The Associate Professional in Talent Development (APTD) is a certification for talent development professionals who are in the early part of their careers or whose professional roles and aspirations are focused on more narrowly focused areas. The capabilities included in the APTD are the foundations of talent development that professionals can use every day, no matter the level within an organization or company. It may be a destination for some or a stepping stone to the CPTD for others.

Use this learning path to assess your readiness to for the Associate Professional in Talent Development (APTD) professional certification exam. Selecting this path will provide a gap analysis of your self-assessment proficiency scores against the recommended proficiency level for ONLY those knowledge and skill statements covered on the APTD exam. This will help you focus your study plan and selection of Learning Resources to those topics where you have gaps to fill.

Who is It For?

The typical APTD credential holder has 3-5 years of experience in talent development in a role that is primarily focused on training delivery or instructional design. Fifteen percent of the candidates who have earned the APTD so far are in a management role.
Many of our APTD candidates are “accidental trainers” without formal education in training and development. Some work full time in the field, while others work half time. The APTD is the first certification from ATD CI that welcomes professionals from other fields who spend some of their time devoted to talent development activities.
As a building block for your career, APTD credential holders are able to apply for the CPTD with only four (4) years of experience AND the APTD will satisfy the entire professional development requirement for CPTD eligibility, which is sixty (60) hours.