Standards: Professional Certifications

Align training programs to professional certification requirements and exam objectives.

When to Use

• Creating certification prep courses
• Corporate training programs
• Professional development courses
• Bootcamps and training providers
• Continuing education

Major Certification Bodies

IT Certifications

CompTIA:

• A+ (Hardware/OS)
• Network+
• Security+
• Linux+, Cloud+, PenTest+

Cloud Providers:

• AWS: Solutions Architect, Developer, SysOps, Specialty certs
• Azure: Administrator, Developer, Solutions Architect, Specialty
• Google Cloud: Associate, Professional certs

Networking:

• Cisco: CCNA, CCNP, CCIE
• Juniper: JNCIA, JNCIS, JNCIE

Security:

• CISSP (ISC²)
• CEH (Certified Ethical Hacker)
• CISM, CISA (ISACA)

Development:

• Oracle Java certifications
• Microsoft developer certs
• Red Hat certifications

Project Management

PMI (Project Management Institute):

• PMP (Project Management Professional)
• CAPM (Certified Associate)
• PMI-ACP (Agile)
• PgMP (Program Management)

Agile/Scrum:

• Scrum.org: PSM, PSPO
• Scrum Alliance: CSM, CSPO
• SAFe certifications

Business/Finance

Financial Services:

• CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst)
• CFP (Certified Financial Planner)
• Series 7, 63, 65 (FINRA)
• CPA (Certified Public Accountant)

Business Analysis:

• CBAP, CCBA (IIBA)
• PMI-PBA

Healthcare

Medical:

• ACLS, BLS, PALS (American Heart Association)
• Nursing certifications (ANCC)
• Medical specialty boards

Health IT:

• CAHIMS, CPHIMS (HIMSS)

Teaching

K-12 Teaching:

• State teaching licenses
• NBPTS (National Board for Professional Teaching Standards)
• Praxis exams

Higher Education:

• Discipline-specific certifications

Manufacturing/Quality

Lean/Six Sigma:

• Six Sigma Green Belt, Black Belt
• Lean certifications

Quality:

• ASQ (American Society for Quality) certs

Certification Mapping Process

1. Exam Blueprint Analysis

Components:

• Domains/categories
• Weightings (% of exam)
• Objectives/tasks
• Knowledge statements

2. Content Coverage Mapping

Create Matrix:

• Certification objective
• Course module/lesson
• Coverage depth
• Assessment alignment

3. Practice Exam Alignment

Question Banks:

• Map questions to objectives
• Ensure coverage of all domains
• Match difficulty and format
• Include performance-based questions

4. Gap Analysis

Identify:

• Uncovered objectives
• Under-covered domains
• Missing prerequisite knowledge

Example: AWS Solutions Architect Associate

Exam Domains:

1. Design Resilient Architectures (30%)
2. Design High-Performing Architectures (28%)
3. Design Secure Applications and Architectures (24%)
4. Design Cost-Optimized Architectures (18%)

Objectives per Domain: 3-5 detailed objectives

Mapping:

• Module → Domain
• Lab → Objective
• Practice question → Specific task

CLI Interface

# Map to certification
/standards.professional-certifications --training "aws-course/" --cert "AWS-SAA-C03"

# Coverage analysis
/standards.professional-certifications --content "pmp-prep/" --cert "PMI-PMP" --gap-analysis

# Multiple certifications
/standards.professional-certifications --course "cloud-fundamentals/" --certs "AWS-CLF,Azure-AZ900,GCP-ACE" --crosswalk

# Practice exam alignment
/standards.professional-certifications --questions "practice-exams/" --cert "CompTIA-Security-Plus" --validate-coverage

Output

• Certification objectives coverage map
• Domain weightings and coverage
• Gap analysis with recommendations
• Practice exam alignment report
• Study plan based on exam blueprint

Composition

Input from: /curriculum.design, /curriculum.develop-content, /curriculum.develop-items Works with: /standards.gap-analysis, /standards.coverage-validator Output to: Certification-aligned training programs

Exit Codes

• 0: Certification mapping complete
• 1: Certification not recognized
• 2: Exam blueprint not available
• 3: Coverage gaps too large