![\"WorkCred\"](\"http:\/\/www.proftesting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/WorkCred.jpg\")
<\/p>\nBy:\u00a0Roy Swift, Ph.D.,\u00a0Executive Director, Workcred – an affiliate of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI)<\/p>\n
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Credentials hold the power to build education and career paths. But the last decade has seen enormous growth in the number and variety of labor market credentials \u2013 college degrees, educational certificates, industry certifications, occupational licenses, and micro-credentials such as badges. This growth has fueled confusion among students, workers, job seekers, and employers who are left to navigate the \u201ccredentialing maze\u201d without a guiding compass.<\/p>\n
Students, job seekers, and workers struggle to determine if a credential will get them where they want to go, if they have to renew it and how often, and whether it will be a stepping stone to higher-level credentials. \u00a0At the same time, employers want to know what competencies a credential holder has, how it compares to other credentials, and how much to trust the claims made.\u00a0 Transcripts with courses, grades, and credits and resumes that list \u201cactivities and experiences\u201d are no longer adequate.<\/p>\n
The lack of transparency in the credentialing market has created a buyer-beware environment. The wide variety of approaches and languages currently used by higher education institutions and industry certification bodies to describe credentials makes it nearly impossible to understand and compare them. Like a box of assorted chocolates, you never know what<\/em> you are going to get!<\/p>\n Competencies are the common currency through which credentials can be evaluated.<\/strong> It is only through transparent competencies that one is able to efficiently stack credentials and navigate a career pathway within or across industries. When competencies are measurable, it becomes clearer what assessments have to be conducted to determine if knowledge and skills have been acquired. \u00a0Anyone can write a competency statement, but it is only helpful to consumers if it has been validated to the population served, written so it is measurable, and assessed according to the knowledge and skills that support the competency.<\/p>\n The problem is that the word \u201ccompetencies\u201d is used and interpreted so differently by various audiences that it has completely lost its meaning. A common language for describing this and other key features of credentials is sorely needed to bring clarity to the labor market. How else will we know what knowledge and skills stand behind a credential, how a B.S. in computer science from one university compares to another, what two years of military training is worth, or how to compare two or more certifications that say they certify individuals in the same occupation such as cybersecurity?<\/p>\n