By the end of 2018, I had completed about 3 years in the position of Senior Author at ansrsource. I was ready for a change. I had some knowledge of micro-credentials and how they could help me advance my career; however, I’d never given serious thought to pursuing them. My ever-increasing appetite for learning and my desire for change led me to take a micro-masters course on supply chain management from MIT. Soon after, an opportunity came knocking on the door—an opening for a Project Manager position at ansrsource. I applied and got the job.

Seems quick, right? Indeed, it was. Micro-credentials can rapidly propel a career. If you want to find out more, keep reading! I will explain what micro-credentials are, how they have become the new necessities of the current job market, and how these credentials can land you your dream job.

What are micro-credentials?

Micro-credentials are one of the most discussed topics in the e-learning space today. Nowadays, organizations expect their employees to continuously upgrade their skills to stay relevant. This is where micro-credentials add value. Like a video game, where a player earns badges for completing a stage, presumably by learning some skills, micro-credentials take a similar approach to education. They are shortened versions of university courses that help students, educators, and other working professionals enhance their resumés by adding digital badges for specific skills. For example, a computer programmer might earn badges for showing competency in data science, machine learning, fundamentals of artificial intelligence, etc.

How important are micro-credentials?

In the last ten years, the world unemployment rate has dropped by 0.7% (World Bank Group, 2020)*; however, the number of job openings is considerably higher than the number of people unemployed. According to a recent study in the U.S., the number of openings hit a record 6.7 million for April 2018, exceeding the number of unemployed by 352,000. So, why aren’t employers hiring the rest of the 6.4 million people?

According to Beth Ann Bovino, the Chief U.S. Economist of S&P Global, one of the biggest reasons is skill mismatch, which is the gap between skills the employers need and skills the job seekers have (Ramona Schindelheim, Forbes, 2018). Recruiters are constantly searching for candidates who have something more than just conventional degrees. Today, a candidate’s chance of landing a job depends greatly on professional certifications, micro-credentials, and work experience.

According to research done by Northeastern University, the highly competitive job market has led 23% of the organizations surveyed in the U.S. to move away from a reliance on college degrees in hiring and to embrace skills-based or competency-based hiring approaches for certain roles. Additionally, 61% of the surveyed employers are either exploring such options or might consider such options in the future (Molly Callahan and Lia Petronio, Northeastern University, 2020).

How can you earn micro-credentials?

As mentioned earlier, micro-credentials are merely shortened versions of university courses targeted at job-specific skills. To earn a micro-credential, you are typically asked to go through course materials, attend lectures, and complete and pass assignments in a stipulated amount of time. Micro-credential courses are mostly online, generally spanning anywhere from four weeks to a year.

Various websites, including edX, Udacity, and Digital Promise, offer an array of micro-credential opportunities. These websites have courses ranging from something as simple as learning about “email etiquette” to something as complex as “supply chain management.” Upon completion of a course, you are given open badges, which can be verified for authenticity and can be shared with anyone, including potential employers.

Can a working professional make time for such courses?

Although micro-credentials do not represent courses that necessarily result in a degree, they exhibit the accumulation of proficiency in job-specific skills. That’s why many working professionals are turning to condensed courses to further their careers. Working professionals often look for flexible options for education that allow them to fit coursework into already busy schedules. The majority of these courses are designed in a way that a working professional can manage the workload without compromising on their personal and professional commitments.

Courses typically have weekly lessons (mostly in the form of video lectures and some additional reading materials), weekly tests, and a final exam. Most of these courses also include a biweekly live online session with the course instructor to answer any questions. You can expect to complete a course or module in about 12–15 weeks, committing approximately 8–12 hours per week to coursework. Because these courses are self-paced, require only about 12 hours of effort per week, and are not prohibitively expensive (they cost about $100–$1,500, depending on the type of course), many working professionals are able to manage their schedule and budget effectively.

How can micro-credentials help you?

Benefitting from micro-credentials is all about choosing the right course that deals with the specific skills necessary for the job you are targeting. Many prestigious institutes, such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Columbia University, The University of Michigan, Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore, etc., have curated courses that cover trending topics—supply chain design, machine learning, entrepreneurship, business analytics, and more. Dedicating a short period of time with a fraction of monetary investment to acquire these skills is going to take you a long way in your career.

With a micro-credential, you’ll be more up to date about the trends in your industry, you’ll be more adaptive and receptive to any further changes in that domain, and you’ll always have an edge over others who do not have skill-specific credentials. Just as a micro-credential helped me secure a new role in my organization in a short span of time, they can help you kick-start your career or bring about the change you desire.

So, what are you waiting for? Choose a course, dive right in, earn the badge, and fly high!

*Note: The employment and unemployment numbers included in this article were collected before the global pandemic hit the U.S.