Training Industry Quarterly - Fall 2013 - (Page 39)

BADGES: B R I DG I N G TH E HI G HE R E DU CA TI O N AND W O RK F O RC E G A P B Y The traditional resume is on its way out, and that’s a good thing. It’s no secret that the information a resume offers can muddle — instead of articulate — the author’s strengths. For example, there is usually a long list of relevant skills, but corroborated by whom? The traditional resume makes it difficult for hiring managers to discern who would be the best fit for open positions, which often leads to unnecessary and time-wasting interviews in which the applicants’ actual competencies (or lack thereof) eventually come out. On the other hand, job seekers are stuck in a perpetual state of tweaking resumes to match the desired skills in job D E B O R A H E V E R H A R T descriptions and struggle to express all their capabilities in a single document. The problems with the resume are not new. But we’re in an age where social media and online identities are picking up the slack and offering employers a more complete picture of applicants. We’ve all heard about how HR pros scour social media sites to screen applicants. But smart recruiters can now go even further to find potential candidates and evaluate their qualifications using online evidence of their specific characteristics and competencies. While in college, savvy students are using Twitter, LinkedIn, even Facebook, to build a digital representation of their professional identities. They’re listing current and past jobs and internships. They’re connecting with professors, coworkers and supervisors, and displaying recommendations and endorsements right on their profile page. They’re listing their skills and competencies. Basically everything a hiring manager would look for on a traditional resume — and more — is now available online. The latest addition to the online professional footprint is a powerful new tool called digital badges. Badges are gaining traction with employers, students and education institutions alike as a new currency in competencies. Training Industry Quarterly, Fall 2013 / A Training Industry, Inc. magazine / www.trainingindustry.com/TIQ 39 http://www.trainingindustry.com/TIQ

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Training Industry Quarterly - Fall 2013

From Where I Sit: The Sustainability of MOOCs
Table of Contents
Ad Index
Guest Editor: Top Five Learning Technologies to Watch
We Need to Support Learning, Not Manage It
Supercharge Your Next Leadership Initiative
Boomers & the Technology Gap
Technologies to Manage Information Overload
It's Time to Invest in the 'Performance Zone'
Inroducing Simulation into Learning Technologies: Examining the Key Considerations
The Evolution of the LMS
Bringing Your Mojo to the Virtual Classroom
Merging Social Learning and Technology to Achieve Business Outcomes
Optimizing Workforce Learning and Performance
Badges: Bridging the Higher Education and Workforce Gap
Integrating Video into Training
Tools for Supporting Sales Coaching
Tweet Suite
Company News

Training Industry Quarterly - Fall 2013