The FELTG Certified Practitioner Program

Have you heard about FELTG’s Certified Practitioner program? For full-week participants in our open enrollment seminars, FELTG now offers certification as a trained and tested practitioner in the following specialized areas of federal employment law:

• MSPB Law and Practice
• EEOC Law and Practice
• FLRA Law and Practice
• MSPB & EEOC Hearing Advocacy

Frankly, we had hoped that the Office of Personnel Management would offer this certification, or perhaps one or more of the oversight agencies as part of their outreach programs. However, as we have been unsuccessful at convincing The Powers That Be that continuing education and testing in this field are vital and in the best interests of America, we have decided to do it ourselves. Here’s how it works:

• The program is open to all attorneys, human resources specialists, and union officials who participate in all five days of one of the above-listed open-enrollment seminars.
• On the first day of the program, each participant will be given the choice as to whether to become a candidate for certification, or to forego the opportunity and to complete the program without the certification option.
• Those who choose to become candidates will participate as is usual in our seminar. The primary difference is that at the end of each day, for those who have chosen to become certification candidates, our instructors will administer a written test covering the topics that were presented during that day.
• Candidates who successfully complete each of the five daily tests will receive a special “Certified Practitioner” certificate and FELTG lapel pen at the end of the program to denote their unique accomplishment. Those who do not complete each test successfully are, of course, welcome to return for refresher training and another chance at certification when the program is repeated later in our calendar.

For the successful candidates in the FELTG certification program, we will stand behind you whenever your knowledge in the field of federal employment law becomes a relevant issue. For example, if you apply for a position that requires a particular skill in an area of federal employment law, upon request we will provide a statement to the selecting official as to exactly what you have demonstrated your knowledge in by completion of the testing process. Or, perhaps you are looking for an accomplishment that demonstrates the high level of performance you have attained during a particular appraisal year. Becoming certified as to your proficiency by an outside organization might well be the difference in a summary rating between “Exceeds Expectations” and “Outstanding.” If nothing else, the cool certification lapel pen will serve to strike fear and wonder into those with whom you come into contact professionally.

We hope you will give professional certification serious consideration. It’s one thing to call yourself an employment law specialist; it’s another thing altogether to prove you deserve that characterization. Join the best of the best. Become FELTG-certified good at what you do.