Obtaining an INCOSE Systems Engineering Professional (SEP) certification is an excellent way to objectively validate your SE knowledge and experience; but it’s also a non-trivial task. Most systems engineers embarking on such an effort can expect to spend several months on the process. In fact, INCOSE advises that the average time spent to obtain a Certified Systems Engineering Professional (CSEP) certification is approximately 200 days, or 6.6 months. Obtaining an Associate Systems Engineering Professional (ASEP) certification will require less time primarily because there is no need for references or review of an applicant’s experience; even so ASEP applicants face the same exam and so can expect a similar effort preparing for it. One way to make the process easier and also more rewarding is to join a cohort of like-minded systems engineers sharing this common goal. Working with such a group offers a number of benefits, including exposure to a wider set of perspectives and experience, collaboration on development of cohort training materials, fostering a sense of accountability to help individual members keep each other on track while progressing toward the goal, and of course the comradery that comes from working together on a team. This talk will describe the benefits of certification as well as the general process, with an emphasis on how to organize and conduct a SEP exam preparation cohort, cluding with the tools we have currently available to aid you in this.