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Microsoft Business Certification Professional Development
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Proficiency = ProfitsCertified employees drive organizational
success.
Microsoft Business Certification ensures your workforce can
deliver.
The potential of any organization lies in the hands of its
workforce. Today, the overwhelming majority of information
workers use a wide array of Microsoft business tools,
without
doing more than scratching the surface of the Microsoft
Office suite’s full range of functions and features.
Using Microsoft Business Certification, businesses unlock
the potential of their workers to create, share, and process
information faster and more effectively than they ever have
before — pushing the business to perform at peak levels.
Organizations discover and cultivate their top performers.
They make smarter hiring decisions. And, by providing the
ability to work productively, they see great improvements
in employee satisfaction (usually resulting in better
retention
of key employees).
Certiport delivers Microsoft Business Certification
Professional Development as a turnkey program that
makes enhancing and validating employee skills easy. By
providing the professional development employees need,
you also help the business realize its full potential.
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The right credentials to do the job.
What is Microsoft Business Certification?
Microsoft Business Certification provides the necessary
credentials to support the information-based workplace
with skills development and certification. Employees can
demonstrate their proficiency in specific business software,
in addition to validating their ability to quickly complete
on-the-job tasks. Two levels of credentials include:
Microsoft Certified Application Specialist Series
Validates skills with the Microsoft Office suite as well as
the
Windows Vista operating system, demonstrating application-
level proficiency in:
• Word • Excel®
• PowerPoint® • Access™
• Outlook®
Microsoft Certified Application Professional Series
Microsoft Certified Application Professional will be
designed
to verify abilities on specific projects and tasks. This
credential
will demonstrate advanced, cross-application skills and
collaboration capabilities. Focus areas include:
• Managing Budgets
• Managing Presentations
• Managing Team Collaboration
• Supporting Organizations
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Results where it matters most.
Credentials that give the bottom line a boost.
Investment in professional development helps employees
commit to organizational success and can provide tangible
benefits in the quality of their work.
“Before training, it took an hour and a half to complete
task X, but after the training, the time was reduced to 45
minutes,” says Eileen Tan, general manager at Stone Forest
IT, a provider of integrated IT solutions in Singapore.1
At one accounting firm, staff members with Microsoft
Business Certification complete about 30% more work
than non-certified employees with similar experience.1
Fluor Daniels, a Fortune 500 financial planning and analysis
firm, found that training and certifying their financial
analysts
and technicians resulted in a cost savings equal to four
additional head-count per year.
How did this happen? Approximately 30 members of the
Fluor financial team became proficient in the spreadsheet
functions they didn’t previously leverage. The result was
improved processes. For example, one weekly work task
was astonishingly reduced from four hours to less than
10 minutes.
”The benefits of certification are
noticed immediately. It is number
one on my company’s training
agenda.”
Allison StillwellSupport Services Team Lead
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Experience does not equal ability.
A meaningful measure of proficiency.
Without a reliable way to verify skills, organizations must
rely
on poor indicators of success to ensure their workforce can
perform productively. And the reality is that while most
businesses standardize on the Microsoft Office platform,
the typical user only masters a fraction of the system’s
full
functionality. Getting the most from employees requires
targeted identification of the specific skills and functions
that will enable their top performance.
Familiarity with the Microsoft Office programs does not
necessarily equal effective usage. In fact, even as new,
dramatically improved versions of the software are released,
workers tend to use the same features they have always used
rather than learning the new capabilities of the programs.
This becomes one of the major benefits of implementing
Microsoft Business Certification Professional Development.
Each individual demonstrates proficiency in the most
complete set of application features. And with each
new certification, employers can be assured of a direct
correlation to improved productivity.
Excel
PowerPoint
Outlook
Word
Percentage of 40-hour work week
Since many workers in today’s economy use Microsoft Office
applications (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access) to do their
work, greater skill in these applications results in an overall
more effective performance.2
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Bottom line benefits to business.
Better employees make better businesses.
Certification is the critical element in helping you
identify
and retain the most qualified individuals for your business.
It equips supervisors with the ability to accurately assign
tasks. It builds the confidence of employees, who can tap
into new features and functionality to complete tasks more
efficiently. As a result, employee satisfaction increases,
along with the company’s performance.
Employers can use Microsoft Business Certification to:
• Make informed hiring decisions Bad hires can cost a company up
to two times the employee’s annual salary.1 Certification provides
a meaningful measure for screening applicants, so selecting them
can significantly reduce that risk.
• Develop top performers Workers with Microsoft Office
credentials are more productive and are ready to support business
objectives. And with the satisfaction that comes from doing a job
well, most employees who complete certification report a greater
sense of loyalty to their employer and satisfaction from their
job.2
” Microsoft Office certification
goes into the depth and detail
that they really need. Our staff
benefits because we want to
see them move forward and
develop. Also, the lawyers
benefit when they get work
turned out more quickly and
accurately. Clients get well-
presented documents back
in good time, and it makes
it clearer for them.”
Jane RutherfordTraining ManagerAnderson Strathern Law Firm
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Implementing Microsoft Business CertificationProfessional
Development.
Microsoft Business Certification Professional Development is
an easy-to-implement turnkey solution that supports every
level of your organization’s certification efforts. Our
best-
practice methodology includes three stages:
Assess
Certiprep™ is the premier assessment and self-paced
preparation tool for Microsoft Office certifications,
allowing
organizations to get an easy benchmark of employee skills.
Certiprep accurately simulates the certification testing
environment, mapping directly to the certification exam
objectives and employing the same technology.
“ Planning a training program is
often a challenging task for
any training and development
professional. [This program
gives] trainees an opportunity
to not only learn more about
Microsoft Office but also
earn a valuable credential.”
Tina Jackson Independent Computer Trainer
Many organizations also use Certiprep as a practice test for
employees who are preparing to attain certification. Those
employees that can successfully score a minimum of 85%
on a timed practice exam are typically ready to achieve full
certification. Proven by a registered Microsoft Certified
Learning Consultant (MCLC), this model has been used
to effectively certify hundreds of individuals.
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Train
Personalized learning plans can be created based
on each employee’s initial assessment. More than
a review of common concepts, this targeted
instruction can address particular deficiencies,
preparing each employee to achieve certification.
Certify
With more than 12,000 testing centers worldwide,
Certiport is the proven leader in providing turnkey
certification solutions. Certification provides
employees an opportunity to expand and validate
the breadth and depth of their skill in Microsoft
Office applications, ultimately leading to optimal
performance and the ability to achieve key
business objectives.
Workers who achieve certification have a lot to offer
their employers. Our research has shown most certified
employees are anxious to display their computing prowess
through new opportunities or activities that demonstrate
their value to the organization. Recognizing their achieve-
ment pays dividends for the company.2
Training your own dedicated resources means your
company can conveniently offer Microsoft Business
Certification Professional Development as often as
needed. Certiport offers workshops for trainers to
certify, learn the best training practices, and receive
systems training to administer certification exams.
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Begin achieving your full potential.
Learn more about Microsoft Business Certification Professional
Development.
As the official launch partner for Microsoft, Certiport
has all of the resources to help you implement Microsoft
Business Certification within your organization, including
program marketing tools. Build momentum for enterprise-
wide certification with customizable tools designed for
all levels of your organization.
We’re confident we can help you achieve the full potential
of a productive workforce. The benefits of certification
extend throughout your organization, from maintaining
top performers to improving the bottom line.
Contact Certiport today to find out how you can offer
a professional development program that gives your
organization productivity, employee satisfaction, and
a competitive edge.
1-888-999-9830 [email protected]
Learn more about Microsoft Business Certification at
www.certiport.com/microsoftbusiness
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Become a Microsoft instructor.
Use your own skills to help teach others
to prepare and achieve Microsoft Office
certification. Your experience as a trainer
who has completed the rigors of Microsoft
Office certification programs will add
credibility to your instruction.
According to a survey of instructors,
achieving this designation provided:
• Personal Satisfaction
• Skill Development
• Advancement in profession
• Credibility
• Instructional Preparation
For more details, please visit www.certiport.com/instructor
1 “Preventing Bad Hires: The Value of Objective Prehire
Assessment,” IDC, 2007.
2 “Post-Microsoft Office Certification Survey,” Certiport,
2007.
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About Certiport
Certiport is the world leader in standards-based
certification
solutions that enable personal and professional advancement
through globally portable and industry-recognized
credentials.
As the official launch partner with Microsoft, Certiport has
more than ten years experience developing and distributing
Microsoft exams. Certiport also validates skill in Web
design
and multimedia applications with Adobe® Certified Associate,
and fundamental skills with computer hardware, software,
and the Internet with Certiport Internet and Computing Core
Certification (IC3®).
Certiport delivers exams in 128 countries and 21 languages.
More than 75,000 exams are administered each month
through more than 12,000 Certiport Centers worldwide.
Business Solutions
[email protected]
Telephone: 1 (888) 999-9830
1 (801) 847-3100
Fax: 1 (801) 492-4118
© 2008 Certiport, Inc. 2/08
