Business Certificates

[Alpha]

Certainly it's not a comprehensive list but it's a start
Business certificates available online: A professional's guide | ZDNet

[nomaduser]

No employers really care about certificates....

I've been interviewed by 9+ employers. No one ever gave attention to university certificates on my resume.

Unless the certificate is the only credential you have, employers will not give any attention.

To be honest, it's a waste of money. I'd pay for cheaper Edx certificates because no one will care anyways.

[ss20ts]

Sure BU is great on one's resume, but how many people have $15K laying around and 9 months to complete a business certificate? In that time you can complete your MBA at WGU for significantly less money. None of the certificates listed are going to help you in a job search if you're up against people with master's degrees. You're better off getting certifications such as PMP, SHRM, etc. Those will actually help you in your career. If you're completing these certificates for fun, that's totally different.

[dfrecore]

Even a BSBA from one of the Big 3, WGU or UMPI is worth more than any of these certs. And of course an MBA will trump those. Specific industry certifications such CCP, HRCI, etc. will be worth more as well. As you start looking at the job market, look at what kinds of certifications your jobs want, and then consider those instead.

[freeloader]

I found this article interesting because it really speaks to the range of what can be labeled a “certificate”.

At the high end, there are listings like the BU data analytics certificate. It is 16 graduate credits and can be transferred to their 40-credit masters in data analytics. So, it represents 40% of a masters degree. There is the University of Virginia’s accounting certificate, which requires 10 3-credit classes and is basically equivalent to an undergraduate accounting major. Both of these are serious programs that cost thousands of dollars, take months to complete, and would boost pretty much anybody’s resume. There are also certificates on the list that cost a few hundred dollars, take a few hours to complete, carry no credit (other than perhaps a couple of CEUs), and would do very little to help one’s resume.

As far as employer’s perspectives, the fact that so many different things can be labeled a certificate really puts the pressure on the person with the certificate to explain what they are (if they are of the more impressive variety) on their resume. If the BU certificate is a stepping stone to the master’s or if the UVA certificate is what qualifies you to sit for the CPA exam, those again seem like valuable a desirable certificates.

Separate, in my mind, is the actual economic value of these certificates. I looked at some programs like the UVA accounting certificate when I decided to go back to school for accounting. They were too expensive for me. The UVA cert is around $16,000. It is roughly 3x as expensive as North Alabama, U Cumberlands, or some of the other providers that are mentioned on the forum. I took a couple of UC courses and then finished by accounting BA (along with a BABA in management and leadership) at UMPI and, all total, spent about half what the UVA certificate would have cost. For me, the value proposition for a program like the UVA accounting certificate isn’t there.

However, I was paying for my education out of pocket. I did not have employer’s tuition assistance, VA education benefit, or anything similar. If somebody else had been paying for it, I probably would have looked more seriously at the UVA program, Cal Berkeley extension, or one of the other “big name” providers.

I also work for a government agency. It really doesn’t matter where my degrees come from, as long as they are accredited. I am not trying to impress anybody with fancy degrees. I have worked with people who have degrees from some of the finest schools in the country (Harvard. Columbia, Vanderbilt, Penn/Wharton, etc) and people with degrees that are, I think, steps down from places like UMPI and TESU. For many people in the private sector, where you get your education from also doesn’t matter.

I know there are people on this forum who don’t like to hear this, but there are employers who only look at people with degrees from a relatively small number of elite schools. If you want to work for them, perhaps in the legal or financial world, education from an elite school may well be the difference between getting the job or not.

So, is there a world in which it makes sense to spend $16,000 for that UVA certificate? Yes, I think there is. But it is not for everybody. And, spending $16,000 for that certificates certainly does not guarantee you a job, for instance, with a Big 4 accounting firm with a fast-track to partnership. Unfortunately, too many people view things that way. And too many universities encourage that sort of thinking.

[dfrecore]

I found this article interesting because it really speaks to the range of what can be labeled a “certificate”.

At the high end, there are listings like the BU data analytics certificate. It is 16 graduate credits and can be transferred to their 40-credit masters in data analytics. So, it represents 40% of a masters degree. There is the University of Virginia’s accounting certificate, which requires 10 3-credit classes and is basically equivalent to an undergraduate accounting major. Both of these are serious programs that cost thousands of dollars, take months to complete, and would boost pretty much anybody’s resume. There are also certificates on the list that cost a few hundred dollars, take a few hours to complete, carry no credit (other than perhaps a couple of CEUs), and would do very little to help one’s resume.

I know there are people on this forum who don’t like to hear this, but there are employers who only look at people with degrees from a relatively small number of elite schools. If you want to work for them, perhaps in the legal or financial world, education from an elite school may well be the difference between getting the job or not.

So, is there a world in which it makes sense to spend $16,000 for that UVA certificate?  Yes, I think there is. But it is not for everybody. And, spending $16,000 for that certificates certainly does not guarantee you a job, for instance, with a Big 4 accounting firm with a fast-track to partnership.  Unfortunately, too many people view things that way. And too many universities encourage that sort of thinking.

With the BU Data Analytics cert - really, what that says to an employer is "I'm 40% done with my master's degree." Most employers are going to say "let me know when you complete your master's degree and we'll talk" if they're looking for that.  If they're not looking for that, then really, the cert still means nothing because they don't care.  I can't imagine any scenario in which a $16,000 cert that gets you 40% done with a degree is worth a dime.

There are very few fields that require a degree from an elite school, so if you need that, you're probably not on here looking for ways to get a cheap degree somewhere.

[Alpha]

I have always been very degree-centric and while I've piled up a few certs within my area, they wouldn't be worth much without the degree they rest upon.  There is, however, some sense that certs are becoming more valuable, at least to some employers
No college degree? No problem, say growing number of major employers - CNN

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Clearly there's another point of view
A college degree is now 'a matter of life and death,' says this Nobel Prize winner - MarketWatch

[sanantone]

It was a bad idea for them to mix academic certificates with professional certificates. Sometimes, you only need the credits. Sometimes, you only need a short academic credential for respecialization on top of a degree you already have.

Let's say you have an MBA in marketing, and you want to work in finance. You may not need another master's degree in finance; a graduate certificate could suffice. Or, let's say you have a BS in liberal studies, and a government job you want requires a bachelor's degree in business or 24 credits in business-related subjects. You can either do an undergraduate certificate in business or a graduate certificate that will qualify you for a higher pay grade.

It's harder to judge the value of non-credit certificates. As a government employee, a graduate certificate in human resources would be more valuable than the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion certificate from USF.