Thoughts on the CRCM certification? likes? dislikes? Necessary?

In short, yes, I think it has value, but not really necessary. But I plan to go after it for myself in the near future.

I have seen some examiners give a department a bit more credit on the outset when they have staff with various certifications. It is just another piece of paper that states that we know what we are doing.

FWIW - I agree with Damon. I received my certification in 2007. It does add a lot of oompf to your resume, though and is looked on favorably by the regulators.

Mostly, what any of the certifications say is something about the people who put forth the time, effort, and sometimes the out of pocket expense to get them. They do not guarantee the presence of knowledge, but they do offer insight into a person's sense of ambition and professionalism.

I'm going for it this spring!

When I joined in September, 2009 I immediately enrolled in the ICBA Compliance Institute to get my CCBCO designation to add a bit of 'polish' to the institution. I've been told that the CRCM is more rigorous and that I should wait until I've had at least a year's experience under my belt before sitting for the CRCM.

But I do intend on getting it. One of the things the examiners streesed to us was the need for training, education and certification where it was available.

Ditto for me (Dec 2005) - It shows your commitment and commitment of your institution to
1- Assure you are well trained
2- Keep you current (with the ongoing Educ requirement)

And it looks good on your resume'

I took the CRCM exam this spring. It was difficult. I sure hope I passed. In reading these posts, I still can't tell what the difference is between the CCBCO and the CRCM. When I look on the internet, some people have both designations.

I have the CCBCO which, from what I understand, is a bit easier to master than the CRCM. I took the CCBCO exam after a week of training my second month on the job so that I would have a sound overview of the relevant regulations and a designation that would help the bank in terms of examinations. I was told that the CRCM requires more experience (they recommend 3-5 years; I forget the actual number of years experience to sit for the test) and is much more rigorous. I'll go for it in a few years.

I found out last week that I passed the CRCM test! I have 6 years in bank compliance. I used the ABA online course and the accompanying ABA reference guide to study. In my opinion, while you definitely need the knowledge from the book & regulations, you really need to have plenty of experience in bank compliance in order to pass the test.

Congrats on passing, bcastle!

That's great! Congratulations bcastle, CRCM.

Congratulations, bcastle! I also just found out that I passed it. It was much harder than I thought it would be, and I didn't have a lot of confidence in my answers when I was taking the test. What a relief to be done and to have passed!

Congrats to you too Kelsey!

Congrats to both of you!!

I just saw Kelsey's post. Congratulations on passing the test! I agree that it was very difficult! Fortunately, I had spoken with a banker in town who got their CRCM designation a couple of years ago and she prepared me for what to expect. For example, I studied over 600 questions from the ABA online course ~ she told me not to expect that even one of the questions would be on the test. She also told me that when I left the test, I would not have a good feeling one way or another if I had passed it or not. So what helped me the most was to have realistic expectations... Bridget