AI tools have made it easier than ever for job seekers to craft a perfect cover letter and resume tailored to the company and job description.
While this technology has benefited candidates, it’s caused a massive problem for employers.
As Ian Davidson, Chief Growth Officer at SmartResume, astutely predicted last year: “Employers will soon recognize the challenges created by AI resume builders, especially the over-inflation of job seeker qualifications and the flattening of the talent pool caused by a sea of resumes created using AI technologies. They will seek solutions that validate skills and verify key qualifications of their job requirements.”
According to The Wall Street Journal, more and more tech firms and recruiters are doing just that, reinserting human review and screening steps into their hiring process, hoping to identify and exclude “fake candidates” — people who misrepresent their experience and identities.
But there’s an easier and more efficient way to confirm that candidates have the skills they say they do: resumes with embedded, verifiable digital credentials.
Unsurprisingly, over 60% of people expect a world of verified resumes and digital skill wallets in the hiring market within the next five years. And thanks to our new integration with SmartResume, we’re taking the value and utility of digital credentials to another level.
Earners will now be able to embed digital credentials directly into their resumes so employers can verify them in real time. At the same time, education and training leaders elevate the integrity of their programs and the utility of their credentials, ensuring that learners not only gain valuable skills but effectively translate them into real career opportunities.
What the Accredible + SmartResume Integration Means for the Learn-and-Work Ecosystem
For job seekers, digital credentials are a way to set themselves apart from other candidates in the job market — to demonstrate that they have the skills they say they do, with verifiable evidence to prove it.
“Accredible and SmartResume share a vision of empowering individuals with digital credentials that make their qualifications undeniable,” says Dave Wengel, CEO of SmartResume. “This integration streamlines the process for job seekers by seamlessly leveraging their credentials in the most important document of their career.”
With our joint integration:
- Earners can share their verifiable credentials to elevate their job prospects and support their career growth with SmartResume talent community networking features.
- Employers can verify skills and achievements and view valuable credential metadata, such as program details, gained skills, and earning criteria.
- Issuers can increase their program awareness and credibility with every credential added to a SmartResume.
“The value of an education or training program is directly tied to the market value and usability of its credentials. If learners can’t leverage their achievements to advance their careers, the impact is lost,” notes Rochelle Ramirez, SVP of Product at Accredible. “Our integration with SmartResume ensures that digital credentials actively work for learners, making them seamlessly shareable in a platform employers trust.”
By extending the reach and impact of their credentials, issuers can strengthen program value, increase learner engagement, and drive long-term success for their organizations and the professionals they support.
Empowering Young Adults With Verifiable Resumes
Junior Achievement USA (JA USA) was one of the first organizations to recognize the value of integrating Accredible and SmartResume. The joint solution enables JA young adults to highlight the digital credentials they earned from participating in various JA offerings — courses, internships, service projects, and certifications — all accomplishments that differentiate them from other candidates.
“At Junior Achievement, we know that every job of the future will require some level of education beyond high school, and our workforce strategy centers on empowering young adults with the skills they need to prepare for meaningful careers, regardless of the path they take to get there,” Holly Garner, VP New Channels, Head of Workforce at Junior Achievement, explains.
“Our partnerships with Accredible and SmartResume make skills explicit in the recruiting process so employers can recognize and value the talent of the young people we serve.”
But making students’ skills more formally visible, portable, and verifiable isn’t the only outcome of this integration.
According to Holly, adding Accredible credentials to SmartResumes helps students uncover skills they wouldn’t otherwise think to include on their resumes, improving their chances of getting hired. “Students don’t always connect their various activities to skills. For instance, one student volunteered every Saturday for two years at the local Red Cross, but when asked to create a resume, suggested they didn’t have any work experience,” says Garner.
At the same time, employers gain confidence in their hiring process, knowing the candidates they’re considering truly have the skills they need to succeed — their credentials are verifiable via Accredible. Plus, whenever a learner shares their SmartResume or posts about an Accredible credential, JA USA expands its visibility, encouraging more students to explore their programs and land their dream jobs.
Think your learners would benefit from this credential sharing tool? Reach out to learn more about this powerful partnership.
How to Add Accredible Credentials to a SmartResume
Even the best technology won’t be adopted unless it’s intuitive. That’s why we’ve made adding digital credentials to a SmartResume as simple as possible.
Once you’ve enabled the Accredible-SmartResume integration, your learners can add Accredible digital credentials to their SmartResume in just three steps:
- Find the credential they want to share in their Accredible Wallet.
- Click the “Add to SmartResume” button. At this step, they can select other credentials to add to their resume.
- Authorize to link their credentials to SmartResume.
Catch Accredible, SmartResume, and Junior Achievement at 1EdTech’s Digital Credential Summit
At Accredible, our mission is to empower credential issuers and their learners by making digital credentials more accessible, verifiable, and impactful in the job market. With the SmartResume partnership, we’re proud to build a stronger connection between education and employment and make digital credentials more than just achievements on a profile.
“We’re turning credentials into career currency,” Dave Wengel, CEO of SmartResume, points out. “SmartResume’s integration with Accredible ensures that verifiable skills and qualifications take center stage, leveling the playing field for all job seekers.”
At 1EdTech's Digital Credential Summit in March 2025, we’ll highlight early ‘career currency’ wins. If you’re headed to the Summit, be sure to check out:
Mapping the Momentum of Learning and Employment Records, a presentation by Ian Davidson, Chief Growth Officer at SmartResume. A recap of lessons learned from extensive research for the annual LER Ecosystem SmartReport about how digital credentials are evolving and how data portability across systems is supercharging value for credential holders.
From Badges to Big Data: Junior Achievement's Credentialing Journey, a presentation by Holly Garner, VP of New Channels at JA, and Maise Hunns, Director of Professional Services at Accredible. Holly and Maise will explain how JA USA creates pathways for employability and job creation through a ‘constellation’ of digital credentials that represent learners’ achievements — and helps students convey those unique skills to employers through the Accredible-SmartResume integration.
Can’t make 1EdTech but want to learn more about this partnership? Drop us a line — we’d love to show how Accredible and SmartResume can elevate your digital credentialing program.
