How do I have my skills certified?

Members of the Elance professional network typically have various skills listed on their provider profiles. By having these skills certified, members can substantiate their skills and provide assurance of the authenticity of their profiles.  Providers on paid membership plans will receive free skills test credits depending on their plan.  Providers on the Individual membership plan will receive 2 test credits, Small Business providers will receive 4 test credits, and Large Business providers will receive 8 test credits.  Each additional test costs $4.  When creating or editing your profile, you can enter in or edit your skills section and have a skill tested and certified.  Once the test has been certified with a passing score, the verification of that skill will be posted on your profile.

A few items to keep in mind:

• You must wait 14 days in order to re-test the same skill (with the exception of the Elance Admission test which has a 24 hour waiting period between re-takes).
• Tests are timed and the test syllabus will indicate the duration as well as other important details surrounding each test (e.g. content, prerequisite knowledge, etc.). 
• You will be charged for each test re-take (with the exception of the Elance Admission test which is free).
• In order to pass the test and display your results in your profile, you will need to answer 60% of the questions correctly (with the exception of the Elance Admission test which requires an 80% pass rate).You can revert back to the self-assessment score or delete the skill if you are dissatisfied with your tested score.
• The test is considered failed if it is not completed. 
• You are charged immediately after clicking the "Take Test" button and the test fee is not refundable.  If you have test credits, you will use up these credits each time you take a test (with the exception of the Elance Admission test which is free).

Please follow these steps to take a skills test:

Step 1:  From the MyElance page, navigate to your Provider Profile.

Step 2:  Click on the "Edit" link in the Skills section of your profile

Step 3:  Select from the drop-downs to add a skill to your profile, then click "Add another skill" when you are finished

Step 4:  Your skill will now be listed along with the years of experience and proficiency level you chose from the drop-down menus.  From here you can select the "Test" link to have your skill certified at which point you will be taken to the specific test screen to start the test.  Keep in mind that you can display, hide, or delete a skill at any time.

Once you have completed a test, you will see the results in your profile.    Part of the results of your test, include the average score and your percentile compared to all other test takers up to that point in time.   NOTE: Each month the percentile scores are updated to include the results of the most recent test results. 

For more information on how to certify your skills, please watch the following Elance University video: