Do I need certification in Monitoring and Evaluation or any certificate will do?

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The truth is that you need certification, to prove that you have been thoroughly tested and proved to have understanding of what monitoring and evaluation is.  However, employers when recruiting for M&E positions, they are looking for skills, not certification.  invest much time in acquiring skills as you would in acquiring certification. 

A quick look at various job adverts, they always appear to look for individuals that can:

  • develop and implement an M&E or MEAL strategy and/or implementation plan;
  • advise on evaluation approaches and methods relevant to a program context;
  • conduct statistical  analysis or has basic understanding of data analysis- usually requires basic skills in SPSS, R, SAS, or Stata;
  • design  and manage studies and researches -  knowing how to use Kobo Toolbox, Qualtrics, CommCare, CSPro or any others surveying software;
  • convincingly present technical information to non technical audience - because M&E is aimed at informing decision making and not all decision makers would be interested in your jargons; 

Let me know what your take is. 

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