In addition to being the first credential specific to the market and reference data industry, the FISD FIA was the first exam created by FISD. We made the exam to meet the financial information industry’s need for a standardized, recognized baseline of knowledge for practitioners and their colleagues. Think about your own experience and educational background — did you know from the start that you’d wind up in the position you’re in today? What about your colleagues? While we don’t have the power to remake the education system so tomorrow’s students can prepare for a market/reference data career path before graduation or the power to save you from those sometimes strange first, second, or even third jobs you endured before you found your calling in the financial information industry, we do have the power to make sure you have the expertise to succeed now that you’re here. That’s where the FISD FIA comes in.

If you haven’t yet reviewed the FISD FIA syllabus, you should check that out after you’re done reading this. It’s broad. It’s thorough. It speaks for itself. The star of this post is another major strength of the FISD FIA: the certification’s growing recognition within the industry.

As of press time, 1,095 people have passed the FISD FIA. Given how totally ordinary it is for a market data team to consist of only a handful of people, this is pretty serious uptake, and it’s only continuing to grow.

This chart shows the number of FISD FIAs from the program’s inception in 2010 through 2016. FISD invested its time and energy to make something good for the industry we serve, and the industry has embraced it.

You can help make the FISD FIA an even more valuable credential by spreading awareness of the program in a number of ways:

• Preferring FISD FIA qualified candidates for job openings at your company
• Using the post-nomial “FIA” once you earn the credential
• Encouraging your team to take the exam and helping them get reimbursed by your company for the exam fee (or for the truly bold who can set a budget: buying a set of exam vouchers for your colleagues)
• Proudly displaying your FISD FIA plaque in your office or cubicle
• Telling your clients and/or customers about the FISD FIA and how sharing a bedrock of knowledge will streamline your communications
• Sharing your exam experience on social media — you might not compete well on Facebook against some cute baby pictures, but your LinkedIn and Twitter followers are probably interested in your professional development

Hope Wilkes is Program Manager, Professional Certification at FISD. Her portfolio broadly encompasses member professional development as she also produces the FISD Rising Stars event series which encourages participation from people early in their market data careers. She subscribes to Harry S. Truman's adage, "Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers. With that in mind, she started the FISD Reads virtual book club to help FISD members hone their management skills through outside-of-the-classroom learning.