Why Getting Your NCIDQ Certificate is Even Sweeter

When you started preparing take the NCIDQ exams, we can more or less categorize the type of questions you throw our way from the most basic,

“What do you offer?”

to a confusing,

“My screen went black, what should I do?”

And there's the cost versus value,

“I really want to start preparing but I can’t afford it right now. Do you offer any discounts?”

We understand the amount of preparation you have to go through.

The money, the books, the practice tests, and the time!

Plus once you add work and family into the equation; it can push anyone to overwhelm. So yeah. We totally get your questions.

Why Earn Your NCIDQ Certificate

But when we are too immersed in all the studying and the drawing, we also tend to forget the most important point of all:

Purpose.

Why do we need to get our NCIDQ credentials in the first place? Why spend this much and what for?

Let’s wipe the fatigue off your face first and look at this formula:

degree + experience + NCIDQ Certificate = higher income

A recent report from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that professionals who earn certification (apart from their college and university-awarded degrees) can earn 21.38% more than their counterpart with only an educational certificate.

They also do better by 33.9% than those without any educational certificate.

This applies to earning NCIDQ certification, too!

Interior Designers with the #NCIDQ Certificate can earn 33% more than those without.Click To Tweet

You Can Have Your Cake and Eat it Too!

Good news for those pursuing the NCIDQ Certification: Earning this credential can translate into significantly higher earnings, according to a 2014 report from the U.S. Census Bureau.

In the first study to link hard data on certification and income, the Census Bureau found that people who received a professional certification above and beyond a college or university degree earned nearly 22 percent more than those with just an academic degree, and about 34 percent more than those without any professional or educational credentials.

The data underscore the importance of the NCIDQ Certification in differentiating the most competent and qualified interior designers from their non-certified counterparts, says Dr. Carol Williams-Nickelson, then executive director for the Council for Interior Design Qualification, Inc. (CIDQ), which oversees the development and administration of the NCIDQ Exam.

“Our mission of protecting the public by identifying and then testing an appropriately educated and experienced interior designer’s competencies in health, safety and public 
welfare is at the forefront in all of our test development and certification activities,” she said.

There are strong, longstanding trends suggesting that people who hire interior designers seek out those who are NCIDQ Certified and are willing to pay more for that quality assurance.

The U.S. Census Bureau's data supports this, so all the trouble you're going through is, in fact an investment. Getting your NCIDQ certificate not only marks your level of competency and credibility, but just like our Qpractice members have experienced, it can also help you earn more money.

Yes, you can have your cake and eat it too.