I for one am put off by the high price of the exam.  It is more that the
bar exam here in Alabama, which I just registered for.  For the whole
CRM, it costs almost twice what the Alabama Bar costs.  

I am also surprised how much there is to the exam.  It has more
questions than the bar exam, yet requires much less education.  I fully
qualify to sit for the CRM, but have not applied because of the costs
and because I feel it will not assist me here in Alabama.  If I were to
obtain the CRM, it would probably carry some weight where I work,
because many of the employees are impressed by letters, but the JD I
will be getting soon will carry more weight.  What carries the most
weight is that the administration understands the importance of records
management and since I am responsible for records management, what I
have to say is important (or at least worth listening to).

If I was trying to get a job outside of Alabama or outside government, I
would probably get the CRM.  If I lived in a higher paying area of the
country, the cost of the exam would not be as big an obstacle (although
most state Bar Exams are still cheaper).

None of this is to attack the ICRM or CRM.  I am glad there is a
certification for records managers.  I am just making some observations.

At least in government agencies in Alabama, we are not even to the point
of whether employers will require CRMs or not.  At this point, we are
still at the point of employers still grappling with whether they need a
records manager or not, not whether the potential records manager is
certified.  At least here, very few government agencies have a records
manager that amounts to much more than an overworked clerk, if that.
There is no "Records Manager" position in Alabama state government.  The
few employees that do the work of trained records managers, including
myself, are "Archivists" of some level.  There are only two state
agencies that even have "Archivists."  We have a ways to go.  

Is there a listing that breaks down CRMs by state?

Christopher M. Davidson

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