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MIT Issued Blockchain Diplomas, But Doesn't Know If Employers Actually Use Them (techtarget.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the digital-diplomas dept.

dcblogs writes: Last summer, MIT ran a pilot program creating verifiable, tamper-proof "digital diplomas" for a small number of graduates. But they don't know how the pilot turned out, and there's a lot of experimentation underway. Eventually, all your credentials -- resume, employment history, occupational licenses, diplomas -- may be in a blockchain. The use of blockchain enabled digital credentials is growing. This could speed employment verification, and make lying on resumes harder.
The article points out that while a number of universities are exploring blockchain, MIT "has not heard of a case where a student's digital diploma was either consumed or accepted by an employer," although "Many certificates were verified..."

"MIT's pilot illustrates the state of blockchain in HR. It is in a beta, proof-of-concept, experimental phase. Blockchain verification is currently not a practical option for employers and recruiters."

4 of 38 comments (clear)

  1. Resume Massaging by www.goatse.ru · · Score: 3, Informative

    This will have a great amount of blowback. Employers--if they actually use this--will see the one and only resume that a person has, never be able to find employees, and then make even more of a case for H-1B visa workers. The big thing about being able to get a job today is to rewrite your resume to satisfy the HR goons that have no idea what they are hiring for as well as to appear as a "turnkey solution" that can check off every single one of the requirements.

    Training employees is a foreign concept these days. You have to know the tricks to get hired especially if you aren't well-connected. And if you are well-connected, the resume isn't going to matter all that much anyway.

    1. Re:Resume Massaging by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 3, Interesting

      What exactly is the advantage over digitally signed digital diplomas?

      --
      If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
    2. Re:Resume Massaging by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 2

      What exactly is the advantage over digitally signed digital diplomas?

      There is not much advantage, but there are a few. A blockchain is basically "distributed trust". So it may be harder to spoof, since verification is done by more than one entity. It would also be possible to revoke diplomas and other credentials as well as issue them. It may be easier for an employer, since they could use a single interface to verify qualifications, rather than acquiring and verifying public keys for every authority. As an applicant, an advantage is that the blockchain is a permanent record, so your diploma can still be verified even if the granting institution goes out of business.

    3. Re:Resume Massaging by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 2

      and year down the road it's like the certification tests where you need to at your own cost take tests just to keep your certifications good.

      Some certifications must be periodically renewed. That is already true with the existing system, and has nothing whatsoever to do with how the certificate is verified.