Certification is a confirmation by the owner of a product or technology that the holder possesses a certain level of competence. Due to the usual means of how a certification is acquired - most of the time through live or online exams - it offers an unbiased external review for the skills of a person.
Classic certification exams usually cover a large curriculum and are time intensive. While this approach is feasible to justify high prices and create an aura of exclusivity, classic certification - though having its rightful place on the market - does have some inherent flaws.
Micro-Certification adresses those problems and offers a fresh and modern approach as complimentary product or replacement to classic certification, by breaking down big topics into smaller and easily approachable skill definitions. Businesses and end users can therefore identify the topics they really need and gradually build their certification portfolio. Upon collecting certification for a certain field of knowledge they are rewarded with a Micro-Certification badge to conveniently present their most important fields of expertise.
Classic certification creates an aura of high class exclusivity. Which is great once you achieved certification. As someone approaching classic certification for the first time however you are confronted with a high price and the fear of leaving empty handed. One could argue that is a good thing - because it "separates the chaff from the wheat". What effectively happens however, is that you discourage people from testing their knowledge against a standard which you would like to promote.
Micro-Certification offers an inclusive approach. Users obtain Micro-Certification for specific topics or even single skills - gradually building their reputation and portfolio. They are encouraged to test their knowledge against official certification with low entry-costs, offering easy-to-reach beginner badges. They are awarded with certification for the skills they were able to confirm and face a cooldown for retesting skills where they need to do better. That way users are able to gradually work towards their goal - ultimately reaching their desired expert level with dedication and continuous improvement.
A certification is a great achievement - but having additional proof of competence is even better. SkillDisplay allows users, who obtained badges through Micro-Certification, to upgrade these badges with proof of training and practical experience seals, confirming their ability beyond the level of certification.
Training Centers are able to confirm the skills you defined as a certifier with Educational-Verification, while Organizations can verify the Practical Experience of their employees. For you as a certifier this ensures that the people training and using your product abide to your defined standards, while you gain additional insight via anonymous statistics.
For users this means they are able to gradually record their training and practical experience - one project at a time, to ultimately upgrade their badges beyond certification level to silver and gold standard.
Besides all positive effects certifications have for their audience and the certifier, they are also a source of income. SkillDisplay helps certifiers to stabilize this income with the unique certification-as-a-service feature. While the basic use of the SkillDisplay platform for skill exploration and keeping track of self-study is free of charge, users can opt-in to a premium service that gives them access to all available Micro-Certifications - including yours!
Users are awarded with a monthly quota of certification attempts for skills which are available for Micro-Certification from any certifier they choose. For each user that decides to attempt certification for one of your skills - you get rewarded. This way SkillDisplay helps certifiers to cooperate on marketing their certifications, thus increasing their target audience. While users will have a very clear idea of which certification they want to achieve when they join the platform, they will explore more options after they have completed their main goal.
SkillDisplay offers the perfect setup to start offering your own certifications:
Do you already offer classic certification? Establish Micro-Certification as entry-level to:
Do you have further questions about your own use case? SkillDisplay does not only provide the platform, but also the methodology and training for helping you to create, update and maintain your certification portfolio and curricula.