Anyone MSPA silver/gold certified?

Just curious if and how many people have become certified...was thinking of doing the silver one for $20. But do you notice a difference after being certified, more shops, better recognition?

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I know some say it doesn't matter and some say they got more shops.

I know for me?...I believe it helps.

I've been certified for 10 whole hours now! I can't say I've noticed a difference. There is one kind of big client I can see for one MSC that I couldn't see this morning, but there are TONS of shops for them so it's possible I could see them already and they just put them in today.

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

I've been Silver Certified for a long time and never did notice a difference. I have read some Gold Certified shoppers saying they noticed a difference but I've been able to get plenty of work so have never bothered.

The one time I noticed a difference was actually pretty recently when I was on the phone with a scheduler with a company I hadn't worked with before and as he was trying to determine my qualifications for an audit he said sort-of to himself, "looks like you're silver certified, so thats good."
That's the only time I've ever noticed it referenced.

______________________________________________________________________
Seriously, nobody cares that you're offended.

I've been mystery shopping for 21 years now and have no certifications. My own viewpoint is I don't plan to put my money in the MSPA's pocket.

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

Silver - Whatever - Don't think it's helped. Bla bla bla.

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Some times you just have to turn around, give a little smile, toss the match, set the bridge ablaze, and walk away.

Silver Certified on the Carolina Coast. You want fries with that?

I have been silver certified for a long time. There is only one company that I notice a difference with. They offer their shops to gold and silver certified first.

I have been silver for so long, I can't say what it's like not to be.....there are some that do offer jobs and ask for your certification #, I'm glad I got mine when I did, it can't hurt, only helps!!

Live consciously....

Hello, Nicky. I'm gold certified and I did it not too long after I started shopping. I noticed a difference after I silver certified and then I noticed another difference after I gold certified.

It's not necessary to certify to be successful. If you already have more work than you can do now then you're in good shape. The silver is not expensive and it's super easy to certify. The advantage of the silver is that it gets your name out there as someone who is interested in doing better. The gold will up the recognition level somewhat. I suggest you do the silver, evaluate what happens, and then decide if you want the gold.

The MSPA is made of of many of the companies involved in mystery shopping and you will probably eventually work for most of them that have jobs in your area. The silver and gold programs could be better and I'm hoping they'll soon be upgraded. When they are, the program may be much more expensive. As far as I know, they are now what we have available. If another organization can come up with a better program, I'll sign up for that one, too. Right now the MSPA is the only group that's made anything available.

Mary Davis Nowell. Based close to Fort Worth. Shopping Interstate 20 east and west, Interstate 35 north and south.

I got silver certified about 10 months ago and I have not noticed one bit of difference in the amount of shops I was offered. If I had it to do over again, I'd save my money.

I have been Gold since 2003. Even though you may not see a difference it may be because you are not Gold that you do not see the difference. When I scheduled there were clients that only wanted Gold shoppers and the notices ONLY went to Gold shoppers so of course those not Gold did not see the difference.

The other difference is also in scheduling where you may not get a shop you were allowed to apply for but the client said to schedule silver or gold if there were applicants...so I might have sent out shops to everyone but was under the instruction to give gold then silver preference when actually scheduling.

Granted many may not feel the difference and belive they are getting all the work they need/want and that is fine...do whatever works for you but regardless of perception when looking at the job boards there are shops that are not available to all.

Liz

I'm curious which platforms have "hidden" shops. For instance I know in Prophet there are shops that I can't see for some companies (DSG comes to mind) and I wonder if the same is true for the sassie and shopmetrics companies?

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

Ok I feel really dumb, I went online to the MSPA and paid for the silver certification test, but I can't see where to take the test? Wtf!!? Where on the website is it? Now I'm panicking I paid $20 for nothing...

Did you pay the $20 for Silver Certification and take the free one year membership? If so, have you gotten your new member e-mail yet? This is a little different than when I did mine in 2008 so I looked on the website and it says

"Shopper Membership - If you would like to join MSPA-NA and become Silver Certified, Click Here, and the $20 fee includes Silver Certification and Shopper Membership in MSPA-NA. Shopper membership includes silver certification. Once you receive your new member email you may proceed to the shopper page of the website to begin the certification process."

bgriffin reported on another thread that this happened when he got his a couple of days ago.

I'm making myself go crazy...just paid the $20 for the silver test and now I have no idea which link/ and where to go to take the test...what did I do wrong? I even called the number and sent an email...I hope I haven't just wasted $20 doing the wrong thing! Aghhhh

Welcome, Mickey, but it isn't necessary to post the same thing in multiple threads. Go back to the other thread where you posted this question and read the answer.

Mod note: Threads combined. Nicky, please don't post the same thing in multiple places. It tends to get annoying, and also makes it difficult in the future to find pertinent information on a topic. Thanks!

Ok noted. Just don't know where to find the answer to my question and I'm pulling my hair out since I'm worried I wasted my money

Nicky, bgriffin had a similar problem and got it worked out.

Mary Davis Nowell. Based close to Fort Worth. Shopping Interstate 20 east and west, Interstate 35 north and south.

Nicky, look directly above the first time you asked this question. The answer is there.

I didn't see where the first answer was, but I did the same thing 2 nights ago. I received an email with the link the next morning. I did get a PM from an employee of an MSC that I emailed. I'm not sure if he moved things along for me or if it just takes until the next day for the link to come.

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

I became Gold Certified shortly after I started Mystery Shopping back in the 20th Century. Sometimes I get notices sent to Gold Certified Mystery Shoppers. Tonight I received an email for a high paying shop and it had two additional bonuses; one to rush the report and an added bonus if I was a Gold Certified Mystery Shopper.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/31/2014 04:45AM by Pooch5210.

Silver certified from day one so not sure if it would have made a difference or not.

However, my philosophy when I did opt to get certified was this.

I decided I wanted to shop full time, so this is my job. When I decided this I wanted to give myself the comfort in knowing that I did do something to progress myself. This certification gave me motivation and confidence when I was new.

Now, I probably will go into the gold certification at some point this year. As my business grows and I have a steady foot in the door I want to try some high end shops and I do believe that being certified shows some sort of commitment. At least that is how I would look at it if I was going to hire someone for a higher end shop.

Just my opinion...

O.o o.O

Happily shopping New England and beyond!!!!!

As a bonus it can be itemized on your tax return as an expense also, correct? I have not been certified yet, but I'm considering it.

I can't imagine ~not~ getting at least silver. There are much dumber ways to blow $20 bucks. If it gets one you decent shop. Ever. It was worth it.

~
up, up, down, down, left, right,left,right, B,A, start.

When I bit the bullet and got the Silver, I did see more shops listed. Where I only saw 5 or 6 before, suddenly I saw 15 to 20. Not necessarily shops I would be interested in, or great paying shops, just more shops.

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