The question of whether your association should offer a certification program is tremendous in terms of scope. There are many areas that need to be discussed.
However, there is a quick test that can be applied to see if it seems to make sense. Ask this question: Could a consumer/employer fairly judge the merit of a person/company in the given industry without the association certification?
For example, when it comes to software testing, association certification would appear to have merit. That is because it can be difficult to judge the ability or skills of a software tester based on their resume. That’s because what is not seen is as important or even more important than what can be seen. You might think software quality appears fine from the outside, but it might be so poorly designed on the inside that it is likely to fail. A good example of an association that has built a strong software testing certification program is AT*SQA, the Association for Testing and Software Quality Assurance. The software testing certification reviews website Testing Cred explains why AT*SQA’s software testing certifications and software testing micro-credentials are valued in that profession.
On the other hand, an association certification would appear to be less useful if it was easy for the consumer to judge the work based on appearance. A good example of this would be graphic design. While there need to be certain technical merits of good graphic design, it is ultimately very easy for the consumer/employer to determine whether the design is good. It either is, or it isn’t, and a portfolio of printed examples will tell the tale. Moreover, a graphic designer with certification but a poor portfolio is unlikely to get the job.
Again, this is just one test of whether or not an association certification program is right for your association. But it can be a good place to start.
Is your association considering offering a certification program? What are the tough questions you are asking?
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