Certification date vs certificate date

Question

In company XYZ people can get a certificate called 'XYZ certified professional'. This certificate has a date and the certificate is valid for a number of years from that date onwards.

Which is the best description for this date?

1. Certification date
2. Certificate date

I would intuitively choose 1, but 2 has the advantage of being shorter.

Thanks for answers.

Answer 1

Either sound acceptable but do they mean exactly the same thing? Certificate date sounds like the date the certificate was written - which could be the same as certification date. But if there is a procedure whereby certificates are renewed (say annually) then will the date on any certificate necessarily be the same as that of original certification? –

Answer 2

Generally, though, you can use whatever terminology you like so long as you are consistent. The following might be an example.

• The certificate date is whatever date is printed on the certificate, whether it is the first time that certificate was awarded to a specific professional or not.
• The certification date is the date when the professional first completed certification.
• The recertification date is the date when that professional completed recertification.