the required competencies for each discipline (Cost, Planning/Scheduling, Estimating, Risk, Earned Value):
Cost Engineering Terminology (all certifications)
Required Skills and Knowledge of Cost Engineering (CCP)
Responsibility and Required Skills for a Project Planning and Scheduling Professional (PSP)
Required Skills and Knowledge of Project Cost Estimating (CEP)
Roles and Responsibilities of a Project Cost Estimator (CEP)
Required Skills and Knowledge of Decision and Risk
Required Skills and Knowledge of Earned Value Management (EVP)
No RP
CFCC – While there is a study guide for the CFCC examination; the examination is built around the depth of a candidate’s actual industry job-experience emphasizing the development, evaluation, and resolution of claims and related experience requirements, and is based on common law or mixed law, where common law is part of mixed law.
AACE’s certification examinations are created to test the application of knowledge, not just memorization of exercises or sample problems presented in the recommended study materials. Specifically, AACE’s Certification Study Guides (CSGs) are recommended only as a supplement to the candidate’s own skills, knowledge and experience base. The Study Guides are not to be thought of as the “reference book to memorize” and then be able to correctly answer enough questions that will result in passing an examination. To test the candidates application of education, training, acquired knowledge and skills across multiple competencies, the questions are written such that they are testing the knowledge base of the candidate in situations much like what are customarily found in the workplace. The exam questions ask how the candidate will apply their learned skills and knowledge to arrive at a correct answer.
Being accepted as qualified to sit for one or more of AACE’s certification examinations does not signify a candidate is assured of being successful in passing the examination and receiving the certification. AACE’s Certification Program understands experiences and competencies can vary depending upon industry or career path in life, but we all need a sound basic knowledge to effectively function in real-world circumstances and scenarios. Unfortunately, in today’s project world many of our projects do not end successfully and are not executed as simply as may be outlined in educational and training materials. With that said, AACE’s certification examinations are created to validate the candidate’s ability to comprehend, react and respond as a professional to different circumstances and scenarios through the application of basic skills and knowledge. For this very reason, AACE’s certification examination questions are not copied verbatim from the suggested reference materials or Body of Knowledge, nor do the suggested study materials teach to the exam.
AACE’s certification credentials are not easily achieved and are consequently held in high professional esteem domestically and internationally. The Certification Program wants to manage the expectations of our exam candidates. We want to ensure all candidates understand the required skills, knowledge, competencies, and real-world scenarios presented throughout the exams cannot be memorized or found verbatim within the study materials. In reality, achieving one or more of AACE’s Certification credentials is the result of years spent learning and developing those skills, accumulating that knowledge from experiences in life, and then evolving into a professional with the competencies needed to function as a respected professional in industry and for successful completion of the AACE International certification examination.