Certification is the personnel consulting industry's badge of confidence.  It identifies those individuals who have attained a high level of expertise and professional competence.  Its purpose is to assure the client and job applicant that the highest ethical and professional standards will be met in their business relationships with the Temporary Help and Permanent Placement industries.

To the individual who achieves it, certification is the symbol of pride and accomplishment.  To the client, certification is your assurance that the personnel consultant you are working with met or surpassed a prescribed set of standards and is a professional in all aspects of the highly technical field of personnel placement.

The rules about certification are few, but they are significant.  To qualify, an individual must be employed currently in the industry and have a minimum of two years' experience as a placement consultant.  The designation can only be granted to individuals.  No firm can claim that it is a CPC or CTS firm.

Upon applying for certification, candidates must first pass an EEO law exam.  This tests for their knowledge of certain aspects of employment law.  Candidates failing the examination are not certified.

Twice yearly, spring and fall, the written examinations are administered.  University sites at several locations throughout the country are selected.  The examinations are proctored locally and test papers are sent to an independent psychological testing organization for its approval before certification can be granted.  From start to finish, the entire process of certification takes the better part of a year.

What does CPC or CTS mean to you?  It is your assurance that you are working with a highly-competent individual in the complex field of recruitment.