In brief. Clients and candidates check you before they reply. Your BIOR membership can be seen in three places, your LinkedIn profile (the credential entry with our logo, one click from this page), your name (the letters MBIOR or FBIOR after it), and your website and email signature (the live badge, drawn by ior.org from your membership record each time it is shown). Each one links to your verification page, so anyone can check that it is real and current.
1. The live badge for your website and email signature
Every member has a badge at ior.org that is not a picture file. It is drawn from your membership record every time a page or an email loads it, so it carries your logo (the BIOR Member logo, the CERTIFIED Recruiter or CERTIFIED Recruitment Business mark while your certification is current, the STAR mark for every STAR member), your grade, the year you joined and a band with your verification page. If a membership lapses the badge turns grey the same day, and it comes back the day it is renewed. Nobody can keep showing a BIOR badge after their membership has ended.
Log in at ior.org/login and open the panel Your badge, live from ior.org on your dashboard. One button copies the code for your website footer or About page. Another copies the block for your email signature, with the Outlook, Gmail and Apple Mail steps written beside it. There are three sizes, a standard one for a web page, a small one for a signature, and a square one for a profile picture or a post. The panel also shows how many times your badge has been seen in the last 30 days.
2. Your letters
Individual members may use MBIOR (Member) or FBIOR (Fellow) after their name from the day they join, on LinkedIn, in email signatures and on a CV. On LinkedIn the letters go in the name field after your surname, where they show in every comment, search result and connection request. STAR members use STAR in the same way for in-house recruitment.
3. Your LinkedIn credential, in one click
Click the credential you hold. LinkedIn opens with The British Institute of Recruiters already entered as the issuer. Add your start date and your membership number, then Save. When LinkedIn offers to share it with your network, say yes. The entry shows our logo in your Licences and certifications section.
- Certified Recruitment Business (Agency Membership and Company Certification)
- MBIOR, Member of The British Institute of Recruiters (your dashboard's one-click adds Certified Recruiter and your membership number once you have passed)
- FBIOR, Fellow of The British Institute of Recruiters
- STAR, Specialist in Talent Acquisition & Retention (STAR membership)
- STAR Certified, Specialist in Talent Acquisition & Retention (after the assessment)
Your dashboard has the same link filled in with your own verification page as the credential address, which is the better version to use once you are logged in.
Your regulated qualification
If you hold one of the Ofqual-regulated qualifications awarded by Summit Qualifications UK, BIOR's awarding organisation, add it as a second entry. The issuer is Summit Qualifications UK, the credential ID is your certificate number, and the credential URL is the public certificate check at qualifications.ior.org/certificates/verify.
- Level 2 Certificate in Recruitment Resourcing (Cert RRec)
- Level 2 NVQ in Recruitment Resourcing
- Level 3 Certificate in Principles of Recruitment (Cert PRec)
- Level 3 Certificate in Recruitment (Cert Rec)
- Level 3 NVQ Diploma in Recruitment
By hand, in six steps
- Open your LinkedIn profile and click "Add profile section".
- Under "Recommended", choose "Add licenses and certifications".
- Name, the credential you hold, for example "Certified Recruitment Business (BIOR)".
- Issuing organisation, start typing "The British Institute of Recruiters" (or "Summit Qualifications UK" for a qualification) and pick it from the list, so the logo appears.
- Issue date, then your membership or certificate number as the credential ID, and your verification page, ior.org/verify/ followed by your membership number, as the credential URL.
- Save, and share it with your network when LinkedIn asks.
4. Agencies, your company page and every consultant
A LinkedIn company page has no credentials section, so the agency's badge lives in the banner image and in the Featured section (the square badge from your dashboard is made for it) and the credential goes on each consultant's own profile. Every recruiter an Agency Member adds on My Staff is a member in their own right, with their own badge, listing and verification page, so the whole team can show it. Put the standard badge in the website footer and the small one in every consultant's email signature, and clients see it on every message you send.
Questions people ask
Can someone copy the badge and use it after their membership ends?
No. The badge is not a file, it is drawn by ior.org each time it is shown, from the membership record. The day a membership lapses it turns grey and says the membership is not current, and it links to the verification page that says the same.
Does the badge need updating when I renew?
No. It reads the record every time, so a renewal, a new certification or a change of grade shows by itself, usually within the hour.
Where do I find my membership number?
On your dashboard after you log in, on your verification page, and in the welcome email you received when you joined.
I am a STAR member. Is the badge in-house wording?
Yes. A STAR member's badge carries the STAR mark, Specialist in Talent Acquisition and Retention, and the words STAR member, or STAR Certified once you have passed the assessment, nothing about agencies.
What if my badge shows grey but I have paid?
Email accounts@ior.org with your membership number. The record is corrected and the badge updates by itself.
Not yet a member? Agency Membership and Certification is explained at ior.org/agency-membership, personal membership at ior.org/personal-certification and STAR for in-house recruiters at ior.org/star.
Written by The BIOR Membership Team. Last reviewed 14 October 2026.