The employer scans an applicant’s resume.

Words, words, words, words and more words.

But suddenly, something catches the employer’s eye. It’s a visual — bright blue and yellow with the words “Email Etiquette” emblazoned across the middle.

The employer is intrigued.

This young person has email skills. Fantastic. We need that in our office.

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Emerge, our signature online platform for business communication skills, has “digital badges” built into the core of our instruction.

When students learn a new skill (ex: write an email, speak on the phone to advance your career), they earn badges (or icons) to affix to a resume, LinkedIn profile or digital portfolio.

In spring 2020 at Dinwiddie High School in Central Virginia, a young woman (whose name we removed for privacy reasons) elected to add the Emerge “Email Etiquette” digital badge to her resume.

See the resume at the bottom of the page. Do you notice the blue and yellow achievement right away?

Dawn Cater, instructional specialist for career readiness within Dinwiddie County Public Schools, used Emerge throughout the year in an independent study course and felt the material gave her students a competitive edge.

“Emerge teaches real-life skills our students can apply as they look for college and and career opportunities,” Cater said. “The digital badges are proof positive of what the students learned and the colorful images jump off the page.”

Emerge offers 12 digital badges. They are:

• Email Etiquette
• Advanced Email Etiquette
• Advanced Networking Skills
• Client Relations
• Crowdfunding
• Grant Writing
• Interoffice Communication
• Phone Etiquette
• Advanced Public Relations
• Advanced Social Media Networking
• Sales Writing
• Website Copywriting

Here’s the Dinwiddie High School resume with the Emerge “Email Etiquette” digital badge.

We removed the student’s name and any sensitive information. But the digital badge stands proudly.