In the EMS industry, most certifications are administered within the industry, either internally within the company or through a third-party organization. This issue of SMT007 Magazine tackles the topic by examining the value of certification, where to get certified, and why it matters for both the employer and the employee.
Generally speaking, professional certifications don’t give you a license to perform a skill, but they do show competence in an area of knowledge in a standardized manner. Significant work must go into ensuring that the certification criteria are fair and appropriate measures of a specific skill set. Who makes sure the certification is appropriate? Once we achieve a certification, what does that mean in the business environment? Finally, who maintains the timeliness of the certification, and how?
What is true in our industry today is that customers value—and even require—employee certification in skill areas that matter to their products. Through our interviews, we learned that when all things are equal between two assembly houses, the customer is likely to choose the vendor with more industry-recognized certifications on board.
So, join us this month as we examine the vital role certifications play in our industry.