Member Spotlight: Community support to achieve goals  

Earning a designation shows dedication and passion towards any goals you want to achieve—and time, effort and consistency are the main determining factors of success. NACM’s Professional Certification Program provides six levels of certification for credit professionals to explore their passion, whether you want to brush up on prior skills or acquire brand new ones. 

For credit professionals who yearn for achievement, earning a designation gives them an opportunity to challenge themselves in different ways. Brandon Wofford, CBA, area credit manager at MFA Incorporated (Paragould, AR), said he had an overwhelming feeling to push himself and achieve the Credit Business Associate (CBA) designation. “I got to travel this journey alongside a co-worker who also received his CBA designation at the same time,” Wofford said. “I’ve been out of the finance field since college, so the lack of industry-current knowledge and the fear of failing kept intensifying the closer I would get to test time. We would often check-in with each other and help each other out throughout the studying period and this level of accountability and friendship helped me tremendously in overcoming that fear of failure.” 

Remembering information from over a decade ago can also be a challenge when needing to apply it to new concepts. “The bulk of my financial and accounting courses took place in 2010 to 2011 during my undergraduate tenure,” Wofford said. “I thought the academics would refresh and come back to me easily, but I had to heavily review those materials to prepare for the exams.”  

💡Study Tip: Set a goal for yourself and plan out the timeline on how to prepare for achieving your goals all while balancing your everyday life. “Consider taking additional courses offered by NACM to refresh your knowledge and prepare for the exams and today’s challenges.” 

For more information about each designation within NACM’s Professional Certification Program, visit our website.