Professional certification, trade certification, or professional designation, often called simply certification or qualification, is a designation earned by a person to assure qualification to perform a job or task. Not all certifications that use post-nominal letters are an acknowledgement of educational achievement, or an agency appointed to safeguard the public interest.
An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy. Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certified Accountant or Certified Public Accountant, or Registered Public Accountant. Such professionals are granted certain responsibilities by statute, such as the ability to certify an organization's financial statements, and may be held liable for professional misconduct. Non-qualified accountants may be employed by a qualified accountant, or may work independently without statutory privileges and obligations.
Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is the title of qualified accountants in numerous countries in the English-speaking world. It is generally equivalent to the title of chartered accountant in other English-speaking countries. In the United States, the CPA is a license to provide accounting services to the public. It is awarded by each of the 50 states for practice in that state. Additionally, all states except Hawaii have passed mobility laws to allow CPAs from other states to practice in their state. State licensing requirements vary, but the minimum standard requirements include passing the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination, 150 semester units of college education, and one year of accounting-related experience.
Certified Management Accountant (CMA) is a professional certification credential in the management accounting and financial management fields. The certification signifies that the person possesses knowledge in the areas of financial planning, analysis, control, decision support, and professional ethics. There are many professional bodies globally that have management accounting professional qualifications. The main bodies that offer the CMA certification are:
- Institute of Management Accountants USA;
- Institute of Certified Management Accountants (Australia); and
- Certified Management Accountants of Canada.
Regulation and licensure in engineering is established by various jurisdictions of the world to encourage life, public welfare, safety, well-being, then environment and other interests of the general public and to define the licensure process through which an engineer becomes licensed to practice engineering and to provide professional services and products to the public.
LLQP is part of the Canadian licensing regime for life insurance sales people. Before an advisor in the financial services sector is allowed to begin selling life insurance products, they must complete and pass LLQP, and earn a certificate of completion. Once the certification exam is completed, and criminal records checks are submitted, applicants may apply to their provincial insurance council to write the licensing exam. Once the provincial exam is completed and passed, the applicant may complete the requirements to apply for a license to sell life insurance, accident and sickness products, and life insurance related investment products like Segregated funds and annuities. The LLQP exam certificate is valid in all provinces and territories except Quebec, which uses a separate system altogether.
The Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) program is a postgraduate professional certification offered internationally by the American-based CFA Institute to investment and financial professionals. The program teaches a wide range of subjects relating to advanced investment analysis—including security analysis, statistics, probability theory, fixed income, derivatives, economics, financial analysis, corporate finance, alternative investments, portfolio management—and provides a generalist knowledge of other areas of finance.
A clinical research associate (CRA), also called a clinical monitor or trial monitor, is a health-care professional who performs many activities related to medical research, particularly clinical trials. Clinical research associates work in various settings, such as pharmaceutical companies, medical research institutes and government agencies. Depending on the jurisdiction, different education and certification requirements may be necessary to practice as a clinical research associate. The main tasks of the CRA are defined by good clinical practice guidelines for monitoring clinical trials, such as those elaborated by the International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use. A CRA would subsequently grow into a Feasibility Leader, Study Start up Leader, Project Manager, and Project Director at a Pharmaceutical company or a contract research organization. A CRA is usually required to possess an academic degree in Life Sciences and needs to have a good knowledge of good clinical practice and local regulations.
Event management is the application of project management to the creation and development of small and/or large-scale personal or corporate events such as festivals, conferences, ceremonies, weddings, formal parties, concerts, or conventions. It involves studying the brand, identifying its target audience, devising the event concept, and coordinating the technical aspects before actually launching the event.
An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist, is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the United States, and the European Union. Other names used to designate the profession include agricultural scientist, agricultural manager, agricultural planner, agriculture researcher, or agriculture policy maker.
An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are distinct practising certificates.
Following is a partial list of professional certifications in financial services, with an overview of the educational and continuing requirements for each; see Professional certification § Accountancy, auditing and finance and Category:Professional certification in finance for all articles. As the field of finance has increased in complexity in recent years, the number of available designations has grown, and, correspondingly, some will have more recognition than others. Note that in the US, many state securities and insurance regulators do not allow financial professionals to use a designation — in particular a "senior" designation — unless it has been accredited by either the American National Standards Institute or the National Commission for Certifying Agencies.
An orthotist is a healthcare professional who specializes in the provision of orthoses. An orthotist has an overall responsibly of orthotics treatment, who can supervise and mentor the practice of other personnel. They are clinicians trained to assess the needs of the user, prescribe treatment, determine the precise technical specifications of orthotic devices, take measurements and image of body segments, prepare model of the evaluation, fit devices and evaluate treatment outcome. In the United States, orthotists work by prescription from a licensed healthcare provider. Physical therapists are not legally authorized to prescribe orthoses in the U.S. In the U.K., orthotists will often accept open referrals for orthotic assessment without a specific prescription from doctors or other healthcare professionals.
The Canadian Athletic Therapists Association (CATA) is a professional body based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada which was established on April 24, 1965 at a meeting at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
The Society of Petroleum Engineers has a petroleum engineering certification program whereby it certifies the technical knowledge of petroleum engineers. The certification is granted based on an examination in conjunction with experience of the applicant. Once certified individuals must renew their certification annually to keep it current. A list of current SPE-certified petroleum engineers is available online.
Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. is an American 501(c)(3) certifying and standards-setting organization that administers the Certified Financial Planner certification program and oversees more than 89,000 professionals using the CFP® certification in the United States.
The Certified Research Administrator® (CRA®) is a designation granted in the United States by the Research Administrators Certification Council to individuals who demonstrate the knowledge necessary to serve as an administrator of professional and sponsored research programs. To be eligible to certify, candidates must meet one of three sets of requirements. Once a candidate passes the Certified Research Administrator® examination, they are conferred the right to use the CRA® designation. The RACC also offers Certified Pre-Award Research Administrator® and Certified Financial Research Administrator designations.
The Board of Editors in the Life Sciences (BELS) is a professional organization that awards credentials to exemplary manuscript editors in the life sciences. Here, the term "manuscript editor" refers to both authors' editors and editors employed by academic publishers. Individuals who demonstrate excellence in editing and an understanding of the ethical principles of publishing—both of which are assessed through a certification exam—are awarded the title Editor in the Life Sciences and may use the initials ELS after their names. BELS also allows use of its electronic badge by BELS-certified editors.
Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) is a not-for-profit organization and a membership association for risk managers. Its services include setting standards, training, education, industry networking, and promoting risk management practices. Founded in 1996 and headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey, with additional offices in London, Washington, D.C., Beijing, and Hong Kong. GARP offers several foundational and certificate programs, the best known of which is the Financial Risk Manager (FRM) certification.
An ophthalmic technician is a health professional that provides to perform eye exams, diagnose diseases and administer treatments in caring for patients' eyes and eyesight. They are considered to be an intermediate level of ophthalmic medical personnel since they are more advanced than ophthalmic assistants, yet not as advanced as an ophthalmic medical technologist. Ophthalmic technicians work in settings like private practices, hospitals, outpatient care centers, and surgical centers.
