What is CIW?

CIW (Certified Internet Webmaster) is a certification. In the IT world, earning a certification usually means that you have met a company or organization's standards in respect to a product or field of study. These standards are usually measured by a person's ability to pass an exam. Once that has been achieved, the person has at least some level of expertise in the field and can begin building upon it. Think of a certification as a high school diploma that takes less work, less time, and can get a you a better job.

According to it's creator, Prosoft Training, a CIW certification is different than other certifications because it is "vendor-neutral." This means that it's not limited to a specific company's product as are the Microsoft MCSE, Cisco CCNA, Novell CNA, etc. The emphasis is placed on "job skills rather than software or hardware skills." A candidate who obtains a Master CIW Designer certification could choose to design with a variety of tools based on the work requirements instead of from the perspective of a particular product or programming language.

CIW has become the industry standard for webmaster certification. Prosoft Training reports that over 30,000 certifications have been issued. CIW certifications can be used by career changers to break into the IT field or by experienced IT professionals who want to solidify their skills. Prosoft Training encourages successful candidates to use their certifications to promote themselves. A webmaster, designer, or developer with a CIW certification should have a better chance of winning a customer's business. You can find out everything you need to know about becoming a Certified Internet Webmaster from the official CIW website.