Marketo Certification

[Jessy_Chan1]

I have been using Marketo for about 4-5 years and have never taken any certification exam. Recently I am thinking of taking it but yet wonder if this is necessary. Can anyone who has been certified,  share your reason why you did it and how it has impacted you?  Thank you.

[Huihsing_Kiang3]

Agree with all above. I've been certified for 3 years. And will renew my certificate for sure when the time is up. The bottom line for me is it makes me stand out quickly from the others who don't have it. I've asked Marketo Education group how many people got MCE 2 years ago. During that time, there were about only 3,000 worldwide.

[Anne_Angele1]

For me, the first time I was certified it was for the recognition and accompanying pay raise I would get with my then-employer. Just having the certification has helped immensely with finding work, I get more recruiting emails and am a better candidate for roles I am interested in. I've been using Marketo for 5ish years now and I still think the prep for the exam is useful for me. Sometimes I find new tidbits of information that have changed since my last exam or am reminded of a feature I don't use as often.

As someone who hires Marketo experts, I wouldn't necessarily view MCE as a replacement for experience, but I'd wonder why someone never got certified if they had a decent amount of experience. I rarely see candidates who have more than a couple years experience who haven't taken the exam at least once, even if they don't keep it current.

[Kristina_Moy1]

The prep alone will teach you a lot of things you didn't know about Marketo. I recently just got certified (after working with Marketo for 3 1/2 years) and it definitely makes an impact when working with various stakeholders. They'll see you as a subject matter expert, and this can be a great thing for the present and for future opportunities. If your company can back you up to get certified, even better, because it means they want to you improve and grow your skills.

[Jayanto_Sukul_S]

Confident will boost.

People view will change and in current organisation you will be more stronger.

Better opportunity for next phase of career, and hope the future employer/interviewer will ask less question as you are MCE with year's of experience (lol).

[Karan_Hari3]

Absolutely Agree to all the above points stated by Gerard, Brooke and Amy!

[Jessy_Chan1]

[Gerard_Donnell4]

Very quickly some points I would say are:

• You will learn things preparing for your test you didn't know, which will make you even better.
• You will become more attractive to future employers.
• Demonstrates your knowledge - Internal stakeholders will take your advice onboard more if they recognise you as a platform expert.
• Makes you more of a lynchpin within your current org. Its harder to find and replace an MCE member of staff like for like, compared with a "marketing automation person".
• It can help justify a pay rise.
• You can more easily get another job. If applying for another Marketo job having an MCE cuts out a lot of needless questions to try and prove your knowledge, and can also help separate you from other people.

[Jessy_Chan1]

Thanks Gerard, this is helpful.

[Amy_Goldfine]

100% on all of these. I definitely learned things while studying that I didn't know! There were reports I had never used, and details about Acquisition Program that I didn't know.

It's also a great point of personal pride

[Tony_Membrino1]

Curious where people are going to prep for MCE...is this the best option? Thanks Tony

https://www.marketo.com/education/marketo-certification/marketo-certified-expert/preparation/

[Geoff_Krajeski1]

TLDR, but there is also a certification MUG in the Community you can check out here: Certification Study Group

[Cody_Haener]

I found this blog series to be really helpful: Sample Questions for MCE Exam: Program Fundamentals 

There's four posts total. The links to the other three posts don't work, but if you search the community for "Sample Questions for MCE Exam", they will all come up.

[Christine_Libro]

I just started in Marketo this past May, and passed the MCE two weeks ago. I didn't have as much time as I wanted to prepare (by choice). I skipped the prep course, used only the sample questions​, and spent the majority of my time going over the questions I found in Marketo Nation (part 3 linked here). I converted these to an Excel file, hid column C with the answers, and highlighted the boxes in column B for my answers. I still have the files, if you want them.

Dropbox - MCE Exam Objectives and Sample Questions Kit_June 2018.pdf 

Dropbox - MCE Certification.xlsx

[Tony_Membrino1]

Thanks Christine. Congrats on passing exam...and only 6 months into Marketo. Sweet.

[Christine_Libro]

Thanks! If you've been living in the Email Marketing world prior to Marketo, you may be able to pass too. Check out the resources we shared and see what your comfort level is

[Amy_Goldfine]

I took the online training. And also reviewed some quizzes on the Nation.

On Thu, Dec 13, 2018 at 9:20 AM Tony Membrino <marketingnation@marketo.com>

[Jessy_Chan1]

Hi Amy, it does give a sense of achievement.

[Brooke_Bartos1]

Exactly this. Most job postings I see anymore state "Marketo experience required, MCE preferred." This immediately rises you to the top of candidacy.

I can also tell you that as soon as it is listed on your LinkedIn you'll have recruiters regularly in your inbox, but it ultimately comes down to what your career goals are. If you're looking for a raise or promotion in your current org, do it. If they're willing to pay for it, definitely do it. If you're thinking of making a move in the next 2 years (how long the cert is valid), do it. If none of these is a priority for you then it is more a personal preference.

[Jessy_Chan1]

Hi Brooke, thank you for the advice.