Information for employers
This page contains relevant information about ITP accreditation for employers and hirers of IT professionals and is intended to provide a quick overview of the Certified Technologist and Chartered IT Professional NZ accreditations.
What is Certified Technologist (CTech)
Certified Technologist (CTech) is the new standard for IT Professionals within the first few years of their career, awarded by IT Professionals NZ.
Certified Technologists have proven fundamental standards of competence, education, experience, and ethical conduct. This is an evidence-based qualification and usually requires 3-4 years of combined education and industry experience.
Certified Technologist is not a technical or vendor certification, but a qualification that demonstrates professional practice. Certified Technologists:
- adhere to a Code of Professional Conduct
- continue to develop themselves professionally
- demonstrate they can achieve results.
Those with CTech have made a firm and tangible commitment to professionalism - they care about their professional development and doing things the right way, and that translates to a more productive and professionally mature team. Having Certified Technologists on staff also provides a significant advantage to companies from a promotional perspective (see below).
The CTech assessment process costs $95 incl GST. There is a $100 incl GST annual fee to cover the costs of running the accreditation programme (thus $195 total for the first year, then $100 pa). IITP membership is also a requirement.
What is Chartered IT Professional (CITPNZ)
Chartered IT Professional NZ (CITPNZ) is the international gold standard accreditation for senior IT professionals customised for New Zealand.
Chartered IT Professional accreditation shows internationally agreed standards of competence, education, experience, and ethical conduct are met. This is a robust evidence-based qualification and usually requires 8-10 years of combined education and industry experience, the latter to a senior level.
Chartered IT Professional is recognised both within New Zealand and abroad, and as an independently assessed competency-based qualification, provides the evidence to support senior IT professionals who want to show they achieve real results in IT. ITP is licensed to award CITP status by the UK-based BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT.
Chartered IT Professionals take responsibility for their own work and that of others and having CITPNZs on staff shows your company has made a tangible commitment to professionalism, and contract or employ the best talent in New Zealand, independently assessed by the industry's professional body.
The CITPNZ assessment process costs $395 incl GST. There is a $195 incl GST annual fee to cover the costs of running the accreditation programme (thus $590 total for the first yearm then $195 pa). ITP membership is also a requirement.
Why certification should matter to you
Both Chartered IT Professional NZ and Certified Technologist accreditations help show that your staff are independently credentialed by IT Professionals NZ, the professional body for the IT industry.
Both are practicing qualifications: rather than a degree or diploma that showed an individual possessed knowledge at a particular point in time, ITP accreditations show that as professionals, candidates have committed to ongoing professional development and staying current. Being competency-based, they also show candidates can do rather than just talk.
Accreditation also helps professionals take responsibility for their professional development, and provides incentives to advance their careers - all things that help a company develop and build a culture of ongoing professional maturity.
Through Certified Technologist and Chartered IT Professional NZ, your company can develop an internal sense of professional progress and achievement, while also promoting the independently credentialed calibre of your staff to clients and customers.
Those accredited through ITP can use the CTech and CITPNZ post nominal letters after their name (respectively) and your company has access to logos and text that can be used on tender responses and quotations, as well as websites, business cards, stationary and other promotional material.
Paying for accreditation: staff or employers?
We often get asked whether staff themselves or their employers should cover the cost of accreditation.
This is an individual decision for each organisation and forms part of a staff members' overall remuneration, however the cost is fairly insubstantial and if an employer makes a contribution they are usually seen by their staff as valuing their professional development in a tangible way.
Different companies take different stances. The most common methods of employer contribution are:
- Employers paying the cost of accreditation and professional membership, and making time available for staff to complete the requirements (recommended)
- Employers paying the cost of accreditation and professional membership, but expecting staff to complete the requirements outside work time
- Employers paying the cost of professional membership but not accreditation (or vice versa)
- Employers splitting the cost 50/50 with staff
Note that ITP NZ also has a Corporate Partnership Programme, which reduces membership dues by 20%-75%. This is a great way for a company to engage with the ITP while also receiving a significant discount for their staff's professional membership.
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