The Credential Is a Promise: What Do Three Letters Really Say?

 

A small claim on a résumé can create a large breach of trust.

By László J. Kremmer, MBA, CLC, CSM®, CSPO®, PMP® | Member, PMI Ethics Advisory Team (EAT)

“Could you verify your PMP® status before tomorrow’s interview?”

The recruiter expected a quick “Of course.” Instead, there was a long pause. Then came the reply: “I completed the training, and I plan to take the exam next month. I thought it was close enough.”

The names and details are changed, but the pattern comes from real ethics cases. A professional adds a credential to a résumé or social profile before earning it. In another version, an applicant pays a proxy to complete part of the certification process or creates a second account to bypass controls. The shortcut may look small. Its impact is not.

A professional credential is not a hopeful statement. It is a factual claim others rely on. A hiring manager may use it to shortlist candidates. A client may use it to decide who is trusted with a complex project. Another applicant, who invested the time and effort to earn the credential, may lose a fair opportunity.

The PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct connects this issue to both responsibility and honesty. We accept work that matches our actual background, skills, and qualifications. We also avoid misleading statements and dishonest conduct intended for personal gain. When we attach “PMP®” to our name, we promise something earned and verifiable.

Sometimes the defence is, “Everyone improves their résumé a little.” Yet project decisions are built on information. One false line can distort a recruitment process, weaken confidence in certification, and expose an employer or client to avoidable risk. If the claim helps us gain access, influence, or money, it is not harmless decoration.

Leaders can make verification fair and routine. Check the credentials of every final candidate, not only those who “look suspicious.” A consistent process protects qualified professionals, reduces bias, and makes verification feel like normal governance rather than public humiliation.

Keep the promise.

• Use only credentials that have been formally awarded to you, and present their status accurately.
• Review your résumé, biography, email signature, and social profiles whenever your status changes.
• Never share identities, accounts, exam content, or application work with a proxy service.
• When you discover an error, correct it everywhere, promptly, and notify people who may have relied on it.

In one real-world pattern, an inaccurate credential claim was compounded by hostility when a recruiter asked for proof. That second choice mattered. A calm correction and sincere apology do not erase the first error, but they show responsibility. Defensiveness, threats, or more falsehoods turn a repairable mistake into a deeper breach of trust.

Before publishing any credential, ask three simple questions: Can I prove this today? Would an independent verifier understand the claim exactly as I intend? Am I creating an impression that I have not earned?

A credential takes effort to gain. Its value survives only when all of us protect what it means.

Over to you

1. Have you seen credential wording that was technically clever but ethically misleading?
2. What controls does your organisation use to verify professional credentials consistently?
3. How should a leader respond when someone corrects an honest mistake quickly?