Credential File Services
Maintaining and Using Credential Files
When you apply for teaching and other jobs, you submit credentials such as a CV and cover letter. Employers may also ask you to send recommendation letters, transcripts, writing samples, and more.
A credential file service stores and distributes your documents, including confidential ones such as recommendations, so that you don't have to gather and distribute them yourself each time you apply for a job.
Interfolio.com is the leading provider of credential file services and is the service that MECC recommends to Peabody students and alumni. After you open an account with Interfolio, you can upload documents, your recommenders can upload recommendations, schools you attended can upload official transcripts, etc. You pay an annual fee of $19 to maintain your credential file. When you ask Interofolio to send your documents to prospective employers, you typically pay a $6 fee.
For students and alumni who don't wish to use Interfolio, MECC provides a credential file service. We don't charge an annual fee to open and maintain credential files, but, effective February 1, 2013, we charge users $5 each time we send out their documents; checks should be made payable to Peabody Institute; payment by credit card isn't possible at this time. Contact us to set up a file.
We urge all students and alumni to use Interfolio instead of the MECC credential service because Interfolio offers numerous powerful features and sends out your documents promptly year-round whereas MECC can only distribute documents when Peabody is open and our busy staff has time to do so.
Lastly, although credential file services offer convenience, we recommend that job applicants tailor their cover letters and CVs to each position that they apply for. Similarly, for jobs that require recommendation letters, it's often desirable to have customized recommendations sent. So, even though credential file services offer convenience, they don't eliminate the need to prepare smartly constructed job applications.
