People can claim all sorts of accomplishments, but how do you verify (and authenticate) the truth?
The claimed credential
For those who don’t recall, I did a thing in 2021. Specifically, I achieved APMP® Bid and Proposal Management Foundation 2021 certification.
I even published the link to my certification. Here it is.
https://www.credly.com/badges/f177cbf8-e085-4fae-943a-1e418d86c872
Now if you click on that link, you will see a “Verify” link at the top left.
And if you click on that”Verify,” this is what you get.
So I have verified that I am allowed to call myself John E. Bredehoft, CF APMP. It’s allowed:
In the same manner, those who have achieved one of the APMP certifications can append the appropriate certification. In the case of APMP Foundation certification, that means that I can style myself as “John E. Bredehoft, CF APMP.” (Or “John E. Bredehoft, MBA, CF APMP, RSBC” if I want to be thorough. But I probably won’t, since “RSBC” stands for “Radio Shack Battery Club.”)
But have I REALLY verified that I have achieved this accomplishment? (Not the battery club one, the proposal one. Although it would be good to know whether I really have that MBA educational accomplishment.)
The identity problem
You see, despite how impressive that Credly link is, it doesn’t prove nothing.
Sure, somebody who claimed to be John E. Bredehoft sat down in 2021 and took an online exam.
- But was that person truly John E. Bredehoft?
- And even if he was, am I the same John E. Bredehoft who received the certification?
Maybe there were fraudsters along the way. Maybe someone else took the test and pretended to be Bredehoft. Or maybe I’m not Bredehoft.
Sure, at one point I whipped out a credit card with Bredehoft’s name on it. But that doesn’t prove identity.
You probably know the things that prove identity. A biometric modality, including the liveness of that modality. A government-issued identity document that matches the biometric. A sensible location (was the test taker in Ontario, California as expected?).
Now perhaps this is overkill for authenticating a proposal writer, but it may not be if you need a certified plumber.
Or a certified lawyer.
Or a certified doctor.
The other problem
But there’s another problem with the whole thing, even if I am who I say I am.
Yes, my September 2021 achievement is verified.
And yes, the record was updated in January 2022.
And because I truly am me, I know I didn’t meet the CEU/CPD requirement by September 2023. I don’t know how many I did achieve; the APMP was changing its CEU/CPD tracking system in early 2022, and then I joined Incode and theoretically wasn’t writing proposals any more. Theoretically.
So in truth, my shiny badge only represents a dated accomplishment. John E. Bredehoft can no longer use the CF APMP designation.
Unless I add “Emeritus” or something.
And as for those cases in which the certifications and identities truly matter…
Bredemarket 