Within a month of completing your program, you will receive an email notification from our vendor, The Michael Sutter Company (MSC), with instructions on how to retrieve your digital certificate. Click on the link in your email to download your credential.
Key Benefits of a Digital Certificate
- An official, secure, and verifiable PDF version of your certificate.
- Unlimited lifetime sharing with family, friends, employers and social media.
- Proof of education that is simple for employers to read and understand.
- Highly secure with digital signatures and encryption.
- Instantly verifiable through the credential validation website, through our vendor, The Michael Sutter Company.
- Enhances your resume when you provide your validation URL for independent verification by employers, universities, agencies or other entities.
Successful course completion can be verified directly from your digital resume or LinkedIn profile by adding your custom Credential Verification link, accessible from the One-Click Verification button on your digital certificate.
For detailed instructions on how to access your Credential Verification webpage, save the link, and add this verification to your resume and LinkedIn profile, follow these steps.
Claim Your Digital Certificate
All certificate-eligible participants may download a free PDF copy of their certificate. All verification links are in your digital certificate from our certificate vendor.
To claim your digital certificate from our certificate vendor, follow these steps:
1. Locate the email you received from The Michael Sutter Company. Select the HKS Executive Education credential Login link.
2. On the MSC website, enter the Secure ID included in the email.
3. Claim your certificate by entering your email address. Your digital certificate will be sent to the entered email address in PDF format.
We recommend downloading your digital certificate after you receive the email with the attached PDF from MSC.
Access Your Verification Link
Once you've downloaded your digital certificate, follow these steps to access your verification link:
1. Open the PDF file of your Certificate of Completion.
2. At the top of the document, above your certificate, you'll find the Document Validation panel. Select the "One-Click Degree Verification" button.
3. A new browser window or tab will open, leading you to the Credential Verification page. The URL here, beginning with "michaelsutter.com/hks" is your direct credential verification link.
4. We strongly recommend adding this unique verification webpage to your browser's bookmarks. To add this URL to your digital resume, copy the full URL and paste as needed – detailed steps to add this link to LinkedIn follow on this page.
Add your Certificate Verification to LinkedIn
We hope you will add your certificate to your LinkedIn profile to share your accomplishment with your network. By adding a link to your Credential Verification webpage, your network will be able to verify the validity of your certificate directly from your profile:
1. Access your LinkedIn account and open your profile.
2. Navigate to the Education section and add or edit your certificate:
If this is the first time you are adding this education to your profile, select the plus icon to add your certificate or credential as follows:
- School: Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education
- Dates Attended: [the year you participated in the program]
- Degree: Other; Certificate in [Course Name]
- Field of Study: Leave blank
- Grade: Leave blank
- Activities and Societies: Leave blank
- Description: add the description of the course that is found on the course webpage
If you are editing an existing record, select the pencil icon to edit the record.
3. Navigate to the Media section within Education.
4. Select the "+ Add Media" button. From the dropdown, select "Add a link".
5. In the "Add a link" box, paste your Credential Verification Link and click the Add button.
6. Select the Apply button. Select the Save button to complete the process.
Lost certificates
If you have misplaced your paper certificate, you can order a replacement by contacting MSC. There is a $15 fee plus shipping.
Digital certificates
If you earned your certificate prior to 2021, you may purchase a copy of your digital certificate by contacting MSC.