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New Certification Time Frames

Everything You Need to Know

On April 20, 2017, HubSpot Academy extended six certification time frames from being valid for one year to two years*. 

The updated certifications are as follows:

  • Inbound Certification
  • Content Marketing Certification
  • Email Marketing Certification
  • Inbound Sales Certification
  • Growth-Driven Design Agency Certification
  • Agency Partner Certification (for HubSpot agency partners only)

*Note: We say two years, but technically a certification is valid for two years and one month as we offer a one-month grace period for our users to recertify.

WHO THIS AFFECTS

Anyone who is currently certified in any of the certifications mentioned above at the time of the change and announcement. This means if you were certified in March 2016 or afterward, you should expect to see an additional year added onto your badge and certificate. 

In addition, anyone who's certified from this point onward will have two years (exactly 25 months from when the certification is first acquired) of being certified.

Click here to login to your portal to see your new certification status.


WHERE CAN I SEE THIS NEW CHANGE?

Login to your HubSpot Academy account, and view any of the certifications on your learning center homepage. 

From here, you should be able to see the status in the format of "Valid - Month Year", or select the eye icon to see more information like your score, share to social media, access your badge's embed code, or download and print your certificate.

VIEW CERTIFICATION STATUS.png

 

WHY MAKE THIS CHANGE?

Since the inception of HubSpot Academy's certifications, we've sent out a post-certification survey to our users. In this survey, we ask for insights of all kinds — questions about their experience, demographic information, and questions focused on how we can improve. During the past year, we've seen a tremendous uptick in the number of people asking us to revisit the time frames our certifications are valid for. 

From this uptick in communication, we decided to complete some research. Our Academy team members embarked on a project to uncover the state of the market, the pace of change within the market, and much more to determine if there needed to be an update made to the certifications' duration. Much of our research indicated yes. We sent an email to over 30,000 certified users asking them for their feedback on this topic. You can see the collective results below.

 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

Why not keep it to one year, move it to three years, or extend them forever?

We looked into all options, but we came to the conclusion that two years is best. It's the decision that our research and feedback from 4,500 certified users culminated in.

The reason they're not extended to forever is because when a user is certified, HubSpot can confidently stand behind the individual and their knowledge. When a company is looking to hire a certified candidate, we want to be comfortable in being able state that they do have the knowledge or experience in the area in which they're certified. If our certifications extended on forever, their value would be diminished, and HubSpot could not confidently support this knowledge, especially if our users haven't gone through the education and exam for quite some time. Certificates of completion are fantastic, but they don't indicate a person's current proficiency.

While three years seems like a feasible option, the rate at which the market is evolving is fast paced. In just this past decade, the inbound space has not only emerged but shifted radically. And now we're in the middle of two more significant changes — content shock is grabbing hold and lead and customer interactions are transforming through the development of bots. Because of this, we felt our research was correct in that two years is a more appropriate timeline.

What should I do now?

Now that your efforts are even more valuable because your certification status is extended to an additional year, we recommend starting another course. Since the launch of our educational partner program, we've been teaching inbound in colleges around the world, and our content is becoming a requirement for many hiring and marketing teams, so we recommend taking the time to skill-up in any of the following courses. 

Want to gain the compounding benefits of having multiple certifications? Check out our different course tracks here.

Which certifications will remain at the 13-month time span?

The following certifications, which are more technical in nature, will remain valid for 13 months:

  • HubSpot Marketing Software Certification
  • HubSpot Sales Software Certification
  • HubSpot Design Certification
  • HubSpot Contextual Marketing Certification

On a similar note, we recently opened all HubSpot software-focused courses and training to anyone. Any person, whether a HubSpot user or not, can review the classes of the certifications above. A large piece of feedback we received from non-customers was their desire to see the training available andthe software before buying.

What if my certification expired in March 2017?

If it expired at the time of the announcement, you will need to recertify. When you do become certified, it will be valid for two years.

Why is it 25 months instead of just two years (24 months)?

We offer a one-month grace period for our certified users to become recertified, which is the extra month you see added to the two-year time frame.

How can I see if the people on my team are still certified?

Login to your HubSpot account, select the graduation cap in the top right and select "Training and certifications" from the drop down.Then select the "My team" link from your learning center's homepage.

How can I encourage someone on my team to get certified?

Share this link: https://app.hubspot.com/signup/academy/.

Are there plans to update the recertification process?

Yes. We heard the feedback from our survey, and we agree — there needs to be changes to the way users get recertified. We're currently in the process of researching potential options. 

Can I see the terms of service?

Sure thing. Here's our HubSpot TOS, our certifications expiration policy, and our general TOS for our certifications.

How can I provide feedback, share my thoughts, or get help?

We'd love to hear from you. Head over to our community thread for certifications and share your thoughts with us.