A specialist profile can include experience, skills, completed projects and concrete work results.
One important question still remains:
how can we check whether a declared competency is actually supported in practice?
That is exactly what we are working on now.
On Friday, 4 September, we will release the first version of the competency verification system in MySkillsSpace.
This is not about testing memory
We do not want to build another set of simple questions where remembering the correct answers is enough.
Knowing definitions can be useful, but in professional work it is usually not enough.
What matters much more is whether a person can:
- recognise a problem,
- choose the right solution,
- apply knowledge in a specific situation,
- notice a risk or error,
- make a justified decision,
- handle a situation similar to real work.
That is why the verification method will depend on the type of competency.
One result should not say everything
We do not want to reduce a person's competency to a single number.
Two people may receive a similar final score while differing significantly across specific areas.
That is why we want the result to provide more information than just:
72%
or:
passed / not passed.
It also matters what was actually assessed and in which areas the person performed better or worse.
This way, the result can become a meaningful addition to a specialist profile rather than another decorative badge.
Verification will be one form of competency evidence
A test will not replace professional experience.
It will also not replace:
- completed projects,
- examples of work,
- achieved results,
- references,
- career history,
- a conversation with the specialist.
And it should not.
We want competencies in MySkillsSpace to be assessed using several independent signals.
If someone declares a specific skill, over time that information may also be accompanied by evidence showing why that declaration can be considered credible.
A verification result will be one of those pieces of evidence.
The credibility of the result matters as much as the test itself
A verification system only makes sense if its result actually means something.
If identical questions can be repeated without limits, the full answer set can be learned, or the verification method can be easily bypassed, the value of the result quickly falls.
That is why we are also working on protecting the verification process itself.
At the same time, we do not want to build a solution that requires users to be continuously observed through a camera or recorded through a microphone.
Users should know what to expect
Before verification begins, we want to clearly show, among other things:
- which competency is being assessed,
- which areas will be evaluated,
- how much time should be set aside,
- what types of tasks may appear,
- what will happen to the result after completion.
The assessment itself may be demanding.
It should not, however, be unpredictable.
Users should understand the rules before they begin.
Verification does not mean automatic disclosure of data
As we develop this feature, we continue to follow one of the core principles of MySkillsSpace:
confirming competencies should not take control over the profile away from the user.
Completing a test should not automatically mean publicly sharing every detail about its course or result.
How a confirmed skill is presented will be equally important.
If we assessed a defined range of knowledge or practical skills, the information shown in the profile should not suggest that we confirmed more than that.
We want to present results as precisely and fairly as possible.
Why we are building this now
MySkillsSpace is increasingly connecting several types of information about a specialist:
declared skills -> experience -> completed work -> achieved results -> competency confirmation
Verification is another part of that structure.
We do not want to build a platform where the quality of a specialist is determined by a job title, an attractive description or the number of years entered in a profile.
We want to gradually increase the importance of information that can be checked, compared or supported by concrete evidence.
The first version arrives this Friday
We will release the first version of the competency verification system on Friday, 4 September.
It will not be a closed or final system.
This is the beginning of a solution that we will expand with further types of competencies and verification methods.
Some mechanisms will remain invisible to users. Others will evolve based on real results and how the feature is used.
The core principle remains simple:
if a skill can be confirmed credibly, the profile should be able to show more than the declaration itself.
This is another step toward a MySkillsSpace where what matters first is what you can actually do.
Find the right specialist without guesswork.
Skills, services, pricing and availability can be visible before you even open a profile.