Welcome to Merit’s Blog.

Our vision at Merit is for every person to get a fulfilling way to capture and gain greater access to their life’s merits in order to have the confidence, foresight, and autonomy to qualify for relevant opportunities and shape their future.

A critical part of that vision is “gaining great access,” meaning individuals should be able to make the most of their hard-earned achievements by gaining insight into all the opportunities their merits unlock.

That requires being able to share merits, and today we’re excited to launch merit link sharing for simple verification.

Organizations of all types use Merit to send digital credentials, or merits. These can be anything from licenses to certificates, or even records of attendance, and are often manually sent to people individually, or using bulk upload by filling out a copy of the downloadable template.

Interviewing engineers is really hard. It’s hard for the interviewer, but more importantly, it’s very hard for the candidate.

Last month, Merit announced its partnership with Virginia’s Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR) to streamline licensing and digital credentialing for thousands of professionals in the Commonwealth. More than 310,000 Virginia workers in more than 40 industries are required by law to have a license from DPOR to work. Merit’s platform will give these professionals an easier way to bring their licenses with them wherever they go and make the certification more accessible to consumers and businesses. 

Artificial intelligence, machine learning, and automation will undoubtedly impact the future of America’s workforce by making many jobs easier, and others completely obsolete. However, these technologies will have an uneven impact across each industry. Occupations in professional services (legal, science, academics), and “deskless” industries such as architecture, construction, plumbing, childcare, medical services, social work, and more, are more likely to see an increase in the number of available jobs.

Last month I started my new job with Merit, and just four weeks prior to that, I had no intention of leaving my then-current job. I had no plans to leave where I was, and frankly was excited to see various clients, projects, and initiatives taking off after much hard work. That was, of course, before I met Merit.

This fall, Merit has had the opportunity to support three of Virginia’s premier professional organizations at various conferences and trainings: the Virginia Builders Summit and Expo, the Virginia ASLA Conference on Landscape Architecture, the Virginia Association of Professional Soil Scientists' Fall Conference, and the 2019 VOWRA Conference and Trade Show. While these conferences drew professionals from different industries, there was one thing in common between all of the organizers we worked with and attendees we met: checking into the various sessions, classes, and trainings was a smooth process, thanks to the Check-in with Merits app.

According to the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), Americans are volunteering more than ever… helping communities in more ways than they might be aware of.

At Merit, we live a set of company values that we believe in. We use them to remind ourselves to hold ourselves to a high standard of who we want to be.

Hard days happen. Hell, at a start-up, hard weeks and hard months happen. But no matter what type of week you’re having, if there aren’t moments at work that make you laugh, you should evaluate if you’re in the right place. When you live every day with an expected level of uncertainty, it’s important to find humor with your coworkers and customers.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of men and women leave the U.S. military service and re-enter civilian life. Unfortunately, many of these skilled individuals struggle to find employment in roles that are commensurate with the level of expertise and competence that they have acquired, and addressing this gap is something that I have become extremely passionate about. 

We’re proud to announce that the Virginia Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA Virginia) is transforming the way they issue continuing education and training units offered through their chapter by going digital with Merit, a free online credentialing platform. Virginia Architects will now be able to manage their professional Architect license from the VA Department of Professional and Occupational Regulations (DPOR) and their continuing education from AIA Virginia all on the same digital platform.