How verifiable credentials become even more meaningful in the world of AI

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) can have a major impact when it comes to drafting a resume today. With the help of generative AI, anyone with access to the technology — and good prompting abilities — can now create a pristine resume to submit for open positions.

“AI flattens out the skill curve so that everyone can write a good resume, which is very exciting. We have the opportunity to embrace verifiable achievements as the backbone for hiring upon which things like terrific resumes can be generated, creating a more level playing field across learners and applicants,” said Kate Giovacchini, Executive Director of the Trusted Learner Network and ASU Pocket.

So, how do hiring managers feel about it? According to Forbes, 90% of hiring managers say it’s acceptable to use generative AI for their application materials – and 67% of hiring managers believe they know when candidates are using generative AI to draft their resume.

With the quality of resumes increasing, how do hiring managers start separating the signals that someone is a great fit for a job versus the noise that their resume and cover letter are well written…but their skills may not reflect their quality of work presented during the interview process?

The answer: verifiable credentials.

“When data can have a clear provenance and clear signal that it was issued to a specific person and that they have a certain skill, it’s powerful because learners can say, ‘here’s the proof,’” said Giovacchini. “In a world that has increased tools, experiences and skills, verifiable credentials are the way to make sure that what’s on paper matches actual experiences.”

And while generative AI affords people more creativity in how they put their resume together, there is a demand for a common language around skills and a way to quickly identify one’s skills…and that they are trusted. Verifiable credentials provide hiring managers with fact checking functionality. Additionally, verifiable credentials allow lifelong learners to see where they have skills (and skill gaps) to both inform how they present themselves in their resumes and cover letters, but also to enhance confidence around those skills.

The Trusted Learner Network’s technology allows learners to collect, explore and share verified digital credentials that they have gathered during their educational experiences and beyond, including bundling those skills and achievements to add them to a digital wallet like ASU Pocket for maximum portability. The outcome of these technologies is that learners have agency over their credentials at their discretion, which, in turn, creates equity, empowers learners to thrive by allowing them to share their robust stories.

Giovacchini shared that verifiable credentials are like a Swiss Army knife in that they hold several effective uses. Some of these functions of verifiable credentials include that they:

• Enable learners to be more efficient with the ability to hold, articulate and manage their achievements throughout their lifetime and at a moment’s notice.
• Empower learners with a sense of ongoing accomplishment, confidence and growth through the accumulation of these achievements.
• Fuel the creation of new applications that can consume verifiable credentials and provide back customized, personalized services such as job search and education discovery.
• Give value to experiences and skills that may have previously gone unrecognized.

“We are building infrastructure to support a new paradigm here — credentials in the hands of learners that are instantly shareable, understandable and consumable for all kinds of things we can only dream of. Gone will be the days of simply receiving a student discount at the movies — imagine the possibilities when we can present what we’ve learned and get back opportunities, interview invitations, skills-based resumes and even more we can’t yet imagine,” said Giovacchini.

Giovacchini moderated a panel at ASU+GSV 2024 on this topic, “Unlock Achievement to Create Opportunity: How Digital, Verifiable Credentials Transform Learning,” with speakers Lev Gonick, ASU CIO; Sharon Leu, Executive in Residence at JFFLabs at Job for the Future, and Dale Whittaker, Senior Advisor, Postsecondary Success and Pathways at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.