Certifications
Certifications covers professional credentials that demonstrate specialized competence - insurance designations, fraud-examination credentials, accounting and audit licenses, and state licenses with fraud relevance. The test is whether each credential is earned, current, and verifiable.
Commonly recognized credentials
- Insurance designations: CPCU, AIC, ARM, AINS, SCLA, FCLS.
- Fraud and financial-crime credentials: CFE, CAMS, and comparable programs.
- Accounting and related licenses: CPA and equivalents.
- State producer or adjuster licenses where fraud investigation is within scope.
Verification standards
Issuer confirmation, a certificate with credential number, and current continuing-education compliance. A designation that has lapsed does not count, and an examination passed without the designation being conferred generally does not either.
Worked example
A candidate holds a current CPCU and CFE and also lists a lapsed AIC. Reasoning: CPCU is credited as insurance education, CFE as fraud-examination competence, and each is supported by an issuer-verifiable credential number. The lapsed AIC is excluded because currency is part of the standard. Listing it anyway would invite a question about the rest of the application.
Traps that cost marks
- Listing “candidate” or “in progress” status as a credential.
- Counting one designation twice, once as education and once as certification.
- Assuming an expired credential still scores.
- Naming an acronym without the issuing organization, which blocks verification.