Non-job specific certifications, but industry-specific certifications

I didn't see anything posted, so forgive me if this is a duplicate topic!

Has anyone ever pursued industry-specific, but not necessarily job-specific certifications for the industry you work in (if they've got them)?

Whether to build up your knowledge of such industry, to look better for a promotion or raise, or just for kicks...?

As an example... I work in a security role in the insurance industry, and their "bread and butter" training and certifications are provided by The Institutes. Such designations include the Associate in General Insurance, Associate in Claims, Associate in Risk Management, and their "granddaddy of certifications", the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter. They even have an Associate in Information Technology certification that - while not very technical - includes courses on cyber security and optimal business/technology alignment, among other things.

I'm currently working on the Associate in General Insurance and will move on to the Associate in Information Technology once I finish the first one. I'm only one of three courses into the Associate in General Insurance, but it's blown my mind how much it's taught me about my new industry. Then to move on to three more courses for the Associate in Information Technology. Cool thing is... these don't expire, and if I stay in the insurance world... it would be a huge help for upward progression.

I don't think I'd normally think about stuff like this, but my company provides training materials - and in some cases, actual instruction - to any employee that wants to pursue a certification. This is done via a corporate agreement and includes the cost to sit for the exam(s).

Good stuff!

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Comments

TheFORCE

Yes people do that as it helps you to better understand the industry you work in and also allows you to understand the processes of the industry. Its a good knowledge to have, people don't usually go for it because many move from industry to industry but if you were to stay in a specific industry for a long time then why not. At minimum it will help you understand the language and be able to participate in conversations.

JDMurray

These are usually called vendor-independent or vendor-neutral certification as opposed to vendor-specific certs. They are very useful for learning when you don't know specifically what kind of technology you might be working with in the future.

For example, if you want to learn Cloud but you don't know if your (future) employer will go with Azure, AWS, Google, or Oracle Cloud technology, you can get vendor-neutral Cloud certs instead, such as the CCSP, CCSK, or Cloud+. Same can be said for starting with the vendor-neutral Network+ cert rather than the vendor-specific CCNA, JNCP, and CCSA certs.

cyberguypr

I read the question as industry certifications, meaning if you work for a financial, retail, pharma, .edu, etc. and you take some cert to know about that specific field, completely unrelated to IT. Is that what you meant @SoCalGuy858?

SoCalGuy858

@cyberguypr -- yes, that's exactly it! @JDMurray -- piggybacking off of the latest post, this is what I was trying to get at. I don't think my initial post got the point across.

I'm not sure of all of the other industries that have their own certifications, but I know they're out there (like insurance, as I mentioned).

TheFORCE

@SoCalGuy858 the financial industry has similar types of certifications, those are more like licenses though since its required by law in order to work with financial instruments and do any kind of trades on behalf of clients. Those are kinda hard to get though since company has to sponsor you. All industries have something similar.

SoCalGuy858

@TheFORCE -- Yup -- I know they're out there! Just seeing if there's anyone else out there who has gone for such things in their own industries.

JDMurray

The aviation and healthcare industries have many certifications, some of which are mandatory for professionals to have by regulation. I'm not aware of any state or federal regulation that requires any IT certification. Licenses and permits are different animals from certifications.