Professional Qualifications ? How many are too many ?

I have an ex-office colleague who possess the following qualifications : 1. CIMA 2. MICPA 3. ACCA 4. Diploma 5. Degree 6. Master That was then when I worked in Malaysia. I am not sure what other credentials that he has added in his portfolio today since it has been a while since we were in contact. My first impression upon knowing his credentials ? Impressive !. When I asked him, why so many ? His immediate respond was " People said it is difficult even get one, so I want to prove them wrong ". He is right. Talking from my personal experience. I was struggling to get my CIMA qualification and the same for few others, at least the one that I know. He made it so easy. Then, I moved to Doha, Qatar and on my first day in the bus heading to the office, the fellow passengers introduced himself to me; " Hi I am Venkat and I have professional qualifications- CIMA, ACCA, CPA and all other Cs to in my credentials. What is your name and are you a member of any professional organization ? " " Owh. Hi. I am Irwan and yes I am a CIMA, UK member " This the facts. My organization will only consider candidates with professional qualifications on top of the first degree as one of the criteria to shortlist candidate for interview. Then, I moved to Dubai, UAE and I was asked the same question by my staff on the first day I introduced myself to them " Are you a member of professional organization ? ". " Yes, I am a member of CIMA, UK ". I learned later that all the staff in my department have at least a member of a professional organization, with one is a member of three (3) professional organization. The question or rather questions are ; 1. Does it help to have more than 1 professional qualification in this competitive job market as product differentiation strategy? 2. If the shortlisting criteria(s) are based on the above, aren't the organization narrowing it choices of getting the right candidates with the right quality and capability beyond the qualifications ? One proponent of this, at least the recruitment team managed to narrow down the scopes and shortlisting the candidate is faster, quicker, effective and easier for recruitment team whom being pressured to fill up the vacant positions which being left vacant for as long as the organization exists. My next question, at whose expense ? In the profession and industry that I am in, I would be more happy to settle for the following potential candidates who possess the following as criteria(s) to be shortlisted candidates for interview ; 1. Having first degree from established university in the country of origin; 2. A member of professional organization ; 3. Experience with audit firm as essential [not mandatory] ; 4. Working with organizations that are peer group if not bigger in size and market value; 5. Expected salary [market rate as benchmark] ; The rest are up to candidates performance during interview. So to my question, how many is too many ? One is enough for me.

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