Lessons · Teaching · who applies, who recommends, and who issues
You apply, the programme recommends, the state issues
A credential takes two separate acts by two parties. The candidate makes an application to the state, usually through an account they create themselves; the programme sends the state a recommendation that the candidate has completed preparation. The state issues the credential when both exist, and it names a field and a grade band.
Hone is a place to practise a career, one idea a day. This is one of its lessons, written out in full and free to read without an account.
In beta. This lesson was written for Hone and has not yet been checked by a state certification officer. Practice material, not professional advice. What that means.
What it is for
A recommendation with no application underneath it sits and waits quietly, which is the commonest cause of a silent summer: the candidate believes the programme is handling it, the programme has done its part, and nothing is wrong except that nobody made the application. Knowing there are two acts turns waiting into one question with an answer -- which of the two is missing.
How to think about it
Create the account and make the application as soon as your state allows it, then ask your programme to confirm in writing when the recommendation has gone. Keep both dates. When weeks pass with nothing happening, ask the question that has an answer: which of the two acts is missing, mine or theirs? Which of these applies to you, and what it costs in time, is set by your own state and published by it. Read that page rather than this one for any figure you are going to plan around.
Worked example
You create an account and applyYour act. Nobody can do it for you.
The programme recommends youTheir act, and it depends on their requirements being finished.
The state issues the credentialOnly when both are present.
It names a field and a grade bandThat pair is the authorisation: what may be taught, and to whom.
Your turn
Name what the programme sends the state, as distinct from what you send.
The programme sends the state its
Solve one, graded on the server
The trap
Assuming the programme applies on your behalf. It recommends; you apply, and a recommendation with no application under it waits without anybody noticing. Which of these applies to you, and what it costs in time, is set by your own state and published by it. Read that page rather than this one for any figure you are going to plan around.