MARA certificates: what they are and how to verify them.

MARA issues the certificate, and it names the challenge and the organizer. It also states who took part and the date. It is not a grade: MARA gives no scores and does not rank anyone, so the certificate attests that you took part and submitted, not a position in a ranking. The actual work sits in the portfolio.

If they submitted, they get a verifiable certificate and a portfolio of the work they did, like the winners, at no cost. The prize, for example an interview or an internship, goes to the winners and is set by the organizer before publishing. The certificate and the portfolio go to everyone who submits.

For participants, the certificate and the portfolio are evidence for a CV even without a prize: the certificate shows you took part and submitted, the portfolio shows what you did. How to write the entry and what to link is covered in the guide on putting a hackathon on your CV.

Every participant has a MARA portfolio, at app.marachallenge.com. For each challenge it holds:

• the challenge brief;
• the person's role in the team;
• the work submitted;
• the certificate.

Ownership of the submitted work is set in the challenge rules, which participants see before they join. Participants keep the certificate and the portfolio. To know what you can show of the work, check the challenge rules.

The verification link is on the certificate itself and it is public: you do not need an account to open it. If you are a recruiter or a company and you receive a MARA certificate:

1. Open the verification link shown on the certificate, or on the person's LinkedIn profile in the "Credential URL" field.
2. Check that the name, challenge, organizer and date match what you were shown.
3. If you want to see the work, ask the person to show it to you: they keep it in their MARA portfolio.

A certificate with no verification link, or with a link that does not open, should be treated as unverified: write to info@marachallenge.com and we will check it.

The participant does not fill in the certificate: MARA issues it, with the challenge and organizer details. Verification goes through the link, not through a file: what you see when you open the link is the source, not a copy someone could have touched up.

Each certificate is recorded on the Polygon blockchain as a non-transferable token: it cannot be moved to another person or changed after it is issued. Participants need no crypto wallet and pay nothing: MARA handles the recording.

1. Open your LinkedIn profile and choose "Add profile section".
2. Select "Licenses and certifications" and add a new entry.
3. Fill in the fields. Name: the title of the challenge. Issuing organization: MARA. Issue date: the date on the certificate.
4. In the credential URL field, paste the verification link you find on the certificate.
5. Save. Anyone visiting your profile can open the link and verify the certificate.

You do not have to do anything extra: certificates are part of every challenge on MARA, for everyone who submits, with no per-participant fee. They recognize the work of people who do not win without raising the prize budget. This applies to a hackathon, a business game or a hiring challenge.

If you take part, your certificates and portfolio are on app.marachallenge.com. More answers for participants are in the FAQ. For everything else, start from the home page.