FRANCIS TEPEDINO, ESQ. ⋅ San Diego, CA THE CONDOR GROUP ⋅ 30 years experience

Here is a TEST to see how REALLY SERIOUS you are.

Go to Law School and get a J. D. The fields are full of MBA;s falling all over each other.
A JD will blow away the competition. I went to Law School after some 20 years in corporations. I went nights since I had a demanding job as Manager of Contracts for a major corporation. The JD blew away all my competition for senior executive positions. The Univ. of San Diego Law School has an Evening Program,. I am on the Board there. Contact me for information.

Jason Politte ⋅ Temecula, CA U.S. Marine Corps, Master Gunnery Sergeant ⋅ 22 years served

Hi Edgar,

I would also recommend taking a look at the Resilience-Building Leader Program. The leadership certifications are for front-line supervisors, middle managers, and senior leaders to build resilient teams. www.resiliencebuildingleader.com

Edgar Gallaga ⋅ Fort Walton Beach, FL U.S. Army, Sergeant First Class ⋅ 8 years served

Thank you everyone for your valuable input. PMP seems like something that can be utilized in a wide range of industries, so I'll definitely look into that. I'm interested in working for the Department of State as a Foreign Service Officer, but in terms of certification requirements they have none listed nor do they suggest any on the DOS website.

Joel Cushing ⋅ Chillicothe, OH U.S. Army, Master Sergeant ⋅ 25 years served

Hey Edgar - I think it really depends on what field you are wanting to work in. Do you know what you want to do next?

Ben Shaw ⋅ Charlottesville, VA U.S. Marine Corps, Sergeant ⋅ 4 years served

I can personally attest to the value of the O2O program mentioned above. I completed the PMP certification in 2018.

Management is huge as a field or practice, so I do see the value in drilling down further if possible. Pick a field and embed with their progressional programs.

Recall also that superior communication skills are often what carry an interview - coupled of course with integrity and true qualification. Brush up on public speaking and comm skills and look to marry that with any field specific certifications you can identify.

Jennifer Liddle ⋅ Huntsville, AL Still Serving Veterans ⋅ 21 years experience

Hi, Edgar! I recommend looking into the CAPM or PMP (depending on how much experience you have). Syracuse University has a program called Onward to Opportunity that, if accepted into the program, will provide the training and funding of either certification. I believe they will also pay for your PMI membership.

Onward to Opportunity
http://onward2opportunity-vctp.org/course-offerings/

Good luck!

Jerry Welsh ⋅ Middleville, MI Master Military Transition Advisor/HPS GPO ⋅ 30 years experience

I will reverse the question and ask have you seen in your research into the management field any certificates required in job postings or position descriptions? Delve into the career field and do some research, if you find a specific field requires a certificate, then work towards it. It is better to know what you are looking for and match that, than to try to create demand around an unknown or not widely accepted certificate.