Start Over Options

This post looks at the considerations when you choose to force a candidate to start over. There are two main areas to think about – how long before the candidate has to start over (allowable in process time) and whether their previously completed requirements must be recompleted.

The allowable in process time should be linked to either the recertification time or to an analysis of your candidates’ certification timeline. The first option harkens to my previous post – the reason for making the candidate start over is to ensure their qualifications at time of certification is relevant. Relevancy over time was already addressed as part of recertification policy so it makes sense to correlate the allowable in process time to that has well.

The second option ties the start over option to an understanding of your candidates’ motivation. Essentially, you want to find the length of time after which an impending forced start over will motivate your candidate to complete their certification.

In either case, we’ve generally seen the start over period in the 3-5 year range.

The relevancy issue is the foremost factor in deciding how to deal with previously completed requirements. Is an aged requirement still valid? If the candidate passed an exam 4 years ago, have they retained competency of the material? What about a document where they have outlined their relevant work experience? Perhaps the document is ok because they merely needed to prove a minimum level of experience in the field (and this job experience hasn’t grown weaker). However, perhaps the candidate needs to reprove that they have the knowledge and pass the exam again. A final item to review is if the program requires an affidavit where the candidate has attested to statements around their criminal background, adherence to program ethics, etc. Most likely the candidate should be required to recomplete this requirement.

Candidate satisfaction is another consideration. Candidates will feel differently about having to recomplete an exam that requires payment vs. merely submitting updated documentation. This will impact whether they are likely to start over.

Next posting – Some unique considerations in the start over process