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A reader writes in:
I’m wondering which, if any, certifications would stand out on a CV as valuable to a search committee at a teaching-heavy institution? If there are some, what are they? I’ve seen places offering DEI certs and other pedagogy related certs, but I don’t know if the ROI is for getting one or multiple of them.
I don't know. What do you all think? Does anyone have any helpful insights on how certifications might benefit a job candidate applying to your department?
I was on a teaching-focused search this past year. Teaching certifications in general helped candidates make the long shortlist because they provided additional evidence that the candidate was serious about being (or becoming) a good teacher. What helped even more were certifications that spoke to things specifically listed in the job (things like: interdisciplinary education, teaching writing, service-based teaching, experience interacting with first gen college students).
More generally:
It’s common to hear that one should “show” and not merely “tell” in their cover letter, teaching statement, and so on. Well, having a certificate can help you “show.”
That said, I don’t know how time-intensive getting these certifications are. Having a job (you know…one which pays $$$ 🙂 ) which gives you relevant experience (say, teaching writing to 1st gen college students) would make you stand out better than a certification would.
I think there are good reasons why pedagogy certs have a good ROI.
1. Good certification programs really help one develop as a pedagogue. There is a lot of research on student learning and teaching that one may not be aware of–you will be challenged to practice new teaching methods and be even more aware of how you engage all of your students. If a job talk at my teaching-focused university is a boring lecture, the candidate will not get the job.
2. Good certification programs help one acquire “pedagogy lingo” that assists one in communicating their teaching philosophy. Most people at teaching-focused schools take teaching seriously and invest in professional development. Being able to speak the language of pedagogy is important. These programs will help you develop your teaching philosophy, teaching portfolio, cover letters, and other materials. [Indeed, getting to know the program director can open a door for you to have that person read over your teaching statement, etc.]
3. Good certification programs will require you to engage individuals from other programs. I always enjoyed the cross-campus community that develops.
4. Certification programs indicate serious interest in teaching. That you are willing to participate in a semester or year-long program devoted to pedagogy signals that you may well succeed/flourish at a teaching-heavy school. I don’t think this indication is a strong point in one’s favor, but I think it is signal that can only help.
5. As someone who has been on many job searches, I can tell you that these certification programs do not make or break the CV. However, if candidate A has taught two classes solo while candidate B has taught two classes solo and also has two/three pedagogy certification, all else being equal, candidate B stands out slightly more.
6. Again, as someone who has been on many job searches, I can report that most candidates have some certification or other. In the terrible job-market rat race, my impression (just my impression) is that candidates now are getting these types of certifications in addition to solo teaching experience and publications.
I don’t think these certs make or break a candidate, and most certainly committee members judge them differently, some more highly than others. Still, I don’t think any committee member at a teaching-focused institution would ever count such things against a candidate.
Again, I can’t stress this enough, good programs will help you develop your cover letter, teaching statement, teaching portfolio, and teaching demonstration.
I am not sure how much certificates matter as far as enhancing one’s CV. These kinds of items definitely don’t carry as much weight to most committee members as publications, solo teaching experience, distinguished awards, and so on. But they could be valuable in providing useful information to incorporate into diversity statements, teaching statements, and broader portfolios. To write good statements, you need to present concrete evidence that you are invested in improving your pedagogical abilities and promoting diversity and inclusiveness. Completing these certification programs provides some of that evidence.
I’ve got to admit, I’ve never paid any attention to these certifications and probably won’t in the future. I don’t know what half of them are, and I’m not even that interested in finding out – I’m more interested in assessing the things I know how to assess, like the CV, writing sample, research statement and so on.
In general, the attitude in my department is that actual classroom experience or publications matter near infinitely more than certificates. Having concrete (and complete) feedback reports from students is going to give us an actual picture of what you’re like in the classroom.
Having said that, if we’re looking at two otherwise equal candidates with little to no teaching experience and little to no publication record then certifications may be helpful to us in crafting a long short list. I’ll admit though that, in the job market as it exists today, people are rarely hired in places like mine without teaching and research experience under their belts (which one matters more will depend on whether the job is tenure stream or not). Certificates won’t replace those.
Because time and intellectual energy are zero sum, I would normally not recommend going through a certification program in lieu of actual teaching or research.
In my teaching oriented department, this kind of certifications can be helpful when we are considering otherwise equal candidates. In our last search, there were quite a few “otherwise equal candidates.” We considered certifications, teaching awards, etc. in order to finalize the shortlist for the first-round interview. But I do not think those certifications matter much after that.
This is anecdotal data but it backs up the “can’t hurt, might really help” theory. I earned two certificates: one pedagogy related, and one bioethics certificate (bioethics is an interest of mine, but not an AOS or AOC). Both required some extra coursework and a final project. I received two on-campus interviews for teaching jobs and was told by both committees that especially the bioethics certificate was attractive to them (both schools had large populations of nursing majors that needed to take health care ethics to graduate). I had a LOT of other teaching credentials/experience so I don’t know how the pedagogy certificate stacked up, but nobody mentioned that.
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