Back to School - Completing CCWP

Title: My experience of becoming a Certified Contingent Workforce Professional

The Staffing Industry Analysts are the global advisor on Staffing and Workforce Solutions, alongside providing research, advise and consultancy they run the first of its type qualification within the Industry, designed to provide validation that both buyers and suppliers are experts in what they do. So earlier this year I attended and completed my Certified Contingent Workforce Professional (CCWP) course. I found it both challenging and beneficial so thought I’d write a short blog on my experience to help dispel some myths and let others see if it was for them.  

I first heard about the Certified Contingent Workforce Professional (CCWP) course while I was at the Contingent Workforce summit in Berlin last year. The CCWP is referred to as the only notable qualification in the staffing industry, and is applicable to both the buyer and supplier side i.e. the people that provide different large scale supply and delivery models within the industry and the people who manage large scale contingent workforce programmes internally. It creates a really good dynamic in the room having both sides there and allows you to see things from the other side and of course it generates some interesting debates! If you think about it, generally the contingent workforce makes up at least 10% of the whole workforce and in some cases, up to 50%, which is not only a high percentage of people working for and representing your business, but can also attract interest from many stakeholders due to the financial spend in many programmes.

 Roles is this arena are becoming much more complicated and it’s crossing boundaries between the world of recruitment, talent attraction, HR and procurement. While HR and procurement have SIPS and CIPD, there’s nothing that sits in the middle and this is exactly where I see this qualification sitting – in the middle of what will be a focus for most business in the future. It’s no longer a procurement or HR problem alone, it’s business wide!

Improving my knowledge

For me, my main drivers for attending were to understand more from the buyer side, about generating the business case, the drivers, developing the return on investment and developing programme maturity. I was also keen to improve my own knowledge in terms of risk and contractual management, gain wider industry experience and learn more about the aspects and issues with global contingent workforce management.

Getting down to business

I turned up on day one of the course with seven years’ experience, feeling fairly confident that I had a good base of learning. That was true but I realised, as the course went on, that while I knew about the top layer, I didn’t understand the mechanics involved in developing programmes from initial conception through business planning to problem solving methodologies and how to work through to programme maturity.

The actual course itself (I attended the in-person course) was nine modules over a fairly intensive (7.30am – 5.30pm) two days in Holborn. It was an intense period, but the presentations were well put together and the people who were teaching it were very knowledgeable about what they did. You’ll be pleased to know there was only a bit of homework – some margin calculations beforehand and some practice questions to do after the first session. Day 1 and 2 flew by and I really enjoyed the time with my fellow delegates and the SIA team, I’m being deliberately vague over the actual content as I wouldn’t want to spoil it for anyone!

Once the 2-day course was over we were given access to a massive online learning materials library to further our knowledge (you have access to this for 6 months). I personally put 2.5 days of study in, deep diving into the bits that were highlighted but not delved into in detail on the course and read the supplementary materials. For me this added much more meat to the bones – there were lots of relevant examples that provided more detail into the research, strategy and tactics.

Then when I felt ready, it was time for the exam, which was an online multiple choice questionnaire with 94 questions to complete in up to three hours and it is an open book…….but don’t be lulled into thinking this makes it easier! It’s worth noting that you have access to this test for up to 6 months and if required can have a second attempt.

My personal recommendation is that you take it as soon as possible afterwards as you are in the learning zone and all the information is fresh for recall! It was difficult, no doubt about it, but it's achievable with the learning provided. I found that it took me almost all of the three hours to answer the questions, so make sure you are somewhere you won’t be disturbed. Thankfully I passed! And can now use the CCWP – which came to mean a lot over those few days!

It was a great course for expanding knowledge. No matter if you think you know a lot beforehand, or if you’re reasonably new into the category, I wouldn’t be put off attending as all the information is provided for you and you will definitely learn a lot! It’s a bit of hard work and understanding but it’s 100% worthwhile. Remember if you do struggle not only will the guys at the SIA give you loads of help, but there are now a growing number of us holding the CCWP qualification over the globe that I’m sure would be more than willing to help out a fellow student, I know I would.

If you’re interested in the CWWP, you can find out more here, or if you have any questions, please leave a comment below or get in touch with me at [email protected]