Mentioning plans to apply for a certification during an interview

Question

I'm a software developer who's had 2 years of experience working with SAP. During an interview, I was asked if I have an SAP certification, specifically an SAP NetWeaver Associate certification, which was closely related to the position I applied for. The certification itself is something I plan to take in the near future, as I've been getting into study materials for it ever since I left my previous work.

During the interview, I simply mentioned I did not have it, and I feel like I left out quite the detail since it wasn't brought up again after that. Should I have simply mentioned my plans of taking as well?

Answer 1

The certification itself is something I plan to take in the near future, as I've been getting into study materials for it ever since I left my previous work.

Should I have simply mentioned my plans of taking as well?

Yes you should have mentioned your plans, since you suspect this would have made you a more interesting candidate. These are the tidbits of information you want to drop into an interview conversation.

Next time, mention it. And be prepared to talk about why you haven't yet gotten certified, how much more preparation you need to do, and when you expect to gain that certification. You could also talk about how you get yourself prepared and how much time you devote to studying. And you might mention why you wish to become certified.

It might also come up in the context of a "why did you leave your previous work?" question or "what have you been doing with your time since leaving work?" question.

This all might at least show that you put effort into becoming better at your profession. And since the interviewer asked if you were certified, they apparently find some value in it.

Answer 2

You can mention any plans you have, but unless you have actually signed on to course with some specific date I don't think that such plans mean much for recruiter.

If you want to come off as genuine, perhaps you should mention such plans before recruiter asks you specifically. Also - some companies invest in their employees funding certifications, so that may be taken into consideration in this kind of conversation.