What can you tell me about ESRI GIS certification?

[Cathina_Gunn_de_Rosas]

I'm considering getting GIS certified - I have a couple of questions for people who have taken the exams:

- What is the cost? Is it just the exams or is there some other cost component?

- Are there special prep classes you thought it was wise to take, or did you just study and take it on your own?

- Does the certification need renewal / maintenance at prescribed time intervals?

And lastly, do you think the ESRI certification is superior to the GISP? And why?

Thanks for any information! 

[TimWitt2]

Cathina,

this is a very nice page that answers most of your questions: Overview of Esri Technical Certification

Tim

[WesMiller · Accepted solution]

Cathina Tim Witt​ gave you a site to answer most of your questions i'm just going to comments on the things i don't think you'll find on the site.

Does the certification need renewal / maintenance at prescribed time intervals?

That to me is sort of the catch you don't have to renew your certification and the emblem i received does not have 10.1 on it but with each release there is another test configured for the new release and to certify in that version you will need to take the entire test there are no upgrade test like in microsoft.

And lastly, do you think the ESRI certification is superior to the GISP? And why?

I don't think the ESRI certification is superior to the GISP. The GISP has education, experience and contribution elements and recently they've added test, to getting the certification.

To get the ESRI certification you need to be very familiar with the ESRI product and workflows.

At a recent user group meeting it was mentioned that more companies are searching for employees who have GISP.

I hope this helps!