Do you frame your certs, or do you hide them in a drawer?

capwap

Random pointless curiosity. All mine are in a file cabinet right now, but I've considered buying frames.

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volfkhat

danny069 wrote: »

You cannot burn my opinion.

ha!
We're just having a little fun, my friend :]

You are Correct: Everyone is entitled to their opinion... and we respect that.

IaHawk and I were just teasing you on the Contradiction of your post, and your profile.

All in good fun :]

ha.jpg

danny069

No worries I love you all

daceto

I bought an artist portfolio book. Holds like 24 9x12 sheets. I have each one in there. Everytime I get something new I add it. I want to frame my VCP5 cert I got this year because it was a tough win for me but I dont want to feel like a d-bag.

I think high level certs should be framed. It took work, why not show them off?

blargoe

I know my VMware certs are filed away in a cabinet. I have no idea where the rest are and I won't lose any sleep over it

OctalDump

NetworkNewb wrote: »

Drawer... only thing I plan on framing are my degrees.

Yeah, but I think something like CCIE or VCDX does represent as much work as a professional degree. Something like A+ is more like one undergrad course.

I think people should be proud of these top level certifications, there's no easy way to achieve them. Even if you are really smart and your workplace pays for all your training, they still represent a lot of work and effort.

blargoe

I do think I would frame something like a CCIE or VCDX.

E Double U

For those of you that do frame certs, do you also include them in your signature?

advanex1

I frame mine, it's more so my significant others idea but it helps to take space up on the wall. I put all of my military pictures, paintings, etc as well as my certifications/degrees. It's kind of a nice reminder when I walk into my office. It shows you that you are capable of being great.

No, the only thing in my signature is my information and job title.

OctalDump

E Double U wrote: »

For those of you that do frame certs, do you also include them in your signature?

When I was with an MSP, I did include a couple of relevant certs in my signature. It's kind of a marketing thing. I did it after we lost a client to another company "because they were more qualified", which sadly wasn't actually the case. I'm guessing that probably 90% of people never looked or knew what the letters stood for, though.

When I do see them in other people's signatures, it's usually the same thing. Like someone providing Linux services might have RHCE, or a network person might have CCNP. It's rare to see more than one or two, though. Certainly when you are dealing with sales engineers, it's nice to see some relevant letters.

abyssinica

danny069 wrote: »

Listing them on the left is different from framing them, putting them on your wall so everyone can see. Or having Mr. Wonderful, CISSP, PMP, pHD, etc. etc. in the back of your name.

It's really not that different...

TacoRocket

I frame mine. I had a rough year so seeing them up there reminds me where I am now.

RomBUS

I put them in a folder @ home. I usually download the pictured version/updated transcripts as well.

fullcrowmoon

I framed my CISSP because it was my first big cert and I'm proud of it. That said, the frame is cheap-ass and I have it stuck to the cubicle with paper clips. THERE ARE LIMITS.

Nightflier101BL

I list my certs under my avatar, I have letters after my email signature and I frame my certs. I do this because I want to, I'm proud of my accomplishments and the time/money spent on them. I have never had any complaints or adverse effects. However, I don't frame all the certs, I have a group of them that I swap out of the frames when I get a higher level cert. This is mainly for financial reasons as I bought expensive frames and custom matting and it adds up after a while.

If you feel like doing it, do it. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. I remember participating in another thread a while back about this same topic and it makes me upset that someone feels like framing their certs and others shoot them down. If you didn't feel like framing them, you probably wouldn't have asked the question in the first place. Go ahead if it makes you happy. You earned it.

fullcrowmoon

Nightflier, you rock

UncleB

I scan mine to PDF and back them up, stick the originals in a drawer and update LinkedIn with them.

I don't feel the need for validation that framing them offers - I know I achieved it and can demonstrate it to employers who are probably the only people who will be remotely interested in them.

thanks
Iain

7255carl

I frame mine and hang them on a wall opposite the desk where I study, this motivates me to press on when studying and fill that wall up

Happy New Year all

Carl

Lexluethar

I only frame certain ones that took me a long time to pass. I've framed my MCSA and I'm going to frame my VCP this month. I have things like A+ and Net+ and I did frame those too when I first passed them, but at this point i'm only interested in framing certifications that took a while to pass. Also it gets a bit silly IMO for our small office to have a dozen things hanging up on the wall.

thaiguy314

Mine are tucked away in a folder after they've been scanned. Probably won't hang one up until I get CISSP or something, haha.

thaiguy314

Nicely said.

Boxxer

I will frame the more advanced certifications I get in the future, but as for all the entry-level certs I keep them all in my firesafe in an envelope and the digital copies saved online at their respective websites under my accounts as well as locally.

As far as people putting acronyms at the end of their names, I would do the same thing because it adds credibility and let's people know you are an expert in your field of choice (only if it is an advanced certification or degree, such as post graduate degree or CCIE). It is especially useful when writing articles. IMO it's for the benefit of others to know that you aren't some random know-it-all talking out his rear end.

colemic

Nightflier101BL wrote: »

I list my certs under my avatar, I have letters after my email signature and I frame my certs. I do this because I want to, I'm proud of my accomplishments and the time/money spent on them. I have never had any complaints or adverse effects. However, I don't frame all the certs, I have a group of them that I swap out of the frames when I get a higher level cert. This is mainly for financial reasons as I bought expensive frames and custom matting and it adds up after a while.

If you feel like doing it, do it. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. I remember participating in another thread a while back about this same topic and it makes me upset that someone feels like framing their certs and others shoot them down. If you didn't feel like framing them, you probably wouldn't have asked the question in the first place. Go ahead if it makes you happy. You earned it.

I don't have any certs in frames, but might put a couple or three of the top-shelf ones up. Some will never see the light of day lol. Master's degree, you betcha.

I don't begrudge anyone who does frame all their certs - you earned them, frame them, make a paper hat, whatever floats your boat. As far as initials, for most business transactions, I won't put anything except title... because to most people in my org, they don't mean anything. If I were in a consultant role, or similar, I might, since they could lend credibility. Just my wooden nickel.

RealUnited

lol under my bed

Mike7

Certs kept in a cabinet. Scanned or soft copies stored in the cloud storage for convenient retrieval.
Advanced (i.e. ISC2 and ISACA) certs on my LinkedIn profile as everyone seems to be doing it.
C****, C*** to TechExams profile page for fun and to reduce carbon footprint.

Did add infosec cert initials to email signature for credibility when corresponding with a certain customer.
The security officer (customer) was making a fool of himself with his "in-depth" questions, "expert" analysis, instructions and was not receptive to our feedback; and I did not want to spoil his moment of fame in front of his manager and users.

He toned down after my first email with security cert initials in email signature.

triadmatt

I frame mine and place then neatly above my home office door.

Nafe92014

I framed both my MTA snd A+ certificates and have them hanging directly above my monitor so when I come home from a long day of classes I can look at them and quote Winston Churchill, "If your going through Hell, keep going". This keeps my head up and to stay positive to get to where I want to be someday.

twodogs62

I think you should display certificates. If you worked hard for them, display them.
Also keep those few higher certs listed on business cards also.
Framed Bachelor's degree hung in office.
higher lever certs framed.
I have frames for a few more unique also.
To store other certs, I am just placing non-displayed certs in frames behind the displayed ones.
This keeps it easy to track as they are all stored in frames.
i have them if any one asks.
i also have copies and digital scans also.

wd40

I keep my certificates in a cheap ring binder labeled "Certificates".

Chitownjedi

Most of mine wore torn up to prove a point to the lady when she got into IT. She kept obsessing about Certifications as being the definitive proof you were good, despite the fact that I had told her numerous times that the thousands of hours I spent studying, labbing, labbing,labbing, and then applying it at work was more important then just getting the cert.

After about 3 months she still was saying things that indicated that she thought that the certs mattered more than the actual knowledge you get studying and labbing for certs.. but was giving way too much power to just certs themselves. So I ripped all of mine up and front of her.... and told her now my certs don't exist, only what I have up here (pointed to my head.)

Crude but effective...(Plus I always knew that I could reorder a copy,

TheFORCE

We frame everyone's certifications on a wall next to the boss's office! So when other bosses visit, they say "your employees are skilled"