New digital badges allow job-seekers to put their skills and accomplishments on display, virtually

Now it’s easier than ever to promote your job skills to potential employers — with digital badges on AlaskaNativeHire.com.

As Alaska’s go-to resource for people pursuing meaningful employment and for employers looking to discover local talent, AlaskaNativeHire.com allows users to create a profile that features their employment history, experience, skills, and education. With the addition of digital badges, job searchers can highlight skills that they have gained outside of traditional degree programs.

“In Alaska’s People, we teach job seekers how to market their transferable skills, and digital badging can help identify those skills,” said BreeAnn Davis, a senior manager with Alaska’s People. “We want to give our job seekers every competitive advantage possible. Digital badging is another tool in the toolbox.”

Digital badges are validated representations of accomplishments, education, or skills. Because these badges are represented either as an image or as a link, they can easily be shared online to demonstrate that a prospective employee has gained training or experience. Badges may represent credentialed or other training.

“It’s an easy way for employers to verify that applicants have the training they’ve listed on their resume,” said Michael Risinger, senior special projects manager with CITC’s Administration department.

While some universities have used digital badges to reflect degrees earned by students, micro credentialing is a more common use. Badges can be awarded by institutions or organizations — like CITC — to show that an individual has mastered a specific skill or completed a workshop or class. A job seeker could share a digital badge on their resume, for example, to show that they have completed CITC’s Barista Apprenticeship Program.

CITC’s Fab Lab has been awarding digital badges that students who have mastered the use of lab equipment like laser cutters or software that designs 3D objects.

“We want to give our job seekers every competitive advantage possible. Digital badging is another tool in the toolbox.”

“Badges create a log of learning, so you can go back and say, I can verify that I learned this skill, without having to print out certificates — the badges are accessible from anywhere online,” Michael explained.

At AlaskaNativeHire.com, employers can search for specific badges. For example, if an employer wants to hire someone with STEM experience, they can find the right applicant by searching for STEM-related badges, which will link back to the individuals who have earned them.

Applicants on AlaskaNativeHire.com can also highlight their skillsets by displaying certain badges on their profile page.

Along with training through Alaska’s People and opportunities like CITC’s upcoming 907 Job Fair, digital badging offers one more powerful tool to link people to careers that fulfill their potential.

Visit Alaska’s People to connect with job training and opportunities. And get ready: CITC’s Annual 907 Job Fair is virtual this year, and it’s happening March 31, 2022. Register here.