Who are the more than 4,500 talent development professionals who have earned the APTD or CPTD credential? Get to know the talented and diverse community:

Alejandra Love is a Chief Executive Officer in the US. She earned the Certified Professional in Talent Development (CPTD^®) credential in 2018.

Why did you pursue the CPTD?
As a learning and development professional, I was looking for a way to develop a more expansive knowledge and global framework for training. I knew that to build my consulting business I would need to understand the training and development journey from start to finish in order to best support organizations interested in leveraging learning to improve their businesses.

How have you benefited from the credential—professionally and/or personally?
Having the CPTD has been a game changer for my career and credibility. Businesses want their consultants to be experts and those four letters are proof of that expertise. Every client I’ve served has talked about my in-depth understanding of how learning and development fits into a larger business strategy—part of that is experience and the other part is the foundational knowledge learned and tested through CPTD certification.

What advice would you share with others considering certification?
Run, don’t walk to get your CPTD certification! If you have doubts trust me when I say the CPTD enhances your professional brand exponentially. I mean it.

How do you think certification helps the talent development field?
The CPTD levels the playing field for the entire talent development field by holding us to a higher standard. Having a centralized and respected certification process means that everyone who wants to call themselves an expert has to put in the work to earn it. Earning the CPTD makes all talent development practitioners better.

How did your employer support your pursuit of the credential?
I chose to invest in this certification using my own funds and I have no regrets.

What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
The best advice I ever received is to “always be iterating.” No program is perfect and learning is never complete. It’s our responsibility as leaders in talent development to be ahead of the field and build programs that evolve to match the needs of our learners.

What is a great book you’ve read recently?
Redefining HR Lars Schmidt

What is your favorite hobby or pastime?
Spending time with my husband and two wonderful children.

Have you earned the APTD or CPTD? Share your story with the community.