Is it really a great benefit to become certified? On average how much more can you potentially earn.

You will have both sides of the fence on this one. In my opinion NONE!
Register for all the sites you can without certification.
It was in the past for the high end shops that certified helped. In this economy I think those shops are few and far between except in certain markets such as Hawaii.

I'm on the same side of the fence as you, CANADAMOMMY! Certification is not even an option to list with a number of company registrations. Certainly certifications other than that of the MSPA are never even an option to list. Only a few die hards who spent the money for silver or gold certifications have to feel it did them SOME good so they don't feel like total fools for having done it. Similarly paid 'training' such as DSS was offering and pay to shop outfits fall into the same kind of useless category. If you have any initiative at all you can find what you need on job boards and forums without someone sending you an email notification.

I think this conversation has gone round and round on another forum, given the "high end HI shops" comment....

I shop many high end stores in HI, and I do not have the "gold." I only got the "silver" to get one restaurant that it was required for - NOT fine dining, but is better than moderate dining, about $110 for two (and if you guys are out there rolling around laughing at the description, then it is clear you live somewhere where the cost of EVERYTHING is much cheaper than here, which would be many of you.... :-) It worked, and I did the job many times before they stopped being shopped. That opened the door to get another place they did that was FD, based on the work I did on the other.

I thought the "training" was stupid common sense, and had I not made it back on the one shop, I would have been pissed. I would hope that for the money charged, the gold is heartier, more in-depth, for experienced shoppers. But that would be contrary to most reports I have heard.

Thanks for your input and that is exactly what I thought.

But it is certainly understandable that newbies want to get started quickly and fall into that hole of wanting to buy a certification or pay for lists to get off to 'a good start'. But even if you have the certs and have the lists the issue is still the same--being awarded the job. The MSPA in their statements indicates that 'all things being equal, a certified shopper MAY [emphasis mine] have an advantage in being awarded the shop.' When do you know of that 'all things' were equal between two individuals? Even if both were brand new shoppers, if the age, income or education matched closer to what the client wanted (or the scheduler was comfortable dealing with) with shopper A than shopper B, shopper A would be more likely to get the job. But chances are that shopper C has requested the job as well and has previously performed 10 good shops with 0 unacceptable shops for the company, so guess who gets the job?

It boils down to building your registration with the company to show you are literate, responsible, reliable and have a variety of interests. Then sign up for any and all jobs you feel you could competently perform. Then perform your tail off so you start building a reputation with the company. We all restart that process whenever we apply with a new-to-us company and it works! I know a few companies who indicate they prefer certified shoppers but that has never gotten in the way of performing well on what an uncertified shopper has been given. The company's goal is to get good reports done in a timely fashion that need little editing and are client acceptable. If you are doing that for them, they will love you.

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Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 10/07/2009 02:35PM by surveygrrll.

You indicate you are with an MSP. Are you an editor, scheduler, number cruncher . . .? The reason I ask is because, if you are a scheduler, do you give credence to the certifications when assigning jobs? If you have two new-to-your-company shoppers asking for the same job, what is the most powerful 'qualification' to choose one over the other (assuming both meet at least the minimum education, income and age requirements for the job)?

Most of us work for companies that are part of the MSPA. I have never heard of this previously. What MSC required being certified to the point that they are willing to pay out $100 per shopper they utilize to ensure they are using gold certified shoppers?