You just passed your exam? Congratulations!

There’s really only one other thing you need to know now that you’re certified:

Be ethical! Do the right thing for the right reasons.

Oh, not what you were looking to hear?

Yeah, I know...

So you just passed your test?

Welcome to the club!

Way to go!

Stop reading here if you want congratulations only.

Allow me to be blunt here - you still don’t know much. I think the certification exam is basically the minimum competency. There are about one million and four things you still don’t know.

That’s why we are bound to earn continuing education. We are meant to be lifelong scholars. Some of you are perfectly happy and content with your BCaBA and plan to grow in your career through experience and mentorship. Others are pushing towards that dissertation and the D. Regardless of your academic aspirations or accomplishments, there is one thing you need to know.

Be humble enough to keep learning on the job.

Here are three of those one million and three more things you need to know:

If you’ve just passed your exam, yay!! You and the team who got you to that exam put in a lot of hours to get you to this place. You are in NO shape to supervise others pursuing their certification. Absolutely serve as a sounding board and a resource to them but not a supervisor. Find a mentor for yourself. Find online communities that encourage you to grow in both knowledge and practice. Engage in live continuing education opportunities as much as possible.

If you’ve just passed your exam be kind to yourself. You’ve worked so hard for this! It’s easy to get discouraged as new responsibilities become yours that are outside your comfort zone. You will become more and more comfortable as you continue to learn in the field.

If you’ve just passed your exam I’m SO proud of you! This may be the first time in a long time that you don’t need to study. Please don’t fill all that time with work. Find a hobby. Pick up a book just for pleasure. Start a new project. Just not all work!

You’re going to do just fine. We’re all rooting for you.

Just keep learning!