Is This Your Year?

Last year in this space I suggested some simple New Year’s resolutions, such as taking someone to a work site and explaining what, exactly, the sediment control devices are for, or taking a class in an area of ESC outside the usual scope of your job. This year, I’d like to propose something a little more ambitious: professional certification. Our field has two rigorous qualifications that are becoming more and more widely recognized: the Certified Professional in Erosion and Sediment Control (CPESC) and the more recent Certified Professional in Storm Water Quality (CPSWQ). Obtaining certification is a way for you to demonstrate the proficiency you already possess-to show “evidence of professional competence,” as the CPESC Web site puts it. It’s a kind of shorthand to indicate to employers, colleagues, clients, regulators, and anyone else you deal with in your profession that you’ve been independently evaluated according to an objective set of criteria and that you’ve demonstrated a basic aptitude. It doesn’t make you better at what you do, but it does let people know you can do it.Besides the potential benefits for your own career, there’s a larger issue here. It’s a little bit like the logic behind getting a flu shot: You might think you don’t really need one, but by getting the shot and reducing your chances of getting sick, you help ensure there is less risk to others; there’s an aggregate benefit. Think of certification this way: The more people who get it, the more recognizable it becomes, and the greater the value to everyone who has it.This isn’t the case with every string of letters you could have behind your name. There is a rigorous editorial certification, for example, that can be very useful in helping an employer or a client determine an editor’s proficiency. The problem is that not many people outside a very narrow field-medical and scientific editorial departments, primarily-have ever heard of the certification. Although it does demonstrate something to those who recognize it-basic ability to understand and edit technical information, as well as a willingness to take the time to get certified in order to demonstrate that ability to others-its usefulness outside that small community is still limited. Arguably, the CPESC and CPSWQ certifications once had limited recognizability, too, but that’s no longer the case. They’ve reached a critical mass; they’re known to regulators, engineers, and the development community, and they provide credibility to those who hold them. For example, in Illinois, the state Environmental Protection Agency is allowing Soil and Water Conservation Districts with CPESCs on staff to conduct onsite NPDES permit reviews. (See this article in the July/August 2005 issue.)If you’re already a CPESC or a CPSWQ, you should be proud that you’re part of the group that has helped increase their standing. If you haven’t thought about them before, or if you’ve thought you’d get around to taking the exams “someday,” make this the year you take a serious look at them-they’re more valuable than ever. Applications (new ones-if you’ve been thinking about becoming certified for a while and hanging onto copies of the older forms, you’ll need the new versions) are available at www.cpesc.net.