As a career coach, I always emphasize the benefits of maintaining your certification. It's not just a requirement but a powerful tool that can open doors to new opportunities and enhance your professional credibility. Remember, your effort to maintain your certification will pay off through new career opportunities and enhanced professional credibility. So, keep pushing forward because the rewards are worth it. Here are some suggestions to help you navigate the process and make sure you’re doing your professional development.
Link to my CPE Tracking workbook
Certification Renewal and CPEs
There are multiple ways to recertify for any certification program. Most certification programs define rules that require people holding the certification to demonstrate that they are maintaining their knowledge. Some vendor certification programs require that you complete their courses to renew. Most vendor-neutral certification programs encourage continuous learning by allowing you to submit Continuing Professional Education (CPE).
It's crucial to understand that CPEs are about more than just attending events or listening to presentations. They record the time and effort you invest in continuous learning. You can earn CPEs through various activities, such as training, mentoring, or even developing and delivering your presentation. This flexibility empowers you, giving you control over your professional development, allowing you to choose activities that best align with your learning style and career objectives.
Each certification program is different. Some programs limit the number of CPEs submitted for particular activities, such as publishing blog posts. Programs accredited by a certification organization, such as ANSI or the US Department of Defense, publish certification guidelines that include renewing certification. Understanding these guidelines is crucial. It will keep you informed and prepared for the renewal process, ensuring you meet all the necessary requirements.
Calculating CPEs
So, how do you calculate the number of CPEs you can claim? The general rule of thumb is to claim one CPE for each hour spent listening to, preparing for, or delivering a presentation. However, it's important to note that you should only claim hours for presentations, as CPEs are subject to auditing. Understanding this process will give you confidence in your CPE claims and ensure you adhere to the guidelines.
Submitting CPEs
So, what do you think you could submit? Accurate record-keeping is not just important; it’s key. If you don’t have a piece of paper (to scan) or a PDF document with your name, the name of the host organization, the title of an event, and the dates the event took place, you probably shouldn’t seek CPEs for that activity. This responsibility falls on you, and accurate record-keeping is a proactive step to ensure you can claim the CPEs you've earned. Aside from that piece of paper, it would help if you were prepared to write 200-300 words about what you did or learned at said event. If you don’t have this information and get audited, you will probably not be able to claim that activity for CPEs (and you just wasted your time).
CPE Audits
CPEs are randomly audited to seek out those claiming for something they didn’t do. If you try to claim hours for developing a presentation you downloaded online, your claim for those CPEs could be rejected. That means you get zero CPEs for that activity. It’s never good to have CPEs rejected as it gives the auditor a reason to look at other CPEs you submitted. So, it's crucial to be honest and responsible when claiming CPEs.
Submitting CPEs to Multiple Certification Programs
It’s important to note that you can attend one event and submit CPEs to multiple certification programs. If you hold your CompTIA Security+, CySA+, and or CASP+, you can submit CPEs gained by attending a talk about Identity and Access Management to ISC2 to maintain your CCSP or CISSP certification. IAM is covered by all those certifications in their exam objectives. Those CPEs can also be forwarded to ISACA if you hold their CISA or CISM certification.
Submitting the same CPEs to multiple programs works if the certifications are aligned. In the example above, these are all cybersecurity certifications with published exam objectives. If I were to submit those same CPEs for a networking certification (CCNA or Network+), they may not be allowed. That’s why it is important to consider grouping your certifications (networking, cybersecurity, cloud) and not trying to achieve and maintain too many.
Please take a look at these posts for help on how to maintain your CompTIA and ISC2 certifications.
Knowing the certification hierarchy is essential for CompTIA certifications. You only have to provide CPEs for the highest-held certification. From the previous example, you are done if you fulfill the CPE requirement for CASP+. Renewing CASP+ will renew Security+ and CYSA+.
Once you have achieved a certification, accumulating CPEs is easy to maintain. There are other ways, such as taking courses and passing exams. Developing and executing a monthly plan to gather and submit CPEs is the easiest and least expensive way to maintain your certification.
Tracking Your CPEs
I offer my readers a spreadsheet that you can use to maintain your CPE information. In that spreadsheet, record the date, host's name, event's name, URL, hours you attended, CPE credits you claimed, the description you may have entered, and notes. It’s straightforward and beneficial if you attend the same event year after year.
Too many people make the mistake of putting off claiming CPEs until close to their renewal due date. Some programs, like those from ISC2, offer a grace period within which you can submit CPEs earned before your expiration date but not previously submitted.
I coach my clients to spend 30 minutes monthly checking their certification status and gathering and submitting their CPEs. This regular commitment to professional development ensures timely renewal and demonstrates their responsibility as certified professionals.
CPE Tracking Workbook
Use the link below to access my CPE tracking workbook. This workbook was developed to capture CPEs to be submitted to three programs: CompTIA, ISACA, and ISC2. Each entry records the date, title, short description, and reference URL for a CPE activity and the date that activity was submitted to each program. On the workbook's second page, you’ll find submission information where you can record your program identifier. There are links to each program's submission, information, and member verification pages.