Dimple Sukhija, Assistant Professor, IIMR
In today’s era owning just a college degree is not adequate. Employers have started looking for workers with varied skill sets which has paved the way towards rise in popularity of professional certificates and credentials. These certificates imparts a well-round education and also transferable skills which makes students resilient to the situations of downturn in the economy or when their skills becomes outdated i.e. not able to meet up the requirements of the job. Here’s the important thing you should be aware about stackable credentials explaining what they have in for you:
With the aim to design customized curricula, students have started opting Stackable Credentials- a series of supplemental professional certificates and coursework. These credentials serve as en-route to acquiring high paid jobs. Graduates use these credentials to furnish their workforce skills and to enhance the resumes. It helps students traverse several different subjects to procure a wide range of skill sets. This makes a person flexible, capable of working in various work areas.
These professional credentials and certificates not only help millennial to build a power pack educational degree but also provide them an edge over their competitors. Many researches and surveys have highlighted that to be in pace with workplace changes, development of new skills and opting ongoing training during the working years are both very necessary.
Stackable credentials helps pave the way for success. The process of learning something new every time is a natural process. Students today are called Digital Natives and they are inclined towards learning new things. Hence, a good growth has been seen in registration in MOOCs by students. These MOOCs and online courses have specialized curriculum to impart adequate knowledge on any subject. Often, Universities Curriculum is not upgraded frequently. Hence, online learning platforms offer learning and getting certification on novel things which helps students find an easy way to succeed.
Stacking oneself with unique credentials helps students find work fast. Employers look for employees who can sustain and work for long term even when the technology changes. This has increased the demand of people with varied skills and for those whose knowledge is not confined to a limit. Stackable Credentials in this case adds stars to a person’s educational degree and help them find jobs which suit their capabilities quickly.
The students who have different mindsets when one talks about education, Some would like to study and then earn a degree while there might be some who would be more inclined towards building stackable credentials along with a college degree while their exist some who just depend on stackable credentials to inculcate marketable skills. These certificates transfers the credit earned in a traditional degree to a next-level degree.
All the programs are built in a way that they help the students adapt to the corporate work culture. The programs or courses running today are designed in a way so that they give millennial a taste of what the corporate world looks like. Hence, this again is an advantage of stackable credentials.
Many colleges today are joining hands with companies in order to enhance the value of stackable credentials. The idea behind teaming up is to avoid creation of stackable credentials which offer little or no value. Joining hands with employers will help to create value for stackable credentials which would again create a win-win situation for the students.
Indore Institute of Management and Research (IIMR), runs many SIGs (Special Interest Groups), to help students earn such credentials apart from University Degree which makes them stand apart from other college students. The institute is also associated with platforms like NPTEL-SWAYAM, Coursera etc which are known today for offering courses and certifications on latest technologies and topics.