At 18:40 2003-03-25 -0700, Terence wrote: >... >[CIPS/ISP} My question is: is it worth joining? I mean, its all well and cool to be >able to put some letters behind your name,
IIRC, to put the letters (I.S.P. : Information Systems Professional) after your name is a step _beyond_ CIPS membership. I was a CIPS member for about twenty years, until I retired in early 2000, and was one of the first ISP holders (and President of CIPS Calgary at the time, though there was no connection, honest!). At that time there were five ways to qualify, one of which one was "many years of relevant experience, as judged by a group of peers" (to paraphrase it somewhat). That route (under which I qualified) was expired a few years later. Having taken approved education at a CIPS-accredited institution does give you a leg up. I think that one can now hold the ISP designation without being a member of CIPS. That may have been a requirement of the Alberta government - CIPS Calgary, Edmonton and other Alberta chapters formed CIPS Alberta (an 'umbrella' organisation), and petitioned the AB-Gov to recognise ISP as a professional qualification, similar to lawyers etc. That was approved, IIRC, with CIPS Alberta as the designated professional body. As to how much USE the ISP designation is, I can't say. When I retired I had seen a few career advertisements that suggested it would be an advantage. As a student, I think you can attend CIPS monthly meetings for free, or almost-free. One other point: CIPS members (ISP or not) agree to adhere to a Code of Ethics, which is probably quite valuable, given the 'dark side' stories that emanate from the IT business. I wish you well in your future career, and hope you have as much fun with it as I did. -- John Hall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Calgary, Alberta, Canada. "Helping People Prosper in the Information Age".
