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Qualifications

CHAOTICA provides a qualifications tracking system to manage professional certifications, accreditations, and credentials held by team members. This helps organisations maintain compliance, monitor team capabilities, and ensure qualifications remain current.

Common Use Cases

Tracking CREST certifications, OSCP/OSCE credentials, CEH certifications, CHECK team member status, or any other professional qualification relevant to your organisation.

Qualification Catalogue

The qualification catalogue at Operations > Qualifications (/ops/qualifications/) provides a central directory of all qualifications configured in the system.

Browsing Qualifications

Qualifications are grouped by Awarding Body (e.g. CREST, Offensive Security, EC-Council). Each awarding body card shows its qualifications with key details:

  • Name and short code
  • Validity period (how long the qualification lasts before requiring renewal)
  • Number of holders currently awarded

Searching and Filtering

  • Use the search bar to find qualifications by name
  • Use tag filter pills to narrow results by category (e.g. "Penetration Testing", "Governance", "Cloud")

Qualification Detail Page

Click a qualification to see its detail page (/ops/qualification/<body>/<slug>/), which shows:

  • Qualification metadata (awarding body, validity period, tags, description, links)
  • Status overview with stat cards: Awarded, In Progress, Expiring Soon, Lapsed
  • Tabs for browsing record holders:
    • Holders — users with an awarded qualification, with days remaining until expiry
    • In Progress — users currently working towards the qualification
    • All Records — complete history of all records regardless of status

My Qualifications

The My Qualifications page at Profile > Qualifications (/profile/qualifications/) is where you manage your own qualification records.

Dashboard

The page shows four stat cards summarising your qualifications at a glance:

Card Description
Awarded Qualifications you currently hold
In Progress Qualifications you are working towards
Expiring Soon Awarded qualifications expiring within 90 days
Lapsed Qualifications that have expired

Alert banners appear when you have qualifications expiring:

  • Red banner — Qualifications expiring within 30 days (critical)
  • Amber banner — Qualifications expiring within 90 days (warning)

Adding a Qualification

  1. Click Add Qualification to open the modal form
  2. Select the Qualification from the searchable dropdown
  3. Set the initial Status (typically "In Progress")
  4. Fill in any relevant details (dates, notes)
  5. Submit the form

Note

You cannot add a duplicate record for a qualification you already have in an active status (In Progress, Pending, or Awarded).

Status Lifecycle

Qualifications follow a defined progression through statuses. The modal form shows a visual stepper indicating where you are in the journey.

stateDiagram-v2
    [*] --> InProgress: Start
    InProgress --> Pending
    InProgress --> Attempted
    InProgress --> Unsuccessful
    Pending --> Attempted
    Attempted --> Awarded
    Attempted --> Unsuccessful
    Unsuccessful --> InProgress: Retry
    Awarded --> Lapsed: Automatic (expiry)
    Lapsed --> InProgress: Renewal

Status descriptions:

Status Meaning
In Progress Currently studying or preparing
Pending Awaiting exam or assessment date
Attempted Exam/assessment has been taken, awaiting result
Awarded Qualification successfully obtained
Unsuccessful Exam/assessment was not passed
Lapsed Previously awarded but now expired

Restricted Transitions

The status dropdown only shows valid next statuses based on your current status. For example, you cannot jump directly from "In Progress" to "Awarded" — you must go through "Attempted" first.

Quick-Action Buttons

The qualification table includes shortcut buttons for common status transitions, so you don't need to open the full edit modal:

Current Status Button Action
In Progress Attempted Mark as attempted (prompts for attempt date)
Attempted Awarded Mark as awarded (prompts for awarded date)
Attempted Failed Mark as unsuccessful
Lapsed Renew Start renewal (resets to In Progress)

All rows also have an Edit button to open the full edit modal.

Date Prompts

When marking a qualification as Attempted or Awarded, you'll be prompted to enter the relevant date. This defaults to today's date but can be changed. Dates cannot be in the future, and an awarded date cannot be before the attempt date.

Expiry and Lapse Dates

When a qualification has a validity period configured and you set an awarded date, the lapse date is automatically calculated:

Lapse Date = Awarded Date + Validity Period

For example, a qualification with a 3-year validity period awarded on 1 Jan 2026 will have a lapse date of 1 Jan 2029.

The Days Remaining column shows colour-coded countdown:

  • Green — More than 90 days remaining
  • Amber — 30-90 days remaining
  • Red (bold) — Less than 30 days remaining
  • "Expired" badge — Lapse date has passed

Context-Sensitive Fields

The edit form adapts based on the current status to reduce clutter:

  • Early statuses (In Progress, Pending): Only shows relevant fields like notes
  • Attempted: Shows attempt date
  • Awarded: Shows all fields including awarded date, lapse date, certificate number, and certificate file upload

Manager Verification

Some qualifications may require manager verification — a check that a manager has confirmed the qualification is genuinely held. This is configured per-qualification by an administrator.

How It Works

When a qualification has verification_required enabled:

  1. A user marks their qualification as Awarded
  2. The status badge shows a warning icon indicating it awaits verification
  3. The user's manager (or acting manager) can verify the record from the Team Qualifications page
  4. Once verified, the badge shows a green checkmark with a tooltip showing who verified it and when

No Manager Assigned

If a user does not have a manager or acting manager assigned in the system, the verification indicator is not shown — even if the qualification requires verification.

Verification States

Icon Meaning
Green checkmark Verified by a manager (hover for details)
Amber question mark Awaiting manager verification
(no icon) Verification not required for this qualification

Team Qualifications (Manager View)

If you are a manager or acting manager of other users, a Team Qualifications button appears on your My Qualifications page. This takes you to /profile/qualifications/team/.

Dashboard

The team view shows stat cards for your direct reports:

Card Description
Team Awarded Total awarded qualifications across your team
Unverified Awarded records requiring your verification
Expiring Soon Team qualifications expiring within 90 days
Lapsed Team qualifications that have expired

An alert banner appears if there are unverified records awaiting your attention.

Verifying Qualifications

The team table shows all qualification records for your direct reports. For qualifications that require verification:

  • Click Verify to confirm an unverified awarded qualification
  • Click Unverify to remove verification (e.g. if verified in error)

Verification records who verified the qualification and when.

Automatic Expiry

A daily background job automatically checks all Awarded qualifications. If a qualification's lapse date has passed, it is automatically moved to Lapsed status.

Warning

When a qualification is renewed (moved back to In Progress from Lapsed), any existing verification is cleared. The qualification will need to be re-verified by a manager once re-awarded.