A CV from the Philippines will usually carry a line like “SMAW NC II” or “Automotive Servicing NC I”, and for most overseas agency staff that line is unreadable. It is in fact one of the most precise pieces of information on the page — it says exactly which joints a candidate has been assessed on, in which positions, on which material. This guide covers what those certificates certify, what they deliberately do not, and how to check one in about two minutes.

What a National Certificate actually is

TESDA — the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority — is the Philippine government body for technical-vocational education and training. It runs the Philippine TVET Competency Assessment and Certification System, and issues two credentials that look similar on a CV and mean quite different things.

• A National Certificate (NC) is “issued when a candidate has demonstrated competence in all units of competency that comprised a Qualification.”
• A Certificate of Competency (COC) is “issued to individuals who have satisfactorily demonstrated competence on a particular or cluster of units of competency.”

Source: TESDA, Frequently Asked Questions on Assessment and Certification.

In plain terms, a COC is a partial credential. A candidate holding a COC for “Weld Carbon Steel Plates Using SMAW” has been assessed on that one unit — not on the full qualification that also covers drawing interpretation, fit-up, equipment set-up and weld repair. That is not worthless; it is narrower. The mistake is letting COC and NC sit in the same column of a shortlist as if they were the same thing.

The NC number is a scope, not a grade

This is where agencies most often misread a Filipino skilled worker’s file. The Roman numeral is not a loose “beginner / intermediate / advanced” rating. Each level is a defined scope of material, component and welding position, published in TESDA’s Training Regulations for that qualification.

Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW) is the clearest example:

Source: TESDA Training Regulations, SMAW NC I / NC II / NC III / NC IV.

Read that table once and the practical consequence is obvious: a higher number does not mean “everything the lower number covers, plus more.” The material changes. NC II already includes 6G pipe — on carbon steel, which is what a great many structural and piping scopes actually run on. NC III steps up to alloy steel but goes back to plate. NC IV is the alloy-steel pipe ticket.

So if your client’s scope is carbon steel pipework, an NC III alloy-plate welder is not automatically the stronger candidate than an NC II. Matching the certificate to the scope beats chasing the highest number on the pile.

TESDA’s SMAW NC II regulation also references AWS D1.1, ASME IX, API 1104 and ISO 9606-1 — useful when a client asks which standard the Philippine credential maps onto.

The same logic runs across the other trades. Automotive servicing, heavy equipment operation, electrical installation, carpentry, housekeeping and food and beverage services all have published Training Regulations naming the exact units of competency assessed at each level. Practical habit: ask for the full qualification title, never just “NC II.”

The five-year clock almost nobody checks

Both NC and COC are valid for five years from the date of issue.

Source: TESDA FAQ on Assessment and Certification; TESDA media release, “National Certificates are not for sale.”

A certificate issued in 2018 sitting on a 2026 CV has expired. That does not mean the worker lost the skill overnight, and it is not by itself a reason to drop a candidate. It does mean the assessment is no longer current, and some destination authorities and end clients will not accept it. Record the issue date on every shortlist line — it takes five seconds and it is the single most common gap we see in files forwarded by overseas partners.

Verify the certificate, not the photocopy

TESDA maintains an online Registry of Certified Workers, searchable by name, certificate number or qualification, with separate registries for certificates issued from 2017 onward and for earlier ones. TESDA has publicly warned that counterfeit National Certificates are sold online and elsewhere, and has pointed both workers and employers to that registry for authentication.

Source: TESDA Registry of Certified Workers; TESDA media release, “National Certificates are not for sale.”

The operational rule follows from that: a scan, a photo or a laminated card is not evidence. A registry hit is. For each shortlisted candidate, record the full qualification title, the certificate number, the issue date, the registry result and the date you checked it. It is a five-field discipline that removes an entire category of downstream failure.

What a TESDA certificate does not tell you

A National Certificate tells you that a candidate passed a defined assessment on a defined scope at a point in time. It does not tell you:

• whether they have done that work daily since, or once, five years ago;
• their speed and consistency on production work rather than a test coupon;
• whether they can read your client’s drawings and welding procedure specification;
• whether they work safely under your client’s site rules and permit system;
• whether the destination country will accept the credential at all.

That gap is precisely what a trade test is for. The certificate narrows the field; the trade test decides it.

What a serious trade test looks like

• Run against your client’s actual scope, not a generic sample coupon.
• On the client’s material, thickness and position wherever that can be reproduced.
• Witnessed, photographed, timed and documented, so the result travels with the candidate’s file.
• With destructive testing or NDT where the client’s standard calls for it.
• With pass/fail criteria agreed in writing with the client before anyone picks up a torch.

If a supplier offers a “trade test” and cannot tell you the pass criteria in advance, what you are being offered is a demonstration, not a test. How we structure testing and screening for the building trades is set out on our construction recruitment page, and the equivalent for other sectors on our industries overview.

Destination-country assessment is a separate hurdle

Some destination markets run their own skills verification on top of whatever the Philippines certifies, and it can sit on the critical path to the visa rather than beside it.

Saudi Arabia’s Professional Verification programme, launched in March 2021, covers more than 1,000 specialised professions across 23 specialty fields, and reporting at launch stated that the work visa for targeted jobs would be linked to the worker passing the examination in his home country, with enforcement phased in from July 2021 by establishment size.

Source: Gulf News, “Saudi Arabia to assess skills of all workers in labour market.”

New Zealand approaches it from the employer side instead. Immigration New Zealand states that employers hiring six or more Filipino workers must use a DMW-licensed recruitment agent, while for up to five an agent is not required — though DMW rules still apply and the employer is expected to exercise due diligence. It also notes that a single job order can cover multiple applicants, and that the licensed agent handles preliminary screening, interviews, skills assessments and background checks.

Source: Immigration New Zealand, “Hiring overseas workers from the Philippines.”

The practical point is sequencing. Confirm the destination-country requirement before the trade test, not after. The test you run should be the one the visa pathway will actually accept, otherwise you pay for testing twice and lose weeks in between.

A five-line credential check for your shortlist

For every skilled candidate, capture:

1. Full qualification title — “Shielded Metal Arc Welding NC II,” not “NC II.”
2. NC or COC — full qualification, or a cluster of units?
3. Certificate number and issue date — inside the five-year window?
4. Registry result — checked against TESDA’s Registry of Certified Workers, with the date you checked.
5. Destination requirement — is a destination-country assessment required, and is it passed, scheduled, or not applicable?

Five fields. They take a couple of minutes per candidate and they are the difference between a file your client can act on and a file your client has to re-verify.

Working with Jezem

Jezem Manpower Agency Inc. is a DMW-licensed Philippine recruitment agency based in Quezon City, sourcing, screening and processing workers for construction, automotive and hospitality roles for overseas partners. Our licence details are published on our about and contact page so partners can check them against the DMW record rather than take our word for it.

We work agency-to-agency and do not approach your client directly — our partnership model is set out on our for partners page. If you are scoping a skilled requirement, send us the role, the destination country and the standard your client works to, and we will tell you which qualification level and which test the requirement actually calls for.

Frequently asked questions

Is NC II better than NC I?
Not in the way the numbering suggests. The level defines a scope — material, component and position — rather than a grade. For SMAW, NC II covers carbon steel plate and pipe including 6G, while NC III moves to alloy steel but returns to plate. Match the qualification to the client’s scope rather than to the highest number available.

Can we rely on the certificate alone?
No. A certificate confirms a passed assessment on a defined scope at a point in time. Current hands-on practice, drawing and WPS literacy, production speed and site safety behaviour are not covered by it, which is why a documented trade test against the client’s scope remains necessary.

What if a strong candidate has no TESDA certificate?
It is not automatically disqualifying. Employer certificates, verifiable project history and a witnessed trade test all carry evidentiary weight, and in some trades experience runs well ahead of formal certification. What governs in the end is what the destination country and the end client require for that specific role — confirm that first.

How long does a TESDA certificate stay valid?
Five years from the date of issue, for both NC and COC.