Employability Day – How can digital badges build brighter futures? Finding a job for the first time is a challenging task. How do you write your CV or first application form when you probably have very little work experience to draw on? How do you know which skills are transferable skills when you’ve never applied any of them in a real working context? If you have been out of work for a while, which bits of your life outside work are worth shouting about and which aren’t? Here at Badge Nation, this is a subject we are not only passionate about, but we have what we think is the ultimate tool to support building brighter futures.
The reality is, we all do amazing things and have skills that could be applied in a workplace. There are elements of all of our lives that would translate really well into a CV or application to make us more employable – but how do we remember and organise that when it comes to sitting down and creating one?
This is where digital badges come in – they are the perfect tool to recognise all that ‘extra stuff’ outside of formal qualifications. Digital badges are a cross between a record of achievement and an employer reference, held permanently in a digital space that you can’t lose down the sofa. They can be shared on Linked in or embedded in a CV, and contain the precise descriptive language of your transferable skills and achievements.
Digital badges are proving to be the ultimate employability tool. Employment pathways providers are using badges such as this Ideas to Reality Enterprise challenge badge and this Creative Kickstart Ready badge to highlight and showcase the work people do on their programmes. Employers are using them to recognise the activity people undertake in placements and work experience. Schools are using Career Investigator badges as a way of reminding students of the employer interactions they have attended. Training providers are using them to recognise all the additional things individuals gain from undertaking a piece of vocational training, over and above the certificate itself.
Combine all of that with a little time spent in CV writing sessions and suddenly, really useful, credible, and meaningful digital badges are starting to hit the desks of HR managers running recruitment processes.
Imagine how this Software Cornwall Remote Work Experience badge might support an application to a junior development role; this Trust for Developing Communities Volunteer and Social Action badge would be an awesome addition to an application to work for a charity; This Vistry Partnerships Site Ready badge is just about the ultimate ticket onto a construction site anywhere in the country; and this iMayflower Internship Badge from Plymouth University is the perfect start to a career as a creative freelancer.
Digital badges are the future of innovative recruitment and are being used in some really creative ways, supporting individuals to find employment by showcasing their skills and achievements, not the paper they’ve collected.
It is a fantastic movement to be a part of and we would love to welcome you on this journey with us! Why not see what badges can do for you? For more information on digital badges and Badge Nation, check out our YouTube channel, or get in touch with our friendly team.