In-progress certifications

Just wanted everyones opinion on this. Do you put certifications you haven't yet received(but are currently studying for) on your resume? And if you do how do you phrase it?

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thenjduke

My advice is if you do not have the paper then don't waste the space on the other paper you do your resume on.
I am going to go out on a limb here and alot of people are going to tell you do not list it until you get it.

veritas_libertas

spartangtr wrote: »

Just wanted everyones opinion on this. Do you put certifications you haven't yet received(but are currently studying for) on your resume? And if you do how do you phrase it?

I don't like doing that. I think it would make me look desperate if I put down, "Certifications in Progress"

sambuca69

In the past, I've put something like "currently pursuing CCNA" on my resume in my summary of skills section. I figure it might have helped me get past some keyword searches that might have otherwise filtered me out as a potential candidate.

networker050184

We had quite a heated debate if I remember correctly on this topic not long ago if search through the forum.

I put the certs in progress on mine. I think it shows initiative at lets the employer know you are serious about continuing your learning. It would be something that I would like to see if I were reading resumes. I usually put "Currently working towards blah".

spartangtr

networker050184 wrote: »

We had quite a heated debate if I remember correctly on this topic not long ago if search through the forum.

I put the certs in progress on mine. I think it shows initiative at lets the employer know you are serious about continuing your learning. It would be something that I would like to see if I were reading resumes. I usually put "Currently working towards blah".

I should try to find that. I've been going back and forth on this for a few days. I was thinking of putting something like "expected Q1 2011" or something along those lines.

thenjduke

You know you could in Education put you are self studing for the certifications. I do put the present education I am working towards so why not certifications if you think about it because it is education.

Claymoore

spartangtr wrote: »

I should try to find that. I've been going back and forth on this for a few days. I was thinking of putting something like "expected Q1 2011" or something along those lines.

Here you go:
http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/52525-listing-progress-certs-your-resume.html

My opinion hasn't changed since that thread.

tbgree00

I have currently pursuing MCSE in my objectives section because I have the MCSA and the 293 so I'm very close to finishing it and expect to this year. I have hopes for the Sec+ and maybe starting the MCITP:EA but I wouldn't list those because I have even cracked a book on it. When I decide to send a resume to an employer I'd likely remove it and add the fact I'm working on it into my cover letter.

Basically it's there to get hits on keyword searches on my extended "online" resume. I wouldn't send that one to get an interview, it has too much info on it.

ajs1976

Normally, I would not do it. If you do, I would only list one, but not in a certification section. maybe in a training or summary section like mentioned above.

I have a resume book and in the IT section there are a couple that list some certs as in progress, so it may be more acceptable then I originally thought. I have issues with some of them. One lists A+ in progress, Network+ in progress, MCSE in progress, which looks really stupid to me. Another lists that the person has an MCSE, but the MCP is in progress. If you are an MCSE, you are an MCP, so how can the MCP be in progress? Makes me think the person doesn't know what is going on with certs or if you are going to list MCP in progress (which I have done in the past) at least list the exam you are working on.

spartangtr

Claymoore wrote: »

Here you go:
http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/52525-listing-progress-certs-your-resume.html

My opinion hasn't changed since that thread.

Yea, I get where you're coming from but i'm not doing it to hit keyword filters, I would be doing it to show that i'm constantly learning and eager. What I'm doing now is making Visio diagrams of the current topologies i'm labbing up and also what concepts these configurations entail. In a perfect world, in an interview they could ask me "i see you're pursuing this, tell me about that" and I can pull out all these diagrams of stuff i'm working through and use it as a talking point of where I currently stand technically and where i'm headed.

But i'll wait til I pass the SWITCH exam to see what I do with it on my resume.

ColbyG

Claymoore wrote: »

Here you go:
http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/52525-listing-progress-certs-your-resume.html

My opinion hasn't changed since that thread.

That was a fun thread. My opinion hasn't changed since then either.

Ashenwelt

spartangtr wrote: »

Just wanted everyones opinion on this. Do you put certifications you haven't yet received(but are currently studying for) on your resume? And if you do how do you phrase it?

If you have nothing relative to the job, but what you are pursuing... then maybe ONE.

If you have anything else relative to the job, no.

N2IT

No way man! Wait to you at least get the test results back from the facility or from your training class.

phantasm

Bad juju. If you don't have the paper, don't list it. You may be studying for that CCNA but until you have it, you don't have it. Don't use it as a way to beat the HR filters, you may screw someone over who has the cert already.

Of course personal ethics and morals is a different discussion in its own right.

nicklauscombs

i would never do this however i think its possible to tactfully do this on a resume/cover letter.

i would however have no issue with mentioning certifications i was working on in an interview.

mikej412

Claymoore wrote: »

Here you go:
http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/52525-listing-progress-certs-your-resume.html

My opinion hasn't changed since that thread.

Ditto -- A persons qualifications belong in the resume. Dreams and wishes and explanations and excuses can go in the cover letter.

stuh84

It depends on the certification. Putting you are halfway through the A+ or something like that might be a little strange, but putting something like CCNP in progress with the relevant exams underneath shows what you have already covered.

If I listed every topic I'd covered in the BSCI and BCMSN, I'd need an extra page for the resume, so it makes more sense to me to put the exams down, and then put down in my skills section what ones I have worked with specifically in real world environments. Maybe I'm wrong for doing that, but I'd rather not get viewed as someone who knows only CCNA level subjects, when I'm close to finishing the CCNP already.

networker050184

phantasm wrote: »

Bad juju. If you don't have the paper, don't list it. You may be studying for that CCNA but until you have it, you don't have it. Don't use it as a way to beat the HR filters, you may screw someone over who has the cert already.

Of course personal ethics and morals is a different discussion in its own right.

Not to bring the whole argument back up again, but I really don't understand this point of view. How could you possibly screw someone else over by letting an employer know you are working towards a certification? I mean it is a competition for the job and all.

earweed

The main problem I see in listing an in progress cert in the resume is that some are just scanned and that in progress cert may get you an interview and then you get blasted in the interview for not actually having it.
Put in progress cert (not multiple "planning to get" certs) in your cover letter and maybe mention what you are working on/planning to get in the interview.

phantasm

networker050184 wrote: »

Not to bring the whole argument back up again, but I really don't understand this point of view. How could you possibly screw someone else over by letting an employer know you are working towards a certification? I mean it is a competition for the job and all.

But you can't compete. Let's assume all work experience is equal for simplicity sake, candidate 1 has earned his CCNA while candidate 2 is "studying" for it. I'm not going to pick the candidate who is "studying" for it over the candidate who already has it. It's kind of like telling a mechanic what's wrong with your car because you read a Chilton's manual. I want hard proven fact's, not an "I'm working on it".

Like I said though, to each their own. I'm not going to get into a **** war over it.

networker050184

phantasm wrote: »

But you can't compete. Let's assume all work experience is equal for simplicity sake, candidate 1 has earned his CCNA while candidate 2 is "studying" for it. I'm not going to pick the candidate who is "studying" for it over the candidate who already has it. It's kind of like telling a mechanic what's wrong with your car because you read a Chilton's manual. I want hard proven fact's, not an "I'm working on it".

Like I said though, to each their own. I'm not going to get into a **** war over it.

I wouldn't make any kind of hiring decision based on if the cert was finished if everything else was equal, thats totally irrelevant to me. The certification is to prove the knowledge, if you already know the people have equal knowledge and experience then the certification wouldn't matter at all to me.

I still don't see how one person is screwing another over by letting the employer know they are working on a certification. Maybe I'm missing something here.

ColbyG

phantasm wrote: »

But you can't compete. Let's assume all work experience is equal for simplicity sake, candidate 1 has earned his CCNA while candidate 2 is "studying" for it. I'm not going to pick the candidate who is "studying" for it over the candidate who already has it. It's kind of like telling a mechanic what's wrong with your car because you read a Chilton's manual. I want hard proven fact's, not an "I'm working on it".

Like I said though, to each their own. I'm not going to get into a **** war over it.

How about this scenario:

All experience/personality/etc is equal across both candidates.

Candidate 1: Has CCNA, has completed BSCI and BCMSN
Candidate 2: Has CCNA, nothing towards CCNP.

Who do you pick?

phantasm

ColbyG wrote: »

How about this scenario:

All experience/personality/etc is equal across both candidates.

Candidate 1: Has CCNA, has completed BSCI and BCMSN
Candidate 2: Has CCNA, nothing towards CCNP.

Who do you pick?

Candidate 1. The same could be said for Microsoft certs, you pass a test but multiple tests are needed to complete the cert but you still can put MCP or MCTS on the resume for each test. The CCNA is 1 test (or 2 but then you would have a CCENT if you did ICND1). Candidate 1 has demonstrated advanced knowledge over candidate 2. Of course, interview performance also plays a fact.

ColbyG

phantasm wrote: »

Candidate 1. The same could be said for Microsoft certs, you pass a test but multiple tests are needed to complete the cert but you still can put MCP or MCTS on the resume for each test. The CCNA is 1 test (or 2 but then you would have a CCENT if you did ICND1). Candidate 1 has demonstrated advanced knowledge over candidate 2. Of course, interview performance also plays a fact.

So who would you rather interview?

Let's say you're looking for someone with CCNP level experience in Routing and Switching. Don't you think that information would be valuable to an employer?

I know I'd want to be considered for a position if I fit what the company was looking for. In that light, I think listing the certs you're pursuing (when you've made some progress, as in passed one or more test towards the cert) can and should be listed on a resume.

phantasm

ColbyG wrote: »

So who would you rather interview?

Let's say you're looking for someone with CCNP level experience in Routing and Switching. Don't you think that information would be valuable to an employer?

I know I'd want to be considered for a position if I fit what the company was looking for. In that light, I think listing the certs you're pursuing (when you've made some progress, as in passed one or more test towards the cert) can and should be listed on a resume.

If you don't have the cert I wouldn't list it. I recently came to that conclusion. It's personal preference, as I've said. So to each their own, list 'em if you want.

it_consultant

I think its reasonable to list the professional tests that you have completed whether or not they resulted in a certification. Someone makes a good point, if you are looking for someone with expert switching creds, knowing they passed the BCMSN is valuable information.

I would stay away from the "Working on" verbage because it does sound desperate.

erpadmin

I'm going to go about this a different way...

Who would you rather hire? The guy that braindumped his butt off to earn his cert? Or the guy who listed cert-in-progress who can demonstrate some if not all the requirements of the cert?

Now, I know how (a good majority of) you would feel about the former, but think about it? It wouldn't surprise me if there was someone with a braindumped cert that at the very least read up on what he cheated on...unless you are really in depth with someone, you're never gonna know. And many times, it could just be slight nervousness going through the interview.

Now to be clear, anyone who braindumps should be drawn and quartered, for sure. But folks putting so much emphasis on the ability to take a test and pass it......give me the guy who could do the job. Like it or not, that's how a lot of folks in management feel.

So listing cert in progress isn't bad....as long as it's true and you can demonstrate that you know what you're talking about. If you can't, then don't list cert-in-progress.

ColbyG

You're bringing an entirely new/different dimension into this. A dumper could list certs in progress the same as anyone else. I definitely agree with you, but it's kind of outside what we're talking about, IMO.

erpadmin

ColbyG wrote: »

You're bringing an entirely new/different dimension into this. A dumper could list certs in progress the same as anyone else. I definitely agree with you, but it's kind of outside what we're talking about, IMO.

You must've thought I was joking when I said I was going to go about this discussion differently... it was the first sentence...

If a dumper lists certs in progress, IMO, it should be easier to weed him out then someone with a cert.

But my point stands. I would much rather have someone who is competent, then someone with a cert and is not competent. I don't see the harm in listing a cert-in-progress, provided that it is true! If he just said it just to fool the filters, than it's up to the interviewer to recognize that fact. But if he is far along in his studies and really knows his *ish, and if he's likable, then it shouldn't be a problem.

ColbyG

erpadmin wrote: »

You must've thought I was joking when I said I was going to go about this discussion differently... it was the first sentence...

You must not have understood that I was saying the way you're going about the discussion isn't really relevant to the current conversation.;)