One of the toughest things about hiring a consultant to help with your business is knowing who has the appropriate skillset. Which is why certifications can be so helpful! However, a consultant without certifications may still be a great fit.

So let’s look at what a certification means.

There are certifications for EVERYTHING nowadays, some more official or reliable than others. Certifications can include:

• Project Management

• Specific software/apps

• Coding languages

• Copywriting

• Administrative skills

• And so many more…

A certification provides a certain guarantee that the consultant has a skillset or knowledge that you may be looking for. It shows that they likely went through a training or educational program. Some certifications are even free or low cost, ranging up to a couple hundred dollars to acquire, while some (like Lean Six Sigma certifications) can cost around $1,000 and require over 100 hours of training.

So it’s best to hire someone who’s certified, right?

That depends on your needs and budget. A certified consultant (especially one that dedicated several months and hundred dollars to it) will likely cost more. If you have very specific technical needs or need a consultant with advanced knowledge, then yes, it’s probably a good idea.

If your consultant is advising and simply needs a basic understanding of your business, you may not need to pay the higher price tag. Let’s be honest, most professionals utilize some skills in project management, have at least a basic level of technical skill, and regularly use administrative skills in their day to day. Most processes use one or more parts of the common project management styles, so even if you don’t know the fancy terminology, most of us are already using the skills.

So how do you know if a consultant is the right fit?

Talk to them. Ask questions. And before that conversation, get an idea of what you’ll actually need them to do. Are they advising or are they doing the actually work? Are they consulting or are they a contractor?

As a Fractional COO and Process Improvement Consultant I generally don’t do the day to day work for my clients. I provide advice, tools, and structure to improve their workflows, but I don’t need to know the specifics about their industry. I also am not generally running their business, so a Project Management Certification might be above and beyond what’s needed.

However, certifications in specific software that my clients use (or are transitioning to) shows that I can provide valuable insight and training that is specific to their needs. If I were consulting for tech companies it might make sense for me to have some coding language certifications depending on the scope of the work.

All this to say, while certifications are valuable tools when deciding who to work with or contact, remember the most important step is to determine what your needs are and ask the consultant about what their approach to those would be.

Speaking of certifications, let me share some new ones:

Until next time!

Morgan & the Team🐈‍⬛