Skills certifications are more than just a piece of paper and provide tremendous value in a student’s blossoming career. Our Tosa certifications are valid for three years and consistently launch learners toward new professional opportunities.
In a recent blog post, we shared ways higher education and continuing education institutions can help students set themselves apart as they enter the workforce using industry-recognized skills certifications. However, skills half-life is something students must learn to navigate.
While the skills a person learns don’t evaporate over time, the certifications themselves do have an expiration date, which many students believe make it difficult to show their current career readiness. However, there are valuable ways for applicants and workers to demonstrate certified skills beyond their expiration date.
While certifications may be valid for up to three years, read on for multiple strategies to help students combat the shelf-life of skills certifications and market themselves as competent, qualified applicants in today’s competitive workforce.
Transferable Skills Essential to Career Readiness
Upon surpassing the expiration date of a skills certification, it is crucial to recognize that a student’s acquired abilities do not instantaneously vanish. In reality, those who diligently apply these skills within their professional environment continue to refine and sharpen them, irrespective of a certification's three-year validity period.
Moreover, technical skills certifications frequently signify not only the mastery of specialized knowledge but also the command of indispensable and adaptable soft skills, which perpetually serve as key indicators of career readiness. Recently, LinkedIn published this year’s list of “most in-demand” hard and soft skills, which are as follows: 
Skills certifications not only equip students with valuable hard skills, such as technical expertise and specialized knowledge, but also foster the development of essential soft skills. Through these comprehensive programs, students gain a well-rounded skill set that combines practical abilities with interpersonal and cognitive proficiencies. These skill sets, known by various names – 21st century skills, employability skills, soft skills, and transferable skills – are highly coveted across sectors, including the technology industry.
Certifications often incorporate elements like teamwork, problem-solving, and effective communication, enabling students to emerge as well-rounded professionals. In fact, recent employer surveys consistently emphasize a preference for candidates possessing robust soft skills over their technically proficient but soft-skill-deficient counterparts. Consequently, participants in skills certification programs acquire a versatile and balanced combination of hard and soft skills, enhancing their employability and adaptability across various industries.
Although soft skills might not be as readily transferable to a resume as hard skills, students can effectively convey these valuable abilities during interviews, and credit their original skills certification for their new-found success.
Certifications Set the Foundation for Work-Embedded Skills Mastery
Certifications often serve as gateways for individuals embarking on new career paths or projects, allowing them to implement and cultivate their acquired skills. As these abilities are refined, the dependence on certification for validation diminishes. Skills certifications not only demonstrate a learner's capacity to apply essential skills in real-world contexts but also emphasize the importance of continuous skill utilization through work projects.
To address certification expiration, it is advisable to prominently feature the ways in which students consistently employ these skills through relevant work experience on their resumes. While listing expired certifications is not recommended, individuals can effectively showcase their job readiness and skills mastery by highlighting projects and portfolios that illustrate their practical application of these competencies.
For example, Tosa’s certifications span tools and technologies that today’s skilled workers likely use daily:
- Desktop certifications include Google Slides, Google Docs, Excel, Word, Powerpoint, Outlook, and VBA
- Digital certifications cover DigComp, Office 365 collaborative tools, CyberCitizen, WordPress, and Salesforce
- Code certifications span Python, Web Developer, and JavaScript
- Graphics certifications offer Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere Pro, and Autodesk AutoCAD
Educators can coach their learners to frequently update their resumes and work portfolios to elaborate on certified skills used as a way to keep an ongoing record of their strong employability.
Benefits of Certification Re-Testing
While there are strategies for emerging professionals to highlight their enduringly relevant "expired" skills, it is ideal for learners to cultivate a habit of maintaining up-to-date certifications. Fortunately, certification providers offer retesting opportunities, enabling students to not only refresh their certifications but also potentially achieve higher scores and refine their skills.
Tosa exams, for example, assess an individual's proficiency with a numerical score ranging from 1-1,000 and allocate a placement within a five-tier proficiency ranking – beginner, basic, productive, advanced, and expert. Students can conveniently retake Tosa certifications at any time to preserve their credentials or, even better, surpass their initial score, thereby bolstering their resumes and appealing to potential employers.
Sharpen Skills and Prioritize Continuous Learning with Skills Certifications
According to a recent survey from The Harris Poll, 8 out of 10 U.S. hiring decision-makers prioritize candidates who demonstrate a commitment to continuous learning. Applicants who further their learning through reputable organizations like ours stand out from jam-packed applicant pools. It is essential that higher education and continuing education programs support students in earning skills certifications while simultaneously teaching them strategies and mindsets to intentionally enhance their work experience.
Sound like a tall order? Tosa is here to help. Learn more about Tosa’s industry-recognized certifications and how we are helping education institutions across the globe pave professional pathways for students.
