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Frequently Asked Questions
- Why are experienced organizational ombudsman practitioners not "grandfathered"?
Criteria for "grandfathering" can be complex, can raise perceptions of unfairness or inconsistency, and can readily be challenged. Requiring all individuals who seek certification to meet the same requirements supports the significance of the credential and avoids a claim of preferential treatment.
- How often will the exam be offered?
The Board of Certification expects to offer the examination approximately once a year, at the time of the IOA annual conference. Additional opportunities, including computer-based testing, will be provided if there is sufficient demand.
- How were certification examination questions written?
A diverse group of practicing organizational ombudsman who volunteered to serve as "subject matter experts" was trained in two-day workshops by the certification consultants at SMT to write psychometrically appropriate multiple-choice questions that could be answered by an ombudsman practitioner with one year of full-time practice experience. The questions were then edited by SMT professionals.
- How was the content for the certification exam determined?
Two hundred practicing organizational ombudsman participated in an online job analysis in which they responded to questions about dozens of tasks or "elements" of the organizational ombudsman job, in seven categories or "domains". These participants represented diversity in geography, years of experience, practice sector, educational level, and organization size. If fewer than 90% of the respondents said they performed a particular task or job element, that task or job element was eliminated from the exam content. Every task or job element retained for the exam was rated by the respondents to be "moderate to very important" in performing the organizational ombudsman job; these responses were found not to vary by geography, years of experience, sector, or other variable. Finally, the responses to the survey served as the basis for relative weighting of the seven domains, so that every certification examination will include 20% questions on conflict management, 15% questions on addressing issues, 10% questions on outreach and education, etc. For more information, please see the Job Analysis Report.
- What is the difficulty level of the questions on the examination?
The examination questions have been written to test that which should be known after approximately one year of full-time practice as an organizational ombudsman.
- How often is the examination updated?
Each time the examination is offered, the questions are scrambled so each candidate will see the questions in a different order. New questions are added every few years, depending on how many people have taken the examination.
