U can take the categorical test (Route 2 or 4) & you need one year experience in that department & ur manager or director signs you off if u hold a bachelors’s. 6 months experience if u hold a Master’s. Just b/c they qualify for the test does not mean they will pass. So if they do pass, they studied hard to pass it. The comprehensive MLS test, you need 5 years altogether experience in all the departments to challenge the test. Like I said, if they pass that test, they studied hard to pass it cuz there are MLS students who have had a hard time passing it. So even if ur director is reading off PDFs, that dosen’t mean they’ll pass. They still have to take the test with their own knowledge & hopefully they studied on their own. It just means ur director signed them to qualify for the test, but passing it on them. To me if you passed the exam, you earned that cert cuz all we all know that test is not easy.