Should I list a general "certificate of achievement" under my certificates and licenses?

Question

I participated in an Explorers program with a local police department for three years. After each year, they give you this "Certificate of Achievement" stating your participation for the year that's signed by the post leaders. My thoughts:

1. This is extremely important and relevant to the job I'm applying for. The only other place where it could really "fit in" on their application is under the Miscellaneous section of Additional Information, which seems like a bit of a low-quality place where it might get overlooked.

2. However, you get this certificate just for participating for the entire year (approximately nine months). It doesn't technically show that you put in effort apart from attendance or that you are skillful in anything you've learned.

Would this type of certificate be important enough that it would qualify as something I can list there?

Note: This is an application, not a resume. This specific application allows you to attach a resume, but the listing states that it will not be considered.

Answer 1

You've begun to answer your own question by stating that it is "extremely important and relevant to the job I'm applying for". If you think that is true -- for example, if you are applying to the work for or with the police department, or another city agency who would recognize this achievement as something relevant, then it is something you should include.

However, be aware that in a general application form, the "Certificates and Licenses" section is typically where the company would expect to see industry-specific professional certifications such as the Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) certification in some IT fields, or the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification in the field of Project Management, certain licenses for commercial trucking, and so on.

When trying to determine if a certificate is "worthy" of inclusion in this particular section of a job application, think first if it's something that would be recognized broadly -- outside your location, or outside the application for this particular job. If not, but is still relevant in some way because it is an achievement that you earned, then I would recommend putting it in the Miscellaneous section.