This summer, I had the opportunity to attend the CERTIFIED Educator Conference, which is designed to help educators around the world as they introduce and enforce the need for certification to accompany traditional learning models. During one of the sessions I attended, I was challenged to find an alum or two who had gone through our certification experience and hear their story of how certification impacted them.
As luck would have it, a few weeks later, I was scrolling on LinkedIn and saw a post announcing a new position for Jacob Becker, SMU Cox alumnus from the Class of 2020. Within 24 hours, I reached out to Jacob eagerly. Jacob was not only an alum who was certified through our program, but he was in fact our first SMU student to pursue Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) certification!
In 2020, Jacob told me he knew he would be using Excel heavily and wanted to pursue certification so he could stand out in the job market. When we caught up recently, it was clear that not only did certification help him to stand out in the interview process, it’s still paying dividends.
Jacob Becker: A Certification Success Story
Listen to how Jacob’s certification has helped him throughout his career and the advice he has for students.
Getting Certified
The Microsoft Office Specialist certification program here at SMU celebrates seven years this fall. This semester, I am working with over a dozen faculty members who are offering certification in nine courses, totaling 25 class sections! If you are interested in exploring the option to add certification to your course, feel free to reach out to me.
Certifications are available to faculty, staff, and students. Want to create your own success story? Visit smu.edu/certified for more information.
