1. Enroll into SPSM Certification Program
The Courses Enrollment in the SPSM Certification Program entitles you to access six online courses. While you have the flexibility in choosing the order in which you care to take the courses, Next Level Purchasing recommends that you take them in order of most basic to most advanced:
• Mastering Purchasing Fundamentals
• Microsoft Excel For Purchasing Professionals
• Supply Management Contract Writing
• Powerful Negotiation For Successful Buying*
• 14 Purchasing Best Practices
• Savings Strategy Development
2. Logging In To Courses
You were sent an email with a User Name and a Password that are currently valid and will expire on the date specified in such email. You will use this information to access the online classroom. To log in during the period that your User Name and Password are valid, visit https://www.nextlevelpurchasing.com/login.php. Type your User Name and Password in the appropriate boxes. If your login information was entered correctly and is valid, you will see a list of courses. Click on the “Attend Course” button for the course you wish to attend to display a Menu Screen welcoming you to the course.
3. Selecting A Lesson
When you are logged in and at the Menu Screen, you will have a choice of eight lessons to take. You may take these lessons at any time. Next Level Purchasing, LLC. recommends that you take these lessons in order.
When you select a lesson, the first of generally three to eight (but as many as 17) screens of lesson content will be displayed. During some of the lessons, you will be performing exercises in Microsoft Excel throughout the lesson. As such, you can toggle between your Internet browser (to get the instructions) and Excel (to perform the instructions) OR you can print the lesson screen to reference while you are working in Excel.
At the end of each lesson screen, you will find two navigation buttons labeled “Previous” and “Next.” The Previous button takes you to the previous screen of the lesson and the Next button takes you to the next screen of the lesson. On the last screen within the lesson, the Next button will be replaced by a button labeled “Quiz.” Clicking on the Quiz button takes you to a quiz to test your knowledge of the lesson’s subject matter.
4. Quizzes
Each lesson ends with a multiple-choice quiz. You simply read the questions, click on buttons representing your opinion of the best available answers, and click on a button labeled “Submit Answers.” Within seconds, you will receive your quiz results indicating whether you answered correctly or not. If you complete a course with an average quiz score of 70% or higher, you will receive a Certificate of Completion from Next Level Purchasing, Inc. which awards you with between 6.5 and 8 Continuing Education Hours, depending on the course. The Certificate of Completion will be mailed within 7 days of your completion of the course.
5. Becoming Certified
After you have successfully completed each course with a quiz score of 70% or higher, you must take the SPSM Exam. You can schedule the SPSM Exam from the screen that appears after you log in. Simply find the line for SPSM Exam and click on the Schedule Now link. NOTE: If you have not completed all six courses, the Schedule Now link will not appear until you are eligible for the SPSM Exam. Simply follow the on-screen instructions to schedule your SPSM Exam.
The SPSM Exam consists of 90 questions – 15 related to each course. You will have 90 minutes to complete the exam. It is important that you are able to complete the SPSM Exam in one sitting – you will not be able to log into the exam again. When you have completed the exam, print the screen that shows your score.
After you have passed all six courses and the SPSM Exam, the final step in becoming certified is to submit the SPSM Certification Application.
When your application has been approved, you will receive via postal mail a certificate and an award honoring your certification as an SPSM.
Once, you get certified in SPSM, then you can move forward in further levels.
