How to Evaluate Digital Badges on Someone's Resume

In today's digital age, the way professionals showcase their skills and achievements is rapidly evolving. Traditional resumes are now often supplemented with digital badges—visual representations of specific skills and accomplishments that are verified and easily shareable. As an HR professional, understanding how to evaluate these digital badges on a candidate's resume is crucial. This guide will help you navigate the evaluation process, ensuring you can effectively assess the value and relevance of digital badges.

Understanding Digital Badges

Digital badges are earned through the completion of specific courses, training programs, or achievements. They are more than just visual icons; each badge comes with embedded metadata that provides detailed information about the issuer, the criteria for earning the badge, and the evidence supporting the accomplishment.

Why Digital Badges Matter

1. Verification and Trust: Digital badges are typically issued by reputable organizations and are verifiable in real-time. This adds a layer of credibility to the candidate's claimed skills.
2. Specificity: Unlike general certifications, digital badges often represent specific skills or knowledge areas, allowing for a more detailed understanding of a candidate's expertise.
3. Accessibility: Digital badges can be shared easily on social media platforms, personal websites, and professional networks, making it simple to verify and evaluate them.

Steps to Evaluate Digital Badges

1. Check the Issuer

The credibility of a digital badge largely depends on the issuing organization. Look for badges issued by reputable institutions, professional associations, or well-known educational platforms. HRCP, for instance, partners with Credly, a leading digital badging platform, to ensure that our badges meet high standards of verification and credibility.

2. Review the Badge Criteria

Examine the criteria required to earn the badge. This information is typically included in the badge metadata and should detail the specific skills, knowledge, or competencies the candidate demonstrated. Pay attention to the rigor of the requirements—did the candidate have to complete a comprehensive course, pass an exam, or demonstrate practical application of the skills?

3. Evaluate the Evidence

Digital badges often include links to evidence of the candidate's work, such as projects, assignments, or assessments. Reviewing this evidence can give you a clearer picture of the candidate's abilities and the context in which they applied their skills.

4. Verify Authenticity

Most digital badges can be verified through the issuing platform. For example, badges issued through Credly are easily verifiable by clicking on the badge, which leads to the issuer's platform where the badge's authenticity can be confirmed. Ensure the badge is valid and has not expired.

5. Assess Relevance

Determine the relevance of the digital badge to the position you are hiring for. A badge in a specific HR area, such as talent acquisition or performance management, may be more relevant for certain roles than others. Consider how the skills represented by the badge align with the job requirements and the candidate's overall experience.

Practical Application

To illustrate how to evaluate digital badges, let's consider a candidate applying for an HR position. Their resume includes a digital badge from HRCP’s Micro HR program, specifically in "Employee Relations."

1. Issuer Check: HRCP is a reputable organization with 30 years of experience in HR education.
2. Badge Criteria: The "Strategic HR Management" badge requires the completion of six micro courses including Strategic Human Resource Management, Organizational Strategy, HR Control and Evaluation, HR Technology, HR Research and Analytics, and Global HR Management.
3. Evidence Review: Completion of the digital badge indicates the earner passed each assessment with 100 percent proficiency on the assessments.
4. Authenticity Verification: The badge is verified through Credly, confirming its validity.
5. Relevance: The skills represented by the badge are directly relevant to the HR function, indicating the candidate's preparedness for a given role.

Conclusion

Evaluating digital badges on a candidate's resume requires a thoughtful and systematic approach. By examining the issuer's credibility, reviewing the badge criteria, assessing the provided evidence, verifying authenticity, and determining relevance, you can make informed decisions about the candidate's qualifications. Digital badges offer a nuanced and detailed representation of skills that can significantly enhance your evaluation process, helping you identify the best candidates for your organization.

As digital credentials continue to grow in popularity, mastering the art of evaluating them will become an increasingly valuable skill for HR professionals. Start incorporating these steps into your hiring process to ensure you're leveraging the full potential of digital badges in your talent assessment strategy.