The number of available professional certifications, and the number of certified professionals, has been increasing at a very rapid rate. Some of the growth is driven by the increase in population, and the rest by individuals wanting to get a job in a particular profession or folks making a job change and wanting something to help them stand out from the rest of the applicants.
A good starting point for this discussion is the definition: Certification is defined by the National Organization for Competency Assurance as “the process by which a non-governmental agency or association grants recognition of competence to an individual who has met predetermined qualifications specified by that agency or association.”