> I'm in agreement too. There are a number of accreditation systems
> already
> out there. I'm interested to hear why individuals do not consider them
> to be
> satisfactory.... constructive criticism though, not derogatory remarks!
>
The subject of accreditation and certification is frequently beat about
the head an shoulders on the US based RECMGMT-L Listserv, and it
typically comes down to two schools of thought.
1) The more academic and less practically experienced the practitioner,
the more important the feeling that it's of value.
2) The more practically experienced the practitioner, and more stable
their employment history, the lower the feeling that it's of value.
If you have a limited base of experience, however, you would likely not
be able to successfully navigate the waters of the ICRM testing, as you
need to have a reasonable amount of practical experience ("been there,
done that") in real life RIM situations to get through Parts I-V of the
exams. Then, when it comes to Part VI, there are many very experienced
RIMS who sit for it 2, 3 or 4 times before they pass it... and to a
certain extent, I feel it IS subjective... even though I can name a few
graders that disagree. Part of passing Part VI is knowing HOW TO
RESPOND to the scenario, and depending on the grader, the way you
answer may have an almost equal bearing on the technical quality of
your response.
Then again, if you have an extensive amount of practical experience in
a number of industries and are satisfied with where you are in your
professional life, I doubt you'd feel the need to have any certifying
body confirm that for you. There are increasing numbers of positions
being posted that are either seeking a CRM as a "desired or required"
of candidates, but when I applied for two of these 5 years ago, the HR
people I spoke to had NO CLUE what a CRM was or what value it added...
and unless the hiring manager had one, neither did they.
As far as the recognition goes, there is currently ONE, and ONE ONLY
certifying body for the Record and Information Management Profession
Worldwide, and that IS the ICRM. They are the certifying body that
ARMA members and non-members alike go to if they want to be certified
and recognized as such. And yes, much of what they test on is
"US-centric", but it does take into account many of the practices and
principles exhibited in ISO 15489 and once lofty AS 4390, simply
because they're good business practices for RIM, and always have been.
So, if some technical body in the UK makes a decision to establish an
organization to begin certifying RIMs, they would be well served to
take a look at what the ICRM has been doing successfully in this field
for many years now, and I'd think they would want to ask themselves
"what are we adding to the process that makes this better?"
Larry Medina
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