How is CAE/CPE certificate perceived in Britain?

[angelene001]

I'm asking about foreigners having such a certificate.
Does this certificate really mean sth for employers in Britain?
Or maybe it's just a fancy piece of paper without actual value?

 

[5jj]

Many employers place some value on these certificates.

 

[angelene001]

In my country (Poland),having CPE certificate is huge.
Not many people have it. It's prestigious.
Even those who have got MA in English Philology sometimes take the exam to test themselves.
Many of those who have got MA don't pass this exam.

I'm wondering if having CPE certificate or just CAE certificate means that British employer treats you equally with British candidate?
I mean simple jobs, like being a shop assistant, a cleaner, a waiter, some kind of physical work.

How high is is perceived?

Do you admire a foreigner who has got CPE certificate? Is it a difficult exam from the British perspective?

 

[5jj]

I'm wondering if having CPE certificate or just CAE certificate means that British employer treats you equally with British candidate?

Some employers insist on a Cambridge main-suite certificate or IELTS level before they will consider applications from non-native speakers. Once you have been employed, you are judged on your performance, not on your certificates.

I mean simple jobs, like being a shop assistant, a cleaner, a waiter, some kind of physical work.

Most employers have no interest in qualifications of any sort for this type of work.

Do you admire a foreigner who has got CPE certificate? Is it a difficult exam from the British perspective?

Apart from some employers, those in the TEFL industry and those involved in immagration and employment policies, most British people have probably not heard of CPE. As far as non-natives' level of English is concerned, we are far more interested in how they speak and, if relevant, write, than in odd pieces of paper they may have.

 

[Tdol]

It depends very much on the type of work- if the job requires certain standards of English, employers will know about these exams, but this is not the case in the ones you mention. A CV that mentions CAE/CPE for a waiting job may let an employer know that you have studied English seriously, but few are likely to know much more than that unless they have employed people with the same qualification and know that they could speak well. If you're applying for a place in a university, they will know exactly what it means.

 

[angelene001]

Thank you for your replies

 

[Olga4652]

I think CAE or CPE will do better than IELTS for job.But for office job specifically I think it might be even better to have a BEC. ThoughI have to admit that no English certificate is equivalent to the native level. :-(