What Are Digital Badges?
Digital badges are an innovative way to display achievements and qualifications to potential employers. They can be attached to resumes and email signatures, embedded in websites, and even displayed on social media platforms such as Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
Digital badges are more than just an image.
Badges contain metadata that provides extra information beyond just a logo; they tell employers, clients, and coworkers what the qualification is and the process that was required to earn it.
A Deeper Look at FITT Digital Badges
FITT digital badges are a new way to display learning accomplishments, skills, and FITT credentials. They are organized into a five tier structure to capture different types of achievements.
The first two tiers are relegated to achievements in education. You can earn a badge for successful completion of a FITTskills course assessment, or the equivalency thereof and/or successful completion of a FITTskills workshop assessment, or the equivalency thereof.
Both badges indicate that an individual has successfully completed the necessary requirements for a course or workshop covering different aspects of international trade.
Many international trade professionals will acquire a number of these course/workshop badges as they progress through their professional development journey.
The next two badge tiers are awarded to individuals who have successfully met the requirements to obtain the FITT Certificate or Diploma. The FITT Diploma in International Trade and the FITT Certificate in International Trade are both indicators that an individual has dedicated much of their time to improving their skills and knowledge to be a more effective professional in the international market.
The final badge tier is the CITP®|FIBP® designation badge. It is awarded to individuals who have met the knowledge and skill requirements of the designation, but it goes further than that too.
In order to earn this digital badge, and the designation it represents, individuals need to demonstrate “a commitment to global trade” and a “dedication to ethical business practices and ongoing professional development” in addition to their expertise in international trade processes.
This badge is therefore the best judge of a person’s character and investment in their career and will therefore be the most valuable to employers when it comes to hiring.
Get answers to all your questions about FITT Digital Badges here.
How do Digital Badges Help Hiring Managers?
Skills based hiring is the way of the future, and digital badges make this process a lot easier by helping recruiters identify ideal candidates.
No company wants to onboard a new employee only to find out later that the individual does not have the necessary skills to perform the job successfully.
Hiring an individual proven to have those skills, verified through to digital badges, will make the entire recruitment and onboarding process much smoother, saving the company a significant amount of money.
Skills based hiring also eliminates bias and ensures a diverse and inclusive workplace.
Starting your search for candidates by looking for badges related to the skills needed for the job can reduce the hours needed for recruitment. Sorting through resumes, performing background checks, assessing other requirements, and verifying qualifications takes a lot of man hours.
Digital badges provide all of this information right away on a verifiable, trustworthy platform. Unlike paper credentials that are difficult to verify, the hiring team will be able to look at a resume and know whether the candidate actually has the skills and knowledge they claim to possess.
When it comes to ensuring a candidate meets the requirements of a position, this verification is essential.
How Do Candidates with Digital Badges Benefit the Company That Hires Them?
Since digital badges exist for education, skills, and favorable personality traits like leadership, a business will know that the individual they hire will be a positive and productive member of their team. Plus, these individuals may encourage their coworkers to earn badges as well, further improving the overall value of the team to the company.
Employees who have earned and shared their digital badges are also great for marketing, especially if the company offers its employees opportunities to earn badges internally.
Potential clients and applicants for other job openings will be able to see that the business is staffed by qualified and knowledgeable individuals, making the business a great choice to hire or to work for.
One other thing that is important to keep in mind is that employees with digital badges make it easier for the business to meet compliance standards and ensure every qualification is up to date.
For example, some job sites require at least one member of each shift to be first aid certified. If those individuals have digital badges for the first aid certification, it is very easy to check the expiration date and ensure scheduling is done correctly.
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