Nope.

I think at this stage any “accreditation” programs would be worthless. Although I am waiting for the Communications (Social Media) degree to be offered at college/university soon (if they haven’t done so already).

Cheers,
Russ

The eMarketing Association just launched a Certified Social Media Associate (?) program this week. The test is $249 and the prep course is $99. They also offer other certifications.

@alexandrabriggs You’re right that since it’s a new program, there may not be a lot of confidence in it yet. Only time will tell. If you can get onto the LinkedIn group, there have been some discussions about the test already. You can download the topic areas to review what gaps that you might need to fill in (for me that would be Facebook and YouTube!).

Good luck!

@alexandrabriggs @russellallert In my opinion, like almost every career in the world, experience is key. Schooling can only tell u so much and in my experiences in school it’s very “in-the-box” thinking. No originality. Which is probably the oppose of what a good SMM should do. Just my two cents.

I tend to agree with you overall  @russellallert but I am working towards my PMP as I am overlapping my Marketing and Project work and wonder if in the near future we will have a certification or accreditation along the lines of the PMP within the field of Marketing.

@russellallert Project Management Professional (http://www.pmi.org/Certification/Project-Management-Professional-PMP.aspx)

@alexandrabriggs I think certification is important. Not as important as experience, but still important.  With a certification from a reputable source clients can, at a glance, be assured of your knowledge level. I think the challenge is to find a reputable certification program since we have such a “new” business.

PMP is a certification is an ISO standard – ISO standing for International Organization for Standardization. There’s nothing out there right now for social media. Anyone offering a certification is basically making up the curriculum and then testing you on their made up stuff. A certification typically demonstrates competency in a body of knowledge. Since there is no established body of knowledge that demonstrates competence, and isn’t recognized by a global community, we can take classes and webinars all day and it won’t be considered a certification. Just like Samantha said – even if students did take a certification class, it won’t make them qualified to do anything, just like learning about fashion doesn’t make you a clothing designer. 

I think Full Sail university offers a major in social media but I doubt that it’s valued in the marketplace as yet.