Becoming a SFIA Accredited Consultant

Summary

This process is for the accreditation of individual consultants. Organisations seeking accreditation should use the Accredited Partner process.

The SFIA Accredited Consultant scheme ensures that consultants have an effective knowledge of SFIA.

Importantly, the scheme also includes a light regime of checking (by CV) that candidates appear to have the appropriate background experience to advise on how skills are managed in an organisation. This is considered as a strategic issue; it is not just a matter of writing job descriptions and assessing people.

Naturally, it will be prudent for both IT and HR management to carry out an interview to ensure that the prospective consultant has the capability and experience to meet their needs.

Accreditation is only available to those who can demonstrate:

• Experience of delivering consultancy.
• Hands-on involvement in the skills development process in information technology (this would typically be the direct management of technical staff).
• Management-level, influential involvement in the skills development approach taken in an organisation of significant size (say, over 100 IT staff).
• Appreciation of the HR issues relating to skills development (e.g. salary, career, recruitment, retention, resource management).
• Good, broad understanding of IT and the IT industry.

SFIA Accredited Consultants can advertise themselves as such, using the official SFIA logo. They can optionally be registered on the SFIA we site.

Details

The three elements of accreditation are:

BE ASSESSED
The non-returnable fee for assessment is £100 + VAT

ATTEND THE OFFICIAL SFIA COURSE
Those intending to be an Accredited Consultant must attend the Course “Understanding SFIA” (fee of £450 + VAT)

BE LISTED (OPTIONAL)
Those wishing to have their accredited status displayed on the SFIA web site can do so in return for an annual fee of £200 plus VAT.

Certain conditions apply to your use of this accreditation. See the note at the end of this web page. Application for accreditation is taken to mean that you accept these conditions.

BE ASSESSED
1. Make out a cheque for £100 + VAT = £117.50 to The SFIA Foundation and post it to:

The Operations Manager
SFIA Foundation
21 Hamsey Lane
Seaford
East Sussex
BN25 4DW
This fee is non-returnable.

2. Send an email to ops@sfia.org.uk, attaching your CV.

3. When the cheque has been received, the CV will be assessed by staff in the Member Organisations of the Foundation. Their decision will be conveyed to you by the Operations Manager.

ATTEND THE COURSE
Book a place on the one-day course  Understanding SFIA.
You may do this straight away, or wait for the result of your assessment.

The course is run by The SFIA Foundation’s officially appointed trainers.

Note that payment for this course is made as described in the booking information for SFIA Training, and not to The SFIA Foundation.

Accreditation
If you receive a positive assessment, and have attended the course, you will be notified that you have been accepted as an Accredited Consultant.
You will be sent a certificate and the SFIA Accredited Consultant logo. You will be able to display the logo on literature describing your services.

BE LISTED

Having achieved accreditation, you might want to be listed on the SFIA website. If so, please send:

- a cheque made out to The SFIA Foundation for £200 + VAT

- a note saying that you wish to be listed on the accredited consultants page

to:

Julia Molloy
The SFIA Foundation
c/o e-skills UK
1 Castle Lane
London
SW1E 4DW

You may email the information that you want us to put in your listing to ops@sfia.org.uk

Your status as a SFIA Accredited Consultant does not permit you to distribute copies of SFIA. When your clients decide to use SFIA, they must obtain the framework directly from The SFIA Foundation. This involves on-line registration and the issue to them of an end-user licence. (There is no charge for the end-user licence when the framework is used internally for skills management.)

The Foundation reserves the right to check with you, at some future date (but not within a year of accreditation), whether you have used your knowledge of SFIA and thereby maintained your knowledge, and to withdraw accreditation if you have not.

If accreditation is terminated for any reason, you must cease using the SFIA Accredited Consultant appellation, and cease displaying the SFIA logos.

The SFIA Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation that exists to maintain and distribute The Skills Framework for the Information Age.