Professional Practice credentials

Study a Professional Practice credential

From employment skills, such as communication and problem-solving, to leadership and technical knowledge like digital marketing and design thinking, our credentials provide independent proof of your professional capabilities. Even better, the credentialing process is entirely online and works around your busy schedule.

Our credentials are developed in consultation with industry experts and professional bodies to ensure they’re applicable in the workforce. Credentials are benchmarked against recognised industry skill frameworks and the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF).

Who are credentials for?

Credentials are designed for professionals looking for formal recognition of their skills and knowledge. They’re offered at five levels and are suited to a range of professionals, from those early in their career to those with significant experience.

Credentials are useful if you either have no formal qualifications or your qualifications are no longer relevant, and you want to be recognised for your current skills in order to advance your career.

Credentials for career success

Credentials help you to stand apart and have a university warrant your skills and knowledge.

Credentials provide you with a credible, consistent and independent recognition of your current capabilities and future potential. You’re empowered to identify immediate development needs and open up career pathways.

How to earn a Professional Practice credential

Learn how to earn a Professional Practice credential in five steps.

How do credentials work?

Credentialling isn’t about attending lectures, tutorials or taking in new information. Instead, it’s all about you creating a portfolio of evidence that reflects and showcases your skills and knowledge.

Credentials are an evidence-based assessment of applied skills and knowledge. To achieve credentials, you need to submit a portfolio of evidence, with a reflective narrative and video testimony, to demonstrate the skills and knowledge you’ve already gained through the workplace.

Pathways to qualifications

When earned at AQF9 (Masters) level, credentials can lead into postgraduate education with pathways into Deakin’s Master of Professional Practice degrees.

Deakin's professional practice degrees offer you an innovative approach to earning a postgraduate degree while you work – saving you both time and money.

Find out more about Deakin's professional practice degrees

Choose a credential

Deakin offers credentials in employability skills, technical expertise and leadership.

Employability credentials

Our employability credentials recognise skills crucial for future success.

credential	Definition
Communication	The ability to use oral, written and interpersonal communication to inform, motivate and effect change. This includes communicating to consult or engage with individuals and groups inside and outside the organisation.
Digital literacy	The ability to use information and communication technologies to find, use and disseminate information.
Critical thinking	The ability to evaluate information using critical and analytical thinking and judgement. This includes creative insights gained through perceiving relationships, breaking away from prevailing mindsets and conceptualising new possibilities that only become clear after reappraising or restructuring current thinking, theory and processes.
Problem solving	The ability to create, implement and evaluate the success of solutions to authentic (real-world and ill-defined) problems.
Self-management	The ability to work and learn independently, and take responsibility for personal actions.
Teamwork	The ability to work and interact with others including those from different backgrounds and professions/disciplines. In a professional context the focus is on collaboration to proactively promote synergy in the production of work products within teams and across internal and external networks. This includes stimulating relationships in order to promote collaborative outcomes, knowledge sharing and goal attainment.
Global citizenship	The ability to think, act, relate and respond to sociocultural elements. It is a notion that is based on understanding the 'self' in relation to 'others' within their local and broader community and discipline. This includes demonstrating cultural sensitivity, regard and respect for differences and effectively promoting a positive culture.
Emotional judgement	The ability to build rapport and to recognise and manage one’s own emotions, and to respond appropriately to the emotions of others in order to promote constructive interpersonal interaction to improve performance. This includes restraining disruptive impulses, expressing emotions appropriately, being a stabilising influence and motivating others through trust and confidence.
Professional ethics	The ability to make ethical decisions and model professional standards of behaviour and action.
Innovation	The ability to critically review information and, breaking away from prevailing mindsets, conceptualise, implement and evaluate the success of new and improved ideas, theory, practices or processes.

Leadership credentials

Our leadership credentials recognise key capabilities of leaders at different levels.

Credential	Definition
Leading and developing people	The ability to lead and develop people to improve performance, talent and capability.
Empowering others	The ability to empower and encourage people in their work to achieve or exceed agreed objectives. This includes engaging and motivating people, delegating sufficient authority and responsibility, and supporting their efforts.
Adaptive mindsets	The ability to develop and promote responsiveness and foster the capacity of individuals, groups and the organisation to be entrepreneurial. This includes modelling positive attitudes and inspiring employees, professionals and stakeholders to improve and change.
Driving strategic results	The ability to promote the achievement of excellence and the attainment of strategic outcomes.

Technical knowledge credentials

Having the right mix of skills is crucial to the success of professionals. Our technical knowledge credentials recognise a range of skills from digital marketing to customer experience.

Credential	Definition
Digital marketing	The ability to understand brands and consumers and build relationships between them through digital platforms and channels.
Data-driven marketing	The ability to transform consumer data into marketing insights to optimise the results of marketing investment.
Content marketing	The ability to create and deliver relevant and consistent content to engage with specific audiences.
Creative marketing	The ability to use one’s craft to create, share and realise novel insights, designs or ideas that have high customer and market impact.
Data analytics	The ability to effectively extract knowledge from data to provide data-driven business insights and optimise decision-making.
Risk management	The ability to systematically and effectively identify, forecast, analyse and manage risk.
Customer experience	The ability to understand customer needs to provide an end-to-end experience that results in a positive outcome.
Design thinking	The ability to design collaboratively with empathy and experimentation to create innovative end-to-end experiences that integrate the needs of people, the possibilities of technology and the requirements for business success.
Digital learning	The ability to use appropriate digital technologies, instructional practice and specialised knowledge to create effective and engaging digitally enabled learning experiences.