More educational institutions, including University at Buffalo, SUNY Geneseo, and Coppin State University have begun to pair microcredentials with digital credentials because it’s a win for:
- Students, who now have verifiable evidence of the skills they bring to an employer.
- HR departments, which have a more detailed picture of their talent pipeline and current workforce.
By pairing microcredentials with digital credentials, institutions and employers can partner to prepare individuals for a changing workforce and make a big impact in three important ways:
- Filling a communication gap: telling the full story
Historically, job seekers rely on resumes as storytelling tools designed to showcase their experiences and education. But today’s companies want to know how much proficiency an applicant has with a particular skill.
“Proficient in Microsoft” means different things to different people. A hiring manager may interpret proficiency to mean in-depth knowledge of the suite, whereas an applicant may use the phrase to indicate an understanding of just the fundamentals. Digital credentials define and standardize requirements for both employers and learners to remove any doubt about what’s necessary to earn a credential for a specific skill.
Resumes offer a starting point for recognizing talent, but digital credentials provide quantifiable proof of skills and achievements attained from educational institutions, on-the-job training and more. With their common, standardized language of skills expectations, digital credentials provide substance to support claims on a resume, verifying that incoming talent has the skills and knowledge organizations want.
- Building a more equitable workforce
Digital credentials remove the barriers of implicit bias within the hiring process by creating a common currency for two people with the same skills. Regardless of race, disability, age, sexual orientation or gender, individuals have an equal chance at opportunities within organizations through credentials.
Digital credentials don’t solve every challenge companies face in providing equitable hiring practices. They do, however, offer an infrastructure for leveling the playing field for career paths–from recent graduates to tenured employees. For example, students with the same degree from the same educational institution can differentiate themselves from other candidates by emphasizing their skills with credentials.
- Supporting the need for skills-based hiring
Educational institutions must provide students a quality education designed to prepare them for a career post-graduation. According to a Gallup survey, 96 percent of university leaders think they’re doing a good job preparing young people for the workforce. But fewer than half of college students–and only 11percent of business leaders–agree.
Institutions committed to developing and implementing skills-based learning and talent management opportunities more successfully prepare their students for the workforce. Digital credentials can complement existing curricula to enrich student knowledge by offering more training within the specific skill sets future careers require and employers expect.
Microcredentials facilitate partnerships between educational institutions and employers to elevate the traditional learning and development expectations by building a tailored approach to learning and training. By taking the microcredential approach to progressive learning paths, and recognizing the learning outcomes that are gained along the way with digital credentials, individuals turn achievements into key qualifications to:
- Highlight skills, knowledge, and abilities relevant to their targeted jobs.
- Distinguish themselves from other job applicants.
- Increase salary and advancement opportunities.
- Demonstrate a commitment to lifelong learning, career growth and self-improvement.
Microcredentials offer institutions and organizations a powerful tool to support workforce preparedness now and in the future. Those credentials have the greatest impact on the individual, offering them a path to control their learning showcase both hard and soft skills through a verified means–removing any guesswork about their ability.
Susan oversees the “big picture” of how Credly helps customers and others understand the world of digital credentials. She manages the onboarding and customer help functions along with programs to enlighten and inform those interested in the credentialing space. Susan has taught graduate courses and authored books in instructional design, technology tools, universal design for learning and general pedagogy related to online teaching and learning. Susan earned her Doctorate in Adult Education, her Master’s in College Student Personnel and is a certified Credentialing Specialist.
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