A new test will be available in November to Masters of Business Administration students wanting to certify their knowledge of the basic curriculum areas of the MBA programs.

The Certified MBA, or CMBA, was created by the International Certification Institute (ICI) to provide graduates with an advantage in a highly competitive job market, said Mark Peterson, director of the Graduate Career Services in the college of business.

Peterson warns against getting caught up in the propaganda of the CMBA.

“People need to realize that there is a big difference between the CMBA exam and other licensing exams, such as the CPA, CFA, CFP and others widely utilized in the business world,” he said.

The latter of these tests are “administered and controlled by national or state professional associations for specific industry or business fields,” said Peterson, business program coordinator.

In contrast, the CMBA was created by a for-profit organization, “capitalizing on some of the current turmoil in American business,” he said.

Job placement over the past two years has been declining at a drastic pace in the MBA program, according to ICI.

Studies performed by the Graduate Management Admissions Council showed only 26 per cent of MBAs received a job offer near their graduation in 2002. This figure was down from 41 percent in 2001, Peterson said.

While some say marketing the exam to MBA students leads them to believe they will need the CMBA in order to compete for jobs, Peterson disagrees.

“I interact with dozens of MBA employment recruiters and hiring managers each week,” he said. “I have not had a single company representative mention the CMBA exam to me.”

While the exam does certify the student’s knowledge and performance in the core areas of the MBA program, it only covers the first year of MBA course work, he said.

“Just by completing the first year of our MBA program, most candidates should be able to score very well on the exam,” Peterson said.

Anthony Hendrickson, associate dean of logistics operations and management information systems, said he is uncertain if this exam will gain prominence.

“I have seen some [tests] come and [not] catch on and die out,” he said. “Mostly it will depend on if it becomes an industry standard.”