certification

I have been shopping for several years and am wondering if I need to be certified? Does it really help or is needed?

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Click the link under your post and read all about it. It's a topic of much controversy.

Time to build a bigger bridge.

Some believe it makes them better shoppers while others feel that their work speaks for itself and they don't need to pay the MSPA for the title. It's your choice.

Her Serene Majesty, Cettie - Goat Queen of Zoltar, Sublime Empress of Her Caprine Domain

I just this minute (well, maybe five minutes ago) finished my Gold certification test. Waiting on the grading of the narrative part. Test was easier than I thought it would be.

Time to build a bigger bridge.

how can test make you a better shopper?

Because the MSPA says so once you pay them your money.

Her Serene Majesty, Cettie - Goat Queen of Zoltar, Sublime Empress of Her Caprine Domain

@Cettie wrote:

Some believe it makes them better shoppers while others feel that their work speaks for itself and they don't need to pay the MSPA for the title. It's your choice.

I don't think I have ever heard someone say it makes them a better shopper.
I think the argument has always been that some people get shops that didn't get otherwise.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind

i looked at web site. it says,

Intro to Mystery Shopping Certification (formerly silver certification)
This is your introduction to mystery shopping. This certification course will teach you the basics and serve as a foundation for your future in the industry.

where does it say better shopper?

I don't think it makes you a better shopoer. It definitely identifies you as one.

They're not just tests. They're training. You will learn things from the process that would take a long time to teach you just learning things shop by shop.

It's like the difference between stumbling around on your own trying to learn to use Quickbooks versus taking a class at the community college and learning to use it in a few hours. On your own, you'll learn to do the things most important to you but in a class you will learn about features you never thought to look for. Training may teach you skills to help you in shops you haven't yet tried or were afraid to try.

Having been through both of them at this point, I can say they can be of use to newer shoppers and a good refresher for former shoppers who return to it, but not much actual value to long-term, currently active shoppers.

Unless the schedulers do give preference to the people with certifications, which many say they do.

I expect I'll get my money's worth out of it in the long run.

Time to build a bigger bridge.

I think companies may also feel shoppers who invest the money and time to take the test, are serious about their business and less likely to flake or return a fraudulent report. With so little to go on when they receive an application from a potential shopper, this is something to help identify the ones who consider MSing a profession and not a lark.

That's not to say that those who choose not to participate aren't good, serious, professional shoppers or that just because you DO get the certification that it suddenly elevates you. It's just a tool that may work more often than not.

There are two types of people in this world: Those who can extrapolate from incomplete data.

@dspeakes wrote:

Unless the schedulers do give preference to the people with certifications, which many say they do.

I expect I'll get my money's worth out of it in the long run.

keep us updated. i am curious.

I think it is a benefit to be certified, when you can, where you can. As some one stated it shows us to be mystery shoppers. I am a full time mystery shopper. In the signature line of my e-mail are my MSPA gold and silver certifications and dates, my Undercover Video Certification from 2011. My MSPA video certification from 2015, my Nevada Work card status and the expiration date. These help show me to be a shopper to the companies I apply and respond to. It also shows that I am carrying on a business (along with my EIN) if I am audited by the IRS or other government agencies.

well, I'm officially Gold Certified. I think when I go through and enter the code (which will take me a week!) I'll take a couple screen shots of the job boards to see if anything new pops up after the code takes.

Time to build a bigger bridge.

Congrats and good idea!

I am still trying to find an aswer if I can do gold without doing silver...
I emailed to MSPA, but did not get the answer...
anyone here with gold and without silver?

Good question and I don't know the answer. Do let us know when you find out. I'm betting they will require you to do Silver first.

Time to build a bigger bridge.

I have gold without first getting silver.

Ironically, I had a harder time getting through the Silver test than I did the Gold. But I had only been shopping a few months when I did Silver and I've been shopping almost 3 years before doing Gold so I knew a lot more already.

Time to build a bigger bridge.

Preliminary update:

It's hard to put my finger on it, but I seem to be seeing "different" shops in my inbox now. Previously most of my emails were the same-old, same-old but since entering my Gold code I'm seeing a few emails from companies I haven't seen before, and some different kinds of shops from existing companies. But this is not really an objective thing, just a sense. I find myself opening more emails because they are "different." Most emails I just delete because I know i'm not going to do that "get the drug test first" shop for GfK and some of the others that we all get multiples of every day.

I'm going to be shopping a shooting range this month from a company I've never worked for before.

So my feeling is, yes, I think I'm seeing more shops than I was when I was only Silver, but it's too soon to conclude it's not just a coincidence. I'll know more when the June shops come out and can judge if I'm being offered shops by email before they hit the boards.

Time to build a bigger bridge.

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