Two different questions
The first question is about authenticity: did the organisation named on the certificate really grant it to this person? The second is about meaning: what does that organisation's certificate stand for? A certificate can be perfectly genuine and still carry no more weight than the course behind it.
Conflating the two is the commonest source of disappointment on both sides. A candidate who completed a rigorous course is sometimes met with suspicion about the format, and a hiring manager is sometimes persuaded by a handsome certificate that was granted for watching videos.
What a certificate of completion states
A certificate of completion states that a person completed a defined course at an organisation, on stated dates, sometimes with a grade, hours or skills. It is the organisation's own statement. It is not, by that fact, a degree or a professional licence.
The recognition of diplomas and periods of study for academic or professional purposes is a separate procedure, handled by recognition bodies; the ENIC-NARIC networks, for example, provide information on the recognition of foreign qualifications. Recognition concerns qualifications from the formal education system. It is not the route by which a short online course acquires standing.
Checks for the employer or admissions office
- Authenticity. Open the verification page the certificate points to, on the issuer's own domain, and match the name, course and dates. See how to verify a certificate from its QR code.
- Issuer. Establish who the issuer is: an accredited university, a professional body, a company, an individual. Look for the issuer independently of the certificate.
- Assessment. Ask whether the course was assessed (a graded exam, a project reviewed by a person) or only attended. The certificate's wording, grade and listed skills usually reveal this.
- Relevance. Decide whether the content bears on the role. A genuine certificate in an unrelated subject is genuine and unrelated.
- Currency. Look at the dates. Some fields move quickly; a certificate from many years ago in such a field says less.
What verifiability adds
A credential that can be verified shows it was issued by a given party and has not been altered. The W3C data model states plainly that verifiability does not imply the truth of the claims in a credential: the verifier applies its own rules about whether to rely on them. For online courses that means the check on authenticity is necessary, and the judgement about weight is the employer's.
A certificate issued with Emitcert gives the first part cheaply: the verification page confirms the issuer, the recipient and the status, and the issuer's signature covers the wording. Our guide to verifying a diploma describes the wider set of checks.
For course providers: what to put on the certificate
- State what was completed, the hours and the dates, so that the certificate does not need to be interpreted.
- State whether and how the learner was assessed.
- Do not borrow the vocabulary of degrees. "Diploma" and "graduate" invite the misunderstanding this guide describes.
- Make the certificate verifiable, and print the verification address and code on it.
A short rule
Verify that it is genuine, read what it actually says, and weigh it against the role. A certificate that survives all three has earned its place on a CV.
Frequently asked questions
Is a certificate of completion from an online course a qualification?
Not by that fact. It is the provider's statement that a course was completed. Whether it counts towards a qualification depends on the provider and on the body that recognises it.
How can an employer confirm that an online certificate is genuine?
By opening the verification page on the issuer's own domain and matching the name, course, dates and status with the document, or by contacting the issuer through a channel found independently.
Where should a course provider say how learners were assessed?
On the certificate itself, next to the course name, the hours and the dates, so that the document can be read without interpretation.
Sources
The factual statements on this page rest on the documents listed below. Legislation and services change; consult the current version before relying on any of them.