Exam certificates

[imnotthatkindofmum]

Long story short.

Getting a job in a field I am not experienced in but the job description fits my experience of over 15 years.

I do not have a degree. And I left school 30 years ago.

For the new job which they want me to start asap I have been asked for gcse and a level certificates. I do not have these and they have said I have to have them or I can't start. If they are anywhere they're in my parents loft. My parents are in their 80s and live a 2 hr drive away.....and they might not actually even be there. I was also divorced 20 years and a lot of stuff is just gone forever.

I can get certificates but it's going to cost £50 per qualification, take over 20 days and I don't even know what exam boards I did.

The HR contact is aghast that I've never had to show my certificates to anyone. Obviously if it related to the job I could understand it.

So my questions are should I still have my certificates? Does everyone else still have their certificates after 30 years? Have you been asked for (unrelated) certificates to do a job you have experience in?

AIBU that they are BU?

I've never been asked to show my certificates.

I’ve always had to show these. I’m 42 and had to show them 2 years ago to do a uni course through work too.

In recruitment over the years, we've learned that an A-B at English has been essential as the colleagues not achieving this at age 16 don't have the standard of literacy we need, even if they have a degree. It's proven to be a useful indicator (amongst other things).

My old school doesn't exist any more. It closed in 1985 due to the falling birth rate.

Yes. O and A levels, degree, post grads all in a folder. I’m long retired so nearly burnt them all a while back. They might go in the next purge.

I'm 32, have had five different jobs and never needed to show exam certificates or proof of degree.

Havent RTWT but I’ve always had to show all my certificates including English GCSE. I was the first year of GCSEs so a very long time ago.

Otherwise, if a job sets those GCSE passes as a benchmark, how do they know you meet them?

I’ve got a maths degree so that trumps the need for the GCSE cert. In my organisation the only thing that negates the need for maths and English GCSE certs is a higher level qualification in that subject.

If you are still in contact with old school friends they might know what board you did. They will probably have theirs.
My husband and I still have ours and we took our school exams in the late sixties/early seventies.
We also have our children’s and they know they are here.

Honestly, find them. I was a teacher , still needed every certificate when I was 55 because HR had a big reorganisation. It's an awful job but it's worth getting those you can. I helped a cousin who'd been living in the U.S. track his certificates down (he was in the U.S. at the time of the search). Both his school and 6th form college had closed and the records were in archives somewhere. He wasn't able to get a job he wanted as he had no paperwork. We found them in the end! If your school still exists, it may have records of the boards but many have amalgamated anyway. Good luck.

The records will be in archives somewhere.

I did my GCSEs in 1996. I have never had to show them.
I probably have shown my degree certificate at some point though.

I've had to show mine (teacher). I did O'Levels so fairly old.

@NamechangersRuleHere if you were a teacher you would still have to show the GCSE maths and English, you would also have to have passed the literacy and maths tests.

I have all of my certificates anyway. I must have recognised pretty early on that I might need them one day (but haven't so far). I might have done for my first job, but that was 47 years ago.

I have all mine too but the problem a cousin had, lost paperwork, schools shut, living in the U.S. was tricky to untangle!

I treat mine with the same care I treat a passport or driving licence. They're important documents that need to be kept, and kept safe.

I have my certificates, they are in a folder about 2m from where I am sitting now. My son's are there too and I also have photos of them all.

I've only ever had to show them for one job though, but that was when I was 40. If you are younger, it's well worth making sure you know where they are and keeping photos of them so you know what exam board etc they were.

Presumably in the many decades since you sat GCSE English, your work life has provided you with WAY more literacy skills than GCSE English though. I can't imagine any degree educated person who has then worked for many years having literacy skills below GCSE 😂

Out of interest, what sort of jobs?

@JudgeJ

Of course they need evidence of what you're claiming, especially if you've nothing above 'A' level!
Why?
Seriously, why? After 30 years of working, it's blatantly obvious if you have the skills required

How do exam in random subjects unrelated to your field of work help anyone in any way.

If you'd been a copywriter or a plasterer or a biochemist and you'd been doing this like if work for many years, there is NOTHING your GCSEs and A-levels will tell an employer.

This is exactly my thinking! I get the need to prove my experience and that I can do what I say I can but I did maths, media and music tech. At a level. I failed maths. I have been a manager in several business's (none music or media related) and my business maths is up to speed and my references and experiences prove that. My a levels do not!

This statement means very little without you stating what the jobs are.

E.g. Clearly you're not a Veterinarian as you'd need to prove qualifications for that.

I needed to prove my listed qualifications for my current job.

But when I worked in Sainsbury's they didn't ask for my degree certificate.

And say in an Early Years support role, it's not even a case of needing to see the qualifications for working reasons. It's for safeguarding to prove that person isn't lying. If they're lying about GCSE grades what else might they be lying about?

If you're claiming something on your CV then you need to be prepared to prove it.

My background is sales, marketing, publications and website content. I have worked in the same field since 1981. Apart from my first employer in this field every different employer has headhunted me.

It is quite an incestuous industry where there is a lot of networking so people get to know each other at trade shows, awards events etc.

I have never been asked to show my certificates.

You'd think, but despite being educated to post-grad level I had to show a GCSE certificate to show I had English (and Maths).

My mind is now wandering off to peculiar scenarios.

What if you didn't sit GCSEs or a-levels. What if you were from another country which is now in war and you can't get them. But you have 20 years work experience.

But your work experience is clear and verified and specialist enough that they need you.

They are hardly going to turn you away.

I remember my teachers drumming it into us how important it was not to lose our certificates as people could ask to see them at any time during our careers! I left school 24 years ago and got asked in my previous job, even though the job required me to have a degree FFS!!