​

Overview

Partner certifications are credentials issued by third-party technology vendors and industry bodies — such as AWS, Microsoft Azure, Salesforce, CompTIA, or Google Cloud — that employees earn and your organization needs to track and verify. These certifications are often required for maintaining vendor partnerships, qualifying for project work, or demonstrating team capability to clients. SkillsDB provides a structured workflow for managing partner certifications from end to end. Admins define the certifications in a shared library, assign them to employees who need to hold them, employees submit their credentials with supporting evidence, and managers review and approve each submission. The result is a verified, auditable record of who holds what credentials — and when they expire. This tutorial covers the complete workflow in the order it happens:

1. Admin setup — creating certifications and certification types in the library
2. Assignment — assigning certifications to employees
3. Employee submission — submitting credential details and evidence
4. Manager approval — reviewing and approving submissions
5. Renewal — keeping certifications current as they expire
6. Tracking and reporting — monitoring compliance across the organization

---

​

Step 1: Set up Certifications in the Library (Admin)

Before certifications can be tracked, an administrator must create them in the SkillsDB certification library. This is a one-time setup step for each certification your organization wants to manage.

​

Create certification types

Certification types are used to group certifications by vendor or category — for example, “AWS”, “Microsoft”, “Salesforce”, or “CompTIA”. Creating types first makes it easier to organize the library and filter results later.

1. Navigate to Library > Certifications
2. Select Manage Types in the top right
3. In the Manage Types drawer, select + Add Type
4. Enter a Name for the type (for example, AWS, Microsoft Azure, or CompTIA)
5. Add an optional Description
6. Select Save

Repeat for each vendor or category your organization tracks.

​

Add certifications to the library

With types in place, create the individual certifications employees will be assigned.

1. Navigate to Library > Certifications
2. Select + Certification
3. Fill in the certification details:
   • Name (required): The full certification name, for example AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate
   • Type (required): Select the appropriate vendor type from the dropdown
   • Issued By (optional but recommended): The issuing authority name, for example Amazon Web Services
   • URL (optional): A link to the certification’s official page or verification portal
   • Description (optional): A brief description of what the certification covers
4. Select Save

The certification now appears in the library and is available for assignment.

---

​

Step 2: Assign Certifications to Employees (Admin or Manager)

Once certifications exist in the library, they must be assigned to the employees who need to hold them. Assigned certifications appear in each employee’s My Certifications page with a status of Assigned, signaling that they need to submit their credentials.

​

Assign from the library

1. Navigate to Library > Certifications
2. Locate the certification you want to assign
3. Select the Assign icon (person with a plus sign) on the certification row
4. Search for and select the employee to assign it to
5. Confirm the assignment

The employee immediately sees the certification in their profile with a Submit Details prompt.

---

​

Step 3: Submit Certification Details (Employee)

When an employee has earned a partner certification, they submit their credential details through SkillsDB. This kicks off the approval workflow.

​

Find and open the assigned certification

1. Select Certifications from the left sidebar
2. The My Certifications page lists all certifications assigned to you
3. Locate the certification with the Submit Details status indicator
4. Select the certification row to open the detail page

​

Fill in the submission form

1. On the certification detail page, select Submit Details
2. Complete the submission form:
   • Issued Date (required): The date the certification was granted or passed
   • Expiration Date (optional): The date the certification expires, if applicable
   • ID Number (optional): Your credential or license number from the issuing authority — for example, AWS-12345 or AZ-900-XYZ
   • Attachments (optional): Upload supporting documents such as your certificate PDF, digital badge, or course completion record
3. Select Submit

Your certification status changes to Awaiting Approval and your manager receives a notification to review your submission.

​

What happens after submission

Once submitted, your certification is locked for editing while it is under review. You can see the current status — Awaiting Approval — on your My Certifications page. When your manager approves or denies the submission, the status updates and you can see the outcome from the same page.

---

​

Step 4: Review and Approve Submissions (Manager)

Managers receive a notification when a team member submits a certification for review. All pending submissions appear in the My Team > Certifications page and in the Inbox.

​

Reviewing from the Certification Tracking page

1. Select My Team > Certifications from the left sidebar
2. The Direct Reports tab shows your team’s certifications, with Awaiting Approval records sorted to the top
3. Select a pending certification row to open the review page
4. Review the employee’s submission:
   • Certification details: Name, issuing authority, type, and official URL
   • Submission details: Issued date, expiration date, and credential ID number
   • Attachments: Select any file to preview or download it for verification
5. Select Approve or Reject
6. Confirm your decision in the confirmation dialog

​

Reviewing from the Inbox

Pending certification approvals also appear in your Inbox.

1. Select Inbox from the left sidebar
2. Find and select the certification approval item
3. Review and action the submission from the dialog

You can also reach your Inbox quickly by selecting the Approvals button in the filter bar at the top of the My Team > Certifications page.

​

What approving or denying does

---

​

Step 5: Renew Certifications as They Expire

Partner certifications typically have a validity period — for example, AWS certifications are valid for three years. When a certification is approaching expiration or has already expired, employees can submit a renewal to keep their record current.

​

Expiration indicators

SkillsDB uses visual indicators on the Expires column to flag certifications that need attention: | No indicator | Valid with more than 30 days remaining | Both employees and managers see these indicators on their respective certification pages.

​

Employee renewal process

When a certification is approved or has expired, employees renew it by creating a new submission:

1. Select Certifications from the left sidebar
2. Select the certification to open its detail page
3. Select Renew
4. Complete the renewal form with updated dates, ID number, and attachments
5. Select Submit

The renewal creates a new certification record with Awaiting Approval status and goes through the same manager approval process. All previous submissions are preserved in the certification history.

---

​

Tracking and Reporting

​

Monitoring your team’s certification status

Managers can monitor certification health across the team from My Team > Certifications using the filter bar:

• Filter by Status: Awaiting Approval to find submissions that need your review
• Filter by Expires: Expiring Soon to identify certifications approaching their renewal date
• Filter by Expires: Expired to find certifications that have lapsed and need attention
• Filter by Name to focus on a specific certification (for example, all AWS certifications)

Switch between the Direct Reports and My Org tabs to adjust the scope of what you see.

​

Exporting certification data

To export your team’s certification records to Excel:

1. Navigate to My Team > Certifications
2. Apply any filters to scope the export (optional)
3. Select Export in the top right
4. An Excel file downloads automatically with all visible certification data

The export includes employee name, certification name, type, status, issued date, expiration date, credential ID number, attachment count, and department.

​

Exploring org-wide certification coverage

To see which employees across the organization hold a specific certification:

1. Select Search from the left sidebar
2. Set the search scope to Certifications
3. Search for the certification by name, or use the Employee Certifications view to see who holds each certification, their current status, and days until expiration

See Certifications in the Explore Your Org section for a full guide to this view.

​

Viewing certifications in the library

Administrators can see a count of how many employees hold each certification directly from Library > Certifications. Select any certification in the library to see a full list of assigned employees, their statuses, and expiration dates.

---

​

Common Questions

​

Do employees need to hold a specific certification before it can be assigned?

No. Assign the certification first, then employees submit their existing credentials. This is the intended workflow — the assignment tells the employee that the organization wants to track that credential, and the submission process is how they provide proof of having earned it.

​

Can an employee add a certification that was not assigned to them?

Yes. Employees can browse Library > Certifications and add certifications to their own profile using the Add to Profile option. This is useful when an employee earns a certification proactively and wants to record it before it’s formally assigned.

​

What should an employee include as evidence?

The most useful evidence is the official certificate document (PDF) and the credential ID number from the issuing authority. For certifications that have online verification portals — such as AWS, Microsoft, or Salesforce — the credential ID allows managers to look up the certification independently.

​

What happens when a manager rejects a submission?

The certification status changes to Denied and the employee can see the outcome in their My Certifications page. The employee can then submit a new set of details by selecting Renew on the certification. The denial is preserved in the certification history.

​

Can the same certification be assigned to multiple employees?

Yes. A single certification in the library can be assigned to as many employees as needed. Each employee has their own independent submission and approval record.

​

How does SkillsDB handle certifications that never expire?

If a certification has no expiration date, leave the Expiration Date field blank during submission. The certification will show with a No Expiration status in the Expires filter and will not trigger expiration alerts.

---

​

Related Articles

---

​

Need More Help?

If you need additional assistance:

• Contact support
• Use the in-app help chat
• Schedule a training session with your account manager