Certification helps but it's not solely the only criteria on hiring. Now certifying the customer success team brings competitive advantage, specially if you partner with someone that has accreditation. On my case I'm investing on certifying the CSMs cross the globe with our Partner SuccessHacker whose as of today I see to have the best neutral non linked to a software platform on the industry. Also I'm investing on other related certifications like ITIL, PMP, Azure depending on their customer base and market segmentation.
My Gainsight certs have been able to get me past the recruiter even when I didn't have the minimum required time in position. It is my skills that I lean on in the interview phases.
What I also find is that many companies vary in terms of Customer Success core competencies and a certification can help bridge some of those gaps. example are companies that currently do not have their CSMs responsible for upsell and cross sell can learn more about these efforts through certification
Training and enabling the CSMs is a top three priority for me in 2020. If a certification is the most effective path at the best rate, then I see plenty of value in certifications - from SuccessLeague, SuccessHacker, Gainsight, etc. Do I hire people based on the certifications they have or don't have? No, and I lean more on demonstrated attributes. And that's worked well for me.
