The INCOSE Certification Program Office tracks the certification status of everyone who has taken the knowledge exam, been qualified through an academic equivalency, or started a certification application. We send you emails as new material comes in and to remind you what remains. You can also check your application status in your member profile, which you access after logging in to incose.org.
INCOSE receives your exam results, individual application Form 1, proof of education, and references. You are required to schedule your own exam and to pay any fees associated with it. No action is required for you to get exam results to us; those come to us automatically from our exam providers or from your academic equivalency institution. It is your responsibility to nominate your references through incose.org and to ensure they submit their reference through the link they will be sent.
Once we have your complete application package, we assign a team of volunteer Certification Application Reviewers (CARs) to examine it. If they have questions, you may be emailed to provide clarification. Once that team has documented their decision, we notify you if you have been approved for certification. The review team destroys all copies of files they have about you.
INCOSE will email you with an electronic certificate to recognize your certification. We will also endeavor to get a lapel pin to you. This may be delivered by your chapter, your employer, or through direct postal mail to the address you provided us.
How long does it take to get certified?
INCOSE starts a one-year clock when you pass the exam, get your equivalency, or pay your CSEP application fee. However, most candidates start their preparations before we hear from them. A typical candidate spends a few hours each week for multiple weeks in preparation for the exam and working on their individual application form. Once they submit their application form, we typically have a few weeks’ wait at INCOSE before we get their references. References are the longest source of delay in starting an application review.
INCOSE’s volunteers typically complete their team review of an application within four weeks of INCOSE receiving the final information. If there is a request for additional information, that review team waits until the candidate submits an update.
During busy times of year, particularly when our volunteers are unavailable due to holidays, reviews may take more than one month. Candidates concerned about delays in their review should check their member profile at incose.org to see if all references have been received.
It typically takes one week for exam results to be matched with candidate records. There is additional time required for the scoring of paper exams, which may take up to three weeks from delivery until results are reported.
INCOSE’s partner, Accredible, notifies candidates of their certification by email, including sending an electronic certificate.