CERTIFICATE VERIFICATION
How to Verify an Engineering Training Certificate (and Spot a Fake)
A certificate is only worth what you can confirm. A practical guide for employers: what to check, where vendor credentials can be verified, the signs of a fake and how EDWartens certificates are checked.
To verify an engineering training certificate, find the issuer's website yourself and look up the certificate number or verification code on the issuer's own verification page. Then check that the name, course, date and status match exactly. If there is no public lookup, ask the issuer directly. A certificate that cannot be checked in any of these ways should carry little weight.
Checked 1 October 2026. The vendor verification methods below were checked on each vendor's own pages on that date, listed under Sources.
Why do engineering certificates need checking?
Automation, electrical and IT hiring leans heavily on short courses and vendor credentials, because degrees rarely teach a particular PLC platform or network stack. That makes certificates useful evidence, and also easy to fake. A convincing PDF takes minutes to edit. A screenshot of a badge proves nothing. Even a real certificate can mislead if it is a course-completion certificate presented as a vendor certification.
So an employer has two separate questions:
- Is it genuine? Was it really issued by the body named, to this person, on that date, and is it still valid?
- What does it prove? Attendance, completion of a course, a passed assessment, or a proctored vendor exam? These are very different things.
How do you check whether a certificate is genuine?
Work through these steps in order. Most checks take less than five minutes.
1. Identify the issuer independently
Read the issuer's name off the certificate. Then find its website through a search engine or a site you already know. Do not click a link or scan a QR code on the document first. A forger who edits a PDF can also point its QR code at a lookalike page that says "Verified" for any number. Once you have the real site, find its verification or credential lookup page.
2. Find the number or code
Serious issuers print a unique identifier: a certificate number, a verification code or a badge link. If there is none, ask the candidate for it. "There isn't one" is information too.
3. Look it up and match every detail
Enter the identifier on the issuer's page. Check that the name matches the candidate (allowing for reasonable spelling or transliteration), that the course or credential is the one claimed, and that the issue date fits the candidate's timeline. A result that shows a different course, or a date before the course existed, is a red flag even if the number is real.
4. Check the status
Many credentials can expire or be revoked. A genuine but expired certification is not the same as a current one. Vendor certifications in IT often need renewal, so read the status line, not just the word "verified".
5. Read what it claims
A certificate of completion says the person finished a course and, if it says so, passed its assessment. It is not a licence or a vendor certification, and it is not a degree. Read the small print on the certificate and on the issuer's page. Then judge the skill directly: one technical question about the course content tells you more than any document.
Where can vendor credentials be verified?
The big vendors differ. Here is what we found on their own pages.
- CompTIA. CompTIA certificates carry a verification code. The address verify.comptia.org redirects to CompTIA's public credential verification page on its CertMetrics portal. There you enter the code to see the certification and its status. Candidates can also share a CompTIA digital badge.
- Cisco. Cisco issues digital badges through Credly. Cisco's badge page says the badge gives viewers immediate access to validated information on Credly and confirms that Cisco issued it. If a candidate offers no badge, ask them how they can share their Cisco credential record with you.
- Siemens. In the United States, Siemens Industry Learning Services (SITRAIN) issues micro-credentials as Credly badges, and its Credly organisation page lists them. For other Siemens training certificates, especially those issued by SITRAIN in other countries, ask the candidate for the issuing training centre and confirm with it.
- ISC2. ISC2 badges are hosted on Credly, and clicking one opens an overview page on Credly's site.
- Rockwell Automation. Rockwell's certificate programs end with a final assessment and a certificate of achievement. We found no public lookup on Rockwell's certificate programs page, so contact Rockwell or the training provider named on the certificate.
Credly badges in particular
Many vendors issue credentials through Credly. To check one, open the badge from credly.com itself and confirm that the issuer is the real organisation, the earner's name matches, and the badge has not expired. An image of a badge in a CV or email is not verification. The live Credly page is.
What are the signs of a fake certificate?
- No way to verify it, and the "issuer" will not answer an email.
- A lookup page on the wrong domain, such as a lookalike spelling, a free website builder or a URL that does not match the issuer's main site.
- A QR code that leads somewhere other than the issuer's own domain.
- Details that do not match the issuer's record: a different name, course or date.
- Impossible timelines, such as a 40-hour course finished in a day, or a certificate dated before the course was launched.
- Accreditation you cannot trace. The US Federal Trade Commission warns employers that diploma mills often claim accreditation from bogus agencies they invented. Some also run their own fake verification services. The FTC's advice is to check accreditation with the recognised bodies and to contact the issuer through details you have found yourself.
- Inflated wording, such as "Siemens certified" on a third-party course certificate. A course can teach Siemens software without being a Siemens certification.
None of these signs proves fraud on its own, but two or more together justify a call to the issuer before an offer.
How does EDWartens certificate verification work?
EDWartens issues an optional, paid Certificate of Completion for its free online courses. The learner gets it only after passing the course's final assessment: 15 questions drawn from the whole course, a 60% pass mark and three attempts, then a 24-hour wait. It is not a vendor certification and it is not accredited. Here is how an employer checks one.
Scan the QR code, or use the page. Each certificate carries its number and a QR code that opens its own record at edwartens.com/verification. You can also go to edwartens.com/verification yourself and enter the number printed on the certificate. Old links to edwartens.com/verify redirect to the same page.
The name is part of the check. When you search by the registration number, the page also asks for the holder's full name, as printed. A number alone would let anyone step through the records. With the name, the check confirms only the person you are already asking about. Learners who have lost their number can search by exact full name and programme instead, and partial name matches are deliberately not accepted.
What a result shows. A genuine certificate shows the certificate number, holder's name, programme, certificate type, issue date and the issuer, with one of these statuses:
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Certificate Verified | Genuine and active |
| Certificate Expired | Genuinely issued, but past an expiry date |
| Certificate Not Valid | Revoked, and no longer recognised |
| Certificate Awaiting Release | Earned, but not yet released, so nothing about the holder is shown |
Records are looked up live, so a revoked certificate stops verifying straight away rather than showing a cached "valid" page. Individual certificate pages are kept out of search engines because they carry a person's name, but direct links work and can be shared.
What it proves. A verified EDWartens certificate proves that the named person completed that course and passed its final assessment on the date shown. It does not prove site experience or vendor certification. Use it as one input and ask a technical question. Every course page lists what the course covers, so you know what to ask. For example, the Siemens TIA Portal course ends with analog scaling and function blocks.
If a certificate does not verify, or you think one is being misrepresented, use the contact details on the verification page.
For candidates: make your certificates easy to check
- Put the verification link or code next to each certificate on your CV, not just the course name.
- Use the name on your certificate consistently. Small differences slow down every check.
- Be accurate about what each one is: "Certificate of Completion, Siemens TIA Portal (EDWartens)" is honest, while "Siemens certified" is not.
- Back each certificate with a project. The resume builder and ATS resume checker help you present both.
Our article on whether free PLC certificates are worth it covers what employers value, and the certificate page explains what the EDWartens certificate costs, from US$2.99.
Take the free course
Questions
How do I verify a training certificate?
Find the issuer's website yourself, not through a link on the certificate, and use its verification page with the number or code printed on the certificate. Then check that the name, course, date and status match. If the issuer has no lookup, email it with the details and the candidate's permission.
How can I verify a CompTIA certification?
CompTIA certificates carry a verification code. Enter it at verify.comptia.org, which redirects to CompTIA's credential verification page on CertMetrics, to see the certification and its status. Candidates can also share a digital badge or a transcript.
How can I verify a Cisco or Siemens credential?
Cisco issues digital badges on Credly that confirm the badge was issued by Cisco. Siemens Industry Learning Services in the US issues SITRAIN micro-credentials as Credly badges. Open the badge from credly.com, not from an image.
What are the signs of a fake certificate?
No verification method at all, a lookup page on a lookalike domain, a QR code that leads somewhere other than the issuer, details that do not match the issuer's record, impossible dates, and claims of accreditation from a body you cannot find. The US FTC also warns that some diploma mills run their own fake verification services.
How do I verify an EDWartens certificate?
Scan the QR code on the certificate, or go to edwartens.com/verification and enter the number printed on it with the holder's full name. A genuine certificate shows the holder, programme, issue date and status, checked live against EDWartens' records. It is a certificate of completion, not a vendor certification.
Sources
- CompTIA: certification verification (verify.comptia.org)
- Cisco: digital badges
- Credly: SITRAIN Siemens Industry Learning Services organisation page
- ISC2: digital badges from Credly
- Rockwell Automation: certificate programs
- US FTC: Avoid fake-degree burns by researching academic credentials
Written by the EDWartens engineering team for general education. Product names are trademarks of their owners; mentioning them does not imply endorsement. Prices and terms of other providers were checked on the date shown and can change.
