Recently, I was trained in Wilderness First Aid and CPR. I learned a lot and could come up with the correct answers during the assessment. However, I have never treated someone with a serious injury or illness. My instructor is an EMT. He has firsthand, real world experience in all of the techniques he taught us. If I was injured and had the choice, I would choose someone like him to help over someone like me. Experience is an important part of determining someone’s qualifications and the reason why, here at NICET, we take the experience portion of the application process seriously.
Industry Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) set the minimum standard for experience at each level during the certification program development stage. NICET staff measure the applicants experience against that minimum standard and determines if the certification requirements are met. In order for NICET staff to make a defendable decision, applicants must submit accurate, complete, consistent documentation on NICET forms following the application instructions.
The Work History section should be the same regardless of the certification subfield the applicant is seeking. Use Section 2 -- Time Allocation to document time spent in different subfield specialty areas and other work you may do. NICET will award the maximum amount of time allowed by the industries toward the certification requirement. Remember to:
· Submit Sections 1, 2 and 3 of the form for each position held.
· Include from and to, month and year for all positions held including your current position.
· Account for all gaps
· Sign and date each page
· After initial submission only provide updates since the last submission unless directed by NICET.
NICET retains and reviews all submitted certification documentation for each application, for higher levels and additional subfield applications. Potentially, NICET can be asked to defend the decision to award certification in court or other arbitration. NICET cannot award certification if inconsistencies exist.
A candidate’s record is entered in the queue to be reviewed when NICET receives the passing exam results. NICET reviews the candidates file on a first-come/first-served basis. While each individual review typically takes between one and three hours, the timeframe it takes to get through the queue varies based on the number and complexity of applications already received. NICET strives to complete all reviews within 90 days of the exam requirement being met. At the completion of the review NICET either issues certification or if all certification requirements are not met we issue a Conditional Decision Letter (CDL). The CDL describes what is missing or deficient and instructs the candidate on what to do next.
Writing CDLs is one of the costliest and time consuming tasks that NICET staff perform. We recognize every time we write a CDL we disappoint a customer and delay everyone else in the queue from getting reviewed. We do not like writing CDLs, but it is our responsibility to accurately determine if someone has met the qualifications and we take it seriously. While there are some candidates that simply don’t have the experience yet, many just don’t document it in a way that is meaningful to making a certification decision.