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?

When employers want the certificates do they want the entire transcript or just the certificate that says 'BSc Biology' type thing.

Just the certificate!

@TeenDivided
And if they want a-levels/gcse?
What do they want?

@radio4everyday

Not always. Depends on the job. I realise people will think that's mad. I do recruit for other companies though so they may do their own checks. I'm probably just a bit naive. Although genuinely have never had to show mine for any job I've done.

I too have kept mine neat and safe in a file. I’ve done a few additional qualifications in recent years and added them too.

I’ve had to produce my food hygiene one as a teen when working in a kitchen and I have a bank contract working in a pool as an emergency responder where it is mandatory for your certification to be displayed on the wall so I had to provide that. My current role had no mandatory requirements when I started only experience which I gave references for, though they have been brought in for my current role since I started 12 years ago so I have had to do additional qualifications to keep up and I have had to provide my certificates once achieved.

Most jobs these days are pretty strict on GCSE / Level 2 in English & Maths as a mandatory requirement so I expect most places would ask to see proof of these. But yes if the job didn’t list any mandatory qualifications, not even english & maths then it seems odd to ask to see them and I’d probably query the need for it.

It's very common in industries that are regulated to provide all certificates, so I've kept mine safe.

Same!

I'd love to know how much it cost to send those stupid folders to every single pupil for however many years. What an absolute waste of money.

Certificates for whatever they have asked for.
Could be maths and english gcse, or degree, or food hygiene or whatever!

I’ve got mine and yes, despite the PhD and chartered accountancy status, I’ve been asked to produce the whole lot a couple of times. Oddly, my degree certificate doesn’t state what class it is.

My DM relates once having to sack a trainee solicitor who’d told them he had a 2:1 when (after someone said ‘he’s awful…are you sure he’s got a 2:1’) they rang his university to discover it was a 3rd.