Human resources professionals have long known that a person who looks good on paper isn't necessarily a good fit for the job. As a result, recruiters have long desired more detailed records of a person's skills and knowledge. Among the many possible solutions, the Comprehensive Learner Record (CLR) is perhaps one of the newer ones.

What is a CLR?

A CLR is a continuous record that documents a person's learning outcomes, both inside and outside the classroom. According to acollaborative project of educational organizationsthis consortium is helping schools adopt such records.

The CLR is designed to be more detailed than a current transcript. A transcript is just a summary of courses and grades, but a CLR can provide in-depth detail on the specific learning objectives of each course, as well as co-curricular experiences relevant to a target job, such as internships or student activities.

For example, a transcript might show that someone took a sociology course and got a B+, but a CLR could also show that the course involved a significant amount of data analysis work—meaning that even if the person never took a dedicated data course, they could use this to demonstrate relevant skills when applying for a data-related position.

Additionally, a CLR can capture skills learned from work or student activities. For instance, someone who served as treasurer of an on-campus soccer league might have learned the basics of bookkeeping.

Mark McConahay, CLR coordinator for the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO), points out that traditional transcripts don't serve the labor market well. He says: "One of the reasons CLR was born is that people really want to capture and describe all the learning that happens inside and outside the classroom. Let's record learning outcomes related to disciplinary and professional skills. Also, if you participate in an internship or community service, all those experiences—especially when mentored—can be excellent learning experiences and should be represented on behalf of the student."

The CLR is intended to be built on open data standards to enable interoperability between organizations; it is also designed to be recognizable by proprietary HR systems. While it could theoretically be printed as a PDF and handed to someone, it is primarily seen as a digital document that, unlike a transcript, can travel with a person between jobs.

McConahay adds: "Schools should send credentials to students, and students should be able to curate them and send them to any reviewer—whether for a job application or graduate school application. The key is that even if the credential passes through the learner's hands, people can trust that its tamper-evident proof hasn't been compromised."

This feature is crucial, says Kelly Hoyland, director of higher education programs at 1EdTech. She reveals that the latest version of the CLR will use blockchain as one of its verification options, similar to other credentialing systems like digital driver's licenses and vaccine records. She also notes that this data format will help HR professionals conduct more granular searches when looking for candidates.

Hoyland adds that the CLR also advances the shift from degree requirements to skills-based hiring, providing a trusted record that moves away from simple summary grades and focuses more on the specific competencies a person possesses. While CLRs are typically discussed in the context of college students, older workers in mid-career could also benefit.

Keith Look, vice president of education solutions at Territorium, agrees. He believes the current system is deeply unfair to those who lack formal credentials but possess a wealth of skills. A CLR could be a tool to help these individuals be taken more seriously as job candidates. He says: "Some people have incomplete resumes or transcripts. We have diverse learners who can demonstrate what they've learned in ways far beyond what you can prove between first and second period. Giving them a vehicle—even those who have been unemployed and want to re-enter the workforce—allows them to showcase experience from a business, church, or other activities."

Can it outpace other solutions?

According to McConahay, support for CLR is growing rapidly at the college level. A recent AACRAO survey of 319 education professionalsfoundthat 58% of respondents have implemented or are considering some form of digital credential (including CLR). He expects this number to grow and predicts that within the next five years or so, more than 50% of higher education institutions will deploy CLRs or micro-credential expressions.

However, the initiative faces obstacles. Josh Bersin, president and founder of Bersin & Associates, a corporate learning and talent management consulting firm, says one challenge is gaining support from both organizations and software vendors. He notes that the problems with traditional transcripts and resumes are well known, and other players have been developing their own solutions, many of which are already in use. In this regard, he believes the CLR will face stiff competition from other standards and projects.

Bersin says: "They're not going to wait for this. They're building tools that can scan your resume, look at your work history, your LinkedIn connections, credentials in other systems, what you've posted online, or other degrees you've earned, and use AI to infer your skills—this is actually possible today."

Bersin believes that for the CLR to succeed broadly, it needs support from major software vendors that build proprietary systems. It needs a big vendor—like Workday, Oracle, or SAP—not only to adopt it but also to promote it, so that customers start demanding it, which in turn forces other vendors to follow.

McConahay acknowledges the need for partnerships, but he notes that there is already institutional support for CLR. He says major transcript vendors now support some form of CLR, and major diploma vendors have begun to enter this space. However, he also points out that enterprise resource planning and student information systems have not yet made the changes needed to support CLR overall. But he believes that over time, organizations will see the advantages of a skills-based approach and will be drawn to the CLR path to meet their hiring goals. Even so, people don't necessarily have to wait for that support to start using CLR. In a follow-up email, he says: "In the meantime, institutions either integrate information from other systems or repositories, or rely on middleware partners to assist with this task."

How can HR departments try it?

Look says HR professionals interested in the idea should first assess their current talent management system's ability to receive CLR data. He says: "You can also contact people like us and ask 'How does this work?' Any such system involves a certain level of education."

Hoyland notes that for smaller organizations doing a lot of manual screening, printed CLR documents can serve as a transitional step while appropriate software systems are being deployed.

Look says that if CLRs become widespread, they could not only change hiring but also change how talent is sourced. He envisions a world where people can access CLRs to scout potential candidates before a job is even posted. He says: "Many sports coaches have already figured out they can start scouting players early in their careers. We see college coaches texting players at youth basketball camps. I think the CLR environment will allow employers to play the same recruiting game for their workforce... by building these connections and tailoring opportunities based on talent to attract the kind of people, conditions, and skills they want to see in their pipeline."