AliceKen Erdman is co-founder and part owner of Erdmann Electric, Inc. based in Springville, Utah.
Ken joined CEDIA in 1993 and has been actively involved as a volunteer since 1994. He has served as an instructor, committee chair, subject matter expert and volunteer leader and is currently active on the Professional Development Committee serving as the Certification team leader.
Ahead of ISE, CEDIA caught up with Ken to discuss CEDIA certification and why ISE is a great opportunity to get qualified.
Become CEDIA Certified at ISE
“I really enjoy attending ISE, it gives me the chance to see the industry from a global perspective and helps me better understand the challenges we all face in this industry,” he begins.
“ISE is also a great networking venue, where you are able to meet like-minded professionals from all over the world. Beyond the show floor and after hour’s events, ISE provides an excellent opportunity for you to take CEDIA training and become CEDIA Certified. At ISE 2016, CEDIA will be offering more than 30 training sessions – included in this year’s training program are both certification review sessions and certification exams.
“Getting certified as a CEDIA professional should be a goal of any home technology professional,” he continues. “The process to take a review and sit the exam at ISE is a very simple and convenient way to get certified. Now with the show floor open for four days, it affords an even better chance to get certified and still spend serious time looking at new products.”
Selecting Your Certification
“First things first, look at the CEDIA website to determine which exam is the right exam for you,” he advises.
“CEDIA has put together guidelines based on a candidate’s time and experience in the industry. These guidelines will help you determine what certification makes the most sense for you at this stage of your career.
A beginner would start with the Gateway exam, whereas someone with several years of experience might consider a technician or designer certification, depending on their role in their company. Anyone working as a technician or a designer might also consider adding the residential networking certification to their resume as well.”
Preparing for Your Certification
“I have been part of the group that has been updating and revising CEDIA certification,” Ken explains.
“We have completed two major projects to assist in exam preparation, one is the Advanced Residential Electronic Systems; the new technical reference manual. It contains the body of knowledge that CEDIA has shown to be necessary to succeed as a home technology professional. The second major project came when we updated the exam. The examination questions are designed to better focus on the actual tasks performed by a home technology professional, and as part of the update we made certain that all new technologies and best practices were included.
“Once you’ve selected your exam the time has come to start preparing. CEDIA has placed some assessment tools online to help you determine where you might need additional study or review before sitting for an exam.
Taking the online assessment is an important second step to preparing for the exam, and can really help you determine what topics you need to focus in on. CEDIA courses and CEDIA publications can help fill in the weak spots.
“Sitting the exam review is also a good time to look for additional help as well. I will be teaching the review course for the Electronic Systems Certified – Technician (ESC-T) exam at ISE. As you start to prepare for your exam don’t hesitate to reach out to CEDIA staff should you need help deciding what pathway is best for you or to get the training resources you need. I look forward to seeing all of you in Amsterdam!”