4 Top Certifying Organizations for Contract Professionals
Certifications are important because they show an employer that you know what you’re doing. After all, respectable organizations only give certifications to people they trust and that know their stuff. If a certified person doesn’t do a good job, then that certification carries less trust with employers. And organizations want to be trusted or they could lose funding.
Below is a list of 4 of the most respected certificates in the contracting field.
IACCM (International Association for Contract and Commercial Management) is widely recognized as a leading body in commercial contracts certification despite being a relative newcomer. It provides 4 certifications. Interestingly, all certification exams are taken online. Also, your scores are measured against others in your field. This gives you can idea of where you stand, and how you can improve.
- Associate (ACCM): For those just starting out in the field. Must be able to display basic knowledge and skills.
- Member (MCCM): You will have some experience by this point. Should be able to show more advanced skills and knowledge in an online exam. Minimum 2 years of experience (or 5 years is similar field).
- Certified Member (Cert. MCCM): This is a big step in certification. You’ll have at least 7 years experience and essentially be an expert in the profession. The testing for this phase is also more extensive. A written transcript and more detailed online exam will be submitted. In addition a review board gives the final yes or no on certification.
- Fellow (FCCM): The highest level, you submit a written transcript and resume and pass a phone interview with other fellows. Finally, you send in a research paper. Once these are done, you attain certification.
NCMA (National Contracts Management Association) provides government and commercial contracts certifications. To maintain your NCMA certificate, you need at least 60 hours of continuing professional education every five years. NCMA’s has no strict definition of continuing professional education (CPE), so check here to see if you qualify.
- Certified Federal Contracts Manager (CFCM): Kind of obvious that this is for federal contracts. Eligibility requires a bachelor’s degree, at least one year of experience, and 80 hours of continuing professional education.
- Certified Commercial Contracts Manager (CCCM): For the commercial aspect of contracts. The standards are the same as for the CFCM.
- Certified Professional Contracts Manager (CPCM): This shows you know both contract sides (federal and commercial). Have a bachelor’s degree, at least five years of experience, and 120 hours of continuing professional education.
Defense Acquisition University (DAU) hosts its DAWIA certificates, which are available to military and civilian acquisition professionals. DAWIA gets its name from the Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act of 1990). Eligibility standards for DAWIA Levels I, II and III varies for each of about a dozen career paths. Education, experience, and training criteria are established for each level of certification. Below is a skeleton breakdown of each level.
- DAWIA I (GS 05-09): You’re just starting off here. The foundation is set and the basics of specialization are learned.
- DAWIA II (GS 09-12): Specialization is takes on a larger role, but generalization stills plays a big part.
- DAWIA III (GS 13 and higher): By this point, you have gotten lots of general and specialized knowledge and experience.
Federal Acquisition Institute (FAI) issues FAC-C (Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting) certificates. To keep your FAC-C, you need to get 80 continuous learning points (CLPs) every two years. Look at this memo to see if you qualify for continuous learning points.
- FAC-C Level I: Eligibility requires at least one year of experience, a bachelor’s degree (or 24 semester hours in business-related courses), and training in 6 core classes.
- FAC-C Level II: Must have FAC-C Level I, at least 2 years of contract experience, a bachelor’s degree (or 24 semester hours in business-related courses), and training in 7 more courses (not including FAC-C Level I courses).
- FAC-C Level III: Need FAC-C level II, at least 4 years of contract experience, a bachelor’s degree (or 24 semester hours in business-related courses), and training in 3 courses and all FAC-C Level I and II courses.
Do you think I left out any major programs?
I’d love to hear from you.
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ESI has partnered with George Washington University to provide two certificates – an Associate and Master’s level in Government Contracting (and Project Management).
I would highly recommend this program for anyone serious about entering into the Government Contracting profession.
This Master’s level certificate is highly desired by employers too.
Good call. Any others you can think of?
Sterling,
I appreciate the summary! One point that is perhaps fundamental to some – IACCM’s certification is global in scope. The origins of the Assocuiation were because of the complete absence of CM standards outside the US; hence we designed certification and associated training, exams etc to be applicable to a worldwide audience. That means benchmarks and review boards also offer an international dimension – very important to many of today’s professionals, both to make their certification portable and also to learn multi-jurisdictional / multi-cultural perspectives.