To paraphrase Winston Churchill, I am a modest man because I have much to be modest about. In my middle age, my aspirations have shifted so that on a good day, I can claim to be punctual, polite, and have good personal hygiene. Unfortunately in 2016, possession of these three attributes concurrently elevates one to the top percentile of society.
As far as the merits and benefits of ASQ certification are concerned, I defer to the many articles already published in ASQ Quality Progress, along with the excellent ASQ video available on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tF7Ira74tJ4
With respect to synchronizing certifications, I wanted to share some insight.
I have been synchronizing my certifications for 15 years, and consequently have been able to retain the original certifications I attained back in the mid-late 1990s. I have always appreciated this member benefit, but it was only recently that I realized that non-members of ASQ who wish to recertify their credentials have to do so individually at a substantially higher rate.
Assuming that the non-member does not abandon their certification or lets it lapse, the long-term commitment of a perpetual certification is $109 USD, payable every 3 years, for the rest of a career. For someone who achieved their credentials in their 20s and 30s, that could result in funding an additional 10-12 renewal cycles. This adds a long-term cost of $1000-1500 per renewable ASQ certification, unless ASQ member discounts are applied.
This long-term consideration is generally not considered, but let's say that a practitioner with 4 certifications (CQA, CQE, CSSBB, and CMQ/OE) wants their ASQ credentials to be relevant for the next 15 years (5 renewal cycles). The chart below show that the member would save over $400 USD by renewing these as an ASQ Member, and these savings would be compounded 5 times, giving a nominal long-term member benefit of $2000 USD (even more when the time-value of money is considered).
To those ASQ members with 1 or fewer renewable certifications, the benefits of certificate synchronization do not apply. Not all career models are served by having multiple certifications, but I personally advocate that a managerial CMQ/OE complements the technical certifications like CQE, CRE, or CSQE.
According to the current pricing model, certificate renewal brings incremental advantages over a 3 year period. Let's drop the whole 9 and round up prices numbers divisible by 10.
Every 3 years, the certifications have to be renewed. The savings of doing renewals within an ASQ membership (and available discounts) are immediately available on the first certification, and if you are renewing 5 or more, the cost recovery from the money saved actually exceeds the cost of ASQ membership. This means that the investment of ASQ membership is recovered every 3 years through certification renewal savings alone. It's a good deal, and one of the most valuable and under-publicized benefits of a long-term commitment to ASQ.
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