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>From: Steven Jong <stevefjong -at- comcast -dot- net>
>
>
>Does certification guarantee anything? No, not for any certification. Are you claiming that therefore one should avoid any certified professional in favor of an uncertified professional?
>
>
No, I'm just saying is to be very skeptical of these industry
certifications. I haven't seen any industry certifications to date that
actually accomplish what they claim, which is to set a minimum accepted
standard for the profession and do it consistantly. It's this last point
that is the problem. As a result, I personally don't place a lot of
faith in professional certifications. I disregard them where legally
possible.
>As for the second point, you are wrong. Monopoly control is not legal in the United States. The Board is aware of both that factr and its legal obligations. Sheesh...!
>
>
Actually, monopoly control is not per se illegal. Abuse of it is (read
the law . . . and ask Microsoft). In this case, as with PMI and Society
for Quality certifications, the organizations don't have any means of
enforcing a monopoly. However, that does not mean a monoploy won't
develop, or that it isn't intended. If no one will hire you without the
cert., then a monopoly exists. The problem is that there is no one to
take legal action against in such a case. You can't sue every TW
employer in America because they won't hire you without the cert. And
you can't sue the organization because (as said above) it is not
enforcing anything. This is exactly what happened with the ABA and the
standards it set for law schools and bar exams. The states are the ones
who enforce the standards, and all of the state bars are using the ABA's
standards in lock step. Let's see how successful you are in sueing any
of them for anti-trust law violations. Plenty of suits have been filed,
few have had any success.
This has also happened with the PMI and ASQ certs. Not having the cert.
means you generally do not get hired, and it is getting worse. It is a
monopoly, but it is not controlled by either of the organizations, so
there is no one to take legal action against. The situation is the
result of a lot of individuals individually deciding to accept the cert.
as gospel. You can't sue them for that. However, the result is the same:
monopoly. Again, little or nothing anyone can do once it happens. I've
meen it too often, so that is why I am working now to prevent it from
happening again.
Jason A. Czekalski
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