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Pushing Through the Glass Ceiling

By Eric Leitner, BA, CSM, CIM, C.Tech., OAAAS

Many Technicians and Technologists work for small companies at which their particular skills and talents are easily identified by the people in charge. Far more work in medium and large sized enterprises where their skills may go unnoticed against a backdrop of hundreds of fellow employees.

In these cases, it is somewhat harder to be selected as the one amongst many deserving that next big promotion. How much harder does the task become when applying for a higher level position in another organization. Often, having technical competencies is no measure of business acumen. Our members can find themselves pushed up against a glass ceiling if they have no way to demonstrate leadership ability.

OACETT members already know the value in being certified members of a professional association. We already are, or are working towards, C.Tech., A.Sc.T. or C.E.T. designations. These titles attest to our technical abilities and experience. Similar designations exist with other associations to measure management skills.

One such association is the Canadian Institute of Management (Institut Canadien de Gestion). Their four levels of designations are:

• Certificate in Supervisory Management (CSM)
• Certified in Management (CIM)
• Professional Manager (P.Mgr.)
• Chartered Manager (F.CIM)

While the latter two are perhaps more lofty goals, requiring no less than a B.Com or MBA and five to seven years of professional management experience, the entry level designations are more easily reached and merit a closer look.

The requirements of the Certificate in Supervisory Management (CSM) with the Canadian Institute of Management are four college or university level courses. These are namely Organizational Behaviour, Business Communications, Business Law and one options course from a pre-approved list which varies from region to region. (Check with your local CIM Branch.)

Reaching the CSM level also recently became a whole lot easier for OACETT members. Any member who has successfully passed the Professional Practice Exam (PPE) will be granted an equivalency to the Canadian Business Law course. This means that a CSM is at most a three course matter for our members.

CIM also has a great system for evaluating relevant work experience. Members with suitable backgrounds could try to apply for additional exemptions.

Alternately, colleges and universities have Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR) programs. Essentially, you would provide documentation to prove that you already know the subject matter to a sufficient level, or in some cases pay to write the course's final exam.

Essentially, the CSM Certificate would be only two to three courses away for most OACETT members. This could be accomplished in four to eight months through most universities or local colleges. Some institutes, such as Carleton University's Sprott School of Business, offer many of these courses over a compressed two weekend schedule. Most colleges, such as Algonquin, have continuing education evening courses. CIM also has a correspondence program in place for all of its courses.

The cost of pursuing this Certificate is also quite minimal. Aside from the college or university classes, CIM would charge somewhere in the neighbourhood of $200 to process an application. This fee varies slightly from region to region. While there is an annual membership due with CIM, it is not required to maintain the introductory CSM Certificate level.

The Institute's second level of membership is the Certified in Management (CIM) professional designation. Only four additional courses would be required beyond the CSM Certificate. These are namely Managerial Accounting, Managerial Finance, Strategic Policy Analysis and a second option course. The annual dues of roughly $200 are required to maintain CIM and higher levels of certification.

Just imagine how much better your chances could be applying for that recently posted management opening with a CSM and possibly even a CIM professional designation on your résumé to follow your existing C.Tech., A.Sc.T., or C.E.T. technical designation. We'll be rooting for you!

Eric Leitner, BA, CSM, CIM, C.Tech., OAAAS, is the Chair of the Ottawa Chapter of OACETT as well as the Director of Education for the Ottawa Valley Branch of the Canadian Institute of Management. He also runs ÆSIR International Ltd., an Ottawa based CADD consulting and training company.

For more information on CIM, visit www.CIM.ca.