The Verified Resume is a skills-based credential created by Dr. Arnold Packer, former Executive Director of the Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS).

This tool is an authentic assessment document demonstrating, through third party verification, that an individual has mastered certain essential critical skills. Assessment of the so-called “soft skills” and Critical Skills do not lend themselves to standardized multiple choice testing.

To be “authentic, it is necessary to observe a student’s performance conducting tasks and projects that depend on the skills to be learned. A trained third party instructor or employer will be able to measure performance against an established rubric.

This is authentic assessment.

The Verified Resume promises a better college admissions process as well as improved hiring practices by businesses. Verified Resumes have already been widely tested with positive and encouraging results, and hopefully will serve to narrow the skill gap between what educational institutions produce as graduates and businesses seek to hire as new employees.