Competency-based programs provide alternative pathways to a degree or credential that are more personalized, flexible, and aligned with in-demand skills. To varying degrees, these programs recognize prior and extra-institutional learning and allow students to progress at a pace determined by the rate at which they demonstrate learning outcomes.
Jessie Brown and Martin Kurzweil, The Complex Universe of Alternative Postsecondary Credentials and Pathways (Cambridge, Mass.: American Academy of Arts & Sciences, 2017, p3).
The ideal candidate: what companies want
When a company begins a recruitment process, they need (often quickly) to find someone who can add to the team and successfully complete the tasks assigned to them.
To achieve this, the company will search for candidates who not only possess certain qualifications or specific experience (such as a law graduate who has completed at least three months of practical training) but also those who possess the right skills and competencies so that they can fit into the team easily and make a real contribution to the company’s activities.
What makes a candidate stand out
It is relatively easy for companies to find people with a particular degree, and even those with experience, but it’s not so easy to find the right fit, the person who also possesses the competencies needed to overcome day-to-day challenges and adapt to the company’s way of working.
These competencies are those which enable us to adapt and fit into different professional environments, and are often called “transferable skills” or “soft skills”. Examples of soft skills are teamworking, leadership, communication skills, or the ability to innovate.
Applicants who can show that they possess these competencies are much more attractive to companies – they are what can turn a good applicant into an ideal applicant.
Our microcredentials make CEU students stand out
The years spent at university offer the perfect opportunity to gain these sought-after skills and competencies. What’s more, microcredentials enable employers to see, in a quick and reliable way, that candidates have the right skills for their vacancies. Moreover, they can even see what activities the applicant has performed to gain the competencies in question.
CEU microcredentials are a simple and yet trustworthy way for students to display their skills to the world. And employers can also verify that applicants really do have these skills and obtain more detailed information about them. This dual advantage of microcredentials (issued in the form of digital badges) make them the perfect ally both for those looking to start or boost their career and those who are looking to recruit the right people.
Would you like to know more about what companies think about microcredentials?
The Careers Service at the CEU Cardenal Herrera University surveyed a range of recruitment and HR professionals: 100% said that microcredentials could be a useful source of information in a recruitment process. In the same vein, all of the experts surveyed thought that microcredentials could make the difference when choosing between two applicants with a similar profile.
So, our microcredentials projects has been warmly welcomed by professionals. But don’t just take our word for it. Check out what Montse Martínez, Regional Service Director for The Adecco Group, Montse Martínez, thinks in this video.