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SephStorm

colemic wrote: »

No offense taken... and while I am a GoCo, in the private world, I still would not expect a security analyst who performs the tasks you mentioned above to rely on a CISSP as proof of technical knowledge... but if was the individual that managed those analysts, I absolutely would.

You are both right, and the truth is that the CISSP is that "gold standard", especially in government. I was having a conversation with a co-worker about 8570, and anouther one came up and started saying how she didn't think that CISSP should qualify TECH III, "it's not a technincal cert." She said, and I totally agreed with her. But even our contractors who are managing security are expected to have that "cessP" as they say, even though it is there more technical expertise that enables them to do their jobs.

shaX 07

I list my certs in my signature, but not a lot of people where I work do. I don't feel like there's anything wrong with it-- I mean, these certs are related to my job, getting them made me more knowledgeable about my job, and my company paid me a bonus to get them... So why shouldn't they be listed?

It sure doesn't make you an expert to have a few certifications, but at least it shows you have some sort of drive and willingness to desire to obtain some sort of relevant knowledge. Where I work, there's a vast number of "IT Professionals" who call the help desk when their mouse doesn't work, so I don't feel a bit of remorse for listing my certs and showing everyone that I have achieved even the "lowest" of IT certifications-- When I show up to a "Systems Analyst" or a "Programmer Analyst" desk to unplug/re plug in their USB Mouse and re-boot their PC to fix their issue, I feel that is enough reason to list A+ in my e-mail signature.

The other reason I like to have them in there, is because I work in a large organization with a huge IT department, and even after being there for a year, I still couldn't tell you half the names of the IT staff, thus they don't know who I am, so why not at least show that I am at least qualified for the position I currently hold? That's a lot more than I can say for a lot of the people in our IT department.

How about those of you who have college degrees-- do you list those in your signatures? I was having this discussion with a co-worker last week, and I feel that if the degree is relevant to your job, there's no reason it shouldn't be there...

shaX 07

Does anyone have any additional input? I know this thread is old but I think it is still a good topic of discussion....

SteveLord

It just looks weird to me. Unless it was a very high and mighty cert, following a high and mighty title. In which, I would probably be billed just for opening that person's email.

JayTheCracker

what about in Address Card, anyone ?

tpatt100

I think it makes sense if your a solutions provider and your dealing with clients especially people who make management and budget decisions. Years ago my old company I worked for asked us to because we were supporting our government customer. When it started all was fine but people started noticing who had more and what and snotty @$$ comments would come out like "your mcse you should know that" so finally management changed it because the senior support guys got butt hurt

Roguetadhg

"your mcse you should know that"

Hit someone whose asking for help. No one knows everything. That's wonderful teamship, tpatt100.

tpatt100

Roguetadhg wrote: »

"your mcse you should know that"

Hit someone whose asking for help. No one knows everything. That's wonderful teamship, tpatt100.

Heh it was jealousy so much backstabbing to get noticed when I worked there. Not all of them were like that but back in the .com days the market was kind of flooded.

SteveLord

tpatt100 wrote: »

"your mcse you should know that" so finally management changed it because the senior support guys got butt hurt

That was my other issue with putting them in any kind of signature.

NOLAJ

Aldur wrote: »

On a side note I would recommend not putting any entry/associate level certs in a sig no matter what. It just seems silly to me.

, funny you mention that. The other day I was dealing with someone outside of our company and he had only an A+ logo in his signature. To each their own, but I understand what you're saying.

paul78

JayTheCracker wrote: »

what about in Address Card, anyone ?

Do you mean a business card? Sure, why not.. I like recieving business cards that lets me know who I am dealing with. Similarly, getting an email from a customer, vendor, or partner with a qualification cert is helpful.

joshmadakor

I don't put them in my sig, but I do decorate my office a bit. Why not? My office isn't that interesting otherwise...

swild

When I first started working here a year ago, I only saw one person with a cert in their signature line and he is a CISSP. So when I got my CISSP, I added it to my signature line and my business card (no logos allowed, boo).

However, in the last couple of months, I have seen more and more people using it, even people I have talked to in the past. I don't know if they are newly certed or if they just decided to start using it. I have seen at least half a dozen PMPs. There's one employee that has the same position as me and he has MCDST/A+ in his. Also, a couple of people in my office that are not in IT have started putting it in their signatures. My old boss who left 6 months ago was a CFSA and AFE. He said that he used to use them but nobody else did so he stopped.

I personally like seeing the certs in the signature line because it shows me that not only is that person qualified, but they are also interested in that particular field. If the cert is above their job role, they are trying to achieve more and better themselves. I see so many lazy IT people that have become complacent that it is good to see people that care. On the other hand, I only want to see one or two certs. Anything more is bordering on pretentious.

bigdogz

I don't hang my certs in my cube. I personally don't want it there. To each his/her own. I do have them hanging in my den. As far as my signature goes I only add it when I have to email a customer. Other employees and managers may be on the thread but I try not to boast of my certifications or rub it in their face. Normally I get issues that have been escalated and I have to find the resolution. 97% of the issues are customer / end user related which I really don't mind. I just hate the other 3% when it is the fault of the company or myself. I am EXTREMELY competitive and I have a great deal of pride for my work but sometimes there are management decisions to be made that I cannot control.

In my opinion from a user/customer perspective it helps to know that someone working the issue on the other side of the fence has some technical background and understanding of what is going and how to come up with a solution.

One of the guys in my office was always making jokes about me being a paper chaser. He would ask me why I am getting all of these certifications and I would simply state that I want to learn, prove my knowledge, and be marketable asset to the company. In a worse case scenario if I lost my job it would be easier for me to find one.
At times he would be serious and talk about obtaining some certifications but he would revert to his old ways. Then one day his boss told him to get x certification because he had to go to training and this certification would be helpful to attain a higher certification and others in his new group have some letters after their name.
Once he told me, I asked him "Who's chasing paper now?". He has not called me a paper chase since his exam

tr1x

bigdogz wrote: »

I don't hang my certs in my cube. I personally don't want it there. To each his/her own. I do have them hanging in my den. As far as my signature goes I only add it when I have to email a customer. Other employees and managers may be on the thread but I try not to boast of my certifications or rub it in their face. Normally I get issues that have been escalated and I have to find the resolution. 97% of the issues are customer / end user related which I really don't mind. I just hate the other 3% when it is the fault of the company or myself. I am EXTREMELY competitive and I have a great deal of pride for my work but sometimes there are management decisions to be made that I cannot control.

In my opinion from a user/customer perspective it helps to know that someone working the issue on the other side of the fence has some technical background and understanding of what is going and how to come up with a solution.

One of the guys in my office was always making jokes about me being a paper chaser. He would ask me why I am getting all of these certifications and I would simply state that I want to learn, prove my knowledge, and be marketable asset to the company. In a worse case scenario if I lost my job it would be easier for me to find one.
At times he would be serious and talk about obtaining some certifications but he would revert to his old ways. Then one day his boss told him to get x certification because he had to go to training and this certification would be helpful to attain a higher certification and others in his new group have some letters after their name.
Once he told me, I asked him "Who's chasing paper now?". He has not called me a paper chase since his exam

Sounds like he was just extremely jealous. Don't let others devalue your credentials, they only do that because they wish they had them.

I don't put them in my sig, but I don't have any that I'm proud of, I'd feel like an idiot displaying CompTIA or MCTS. There's one guy here that does display CompTIA and MCP, and he's not very well respected.

CodeBlox

NOLAJ wrote: »

, funny you mention that. The other day I was dealing with someone outside of our company and he had only an A+ logo in his signature. To each their own, but I understand what you're saying.

Where I work, it seems like thats all people have are Comptia Certs and I see a lot of email where they include these certs in the signature. I guess they're proud of passing or something but they'll list them all on a single line. I personally just leave all certs out of the siggy in email.

dou2ble

This is an old thread but instead of creating a new one I thought I'd just add to it since most of the previous comments are still relevant.

My question is the formatting.

Firstname Lastname
Certs
Position
Contact info

Or is having the certs on the next line only for PHDs?

Right now mine is
Respectfully,
Firstname Lastname
Certs
Position
Company
Contact info

I like to include MCSA because it shows that even though I'm a security guy I still had some Microsoft background and understand DC, ADUC, GPO, etc...

I also like to see other's certs in their signature because then I don't have to ask what their quals are. Since most I interact with are strangers to me and not in person if I see a CCIE or CISSP it means more than a Net+ or Sec+.

What do you guys think?

ChickenNuggetz

I personally don't really like it when people put too much stuff in their signature. Just give me your name, title, company name, and contact info - anything else will pretty much get ignored.

cowill

Interesting thread....

In my current job, its very common for IT folks to list their certs in their sigs. I can understand because we all have to be certified in some form or manner. I list my certs in my sig as well, mainly because it creates awareness for end users and gives them "some" confidence in who they are dealing with.

In my two previous places prior to this, I only saw one person who listed their certs in their sig. Other than that, no one cared or even talked about certs that much. I couldn't tell you who had what. Certs weren't even a requirement. However, they were both fortune top 50 companies, so you have all types of IT folks in there. Some people were geeks, some people were in IT just to feed their kids and probably didn't own more than one computer at home. People just seemed not to care and certs just did not matter

cowill

tr1x wrote: »

Sounds like he was just extremely jealous. Don't let others devalue your credentials, they only do that because they wish they had them.

I don't put them in my sig, but I don't have any that I'm proud of, I'd feel like an idiot displaying CompTIA or MCTS. There's one guy here that does display CompTIA and MCP, and he's not very well respected.

I disagree with entry level certs not being sig worthy......but then again I think its about where you are at in your career and your environment. I think if you are customer facing, ANY cert is worth adding....It gives them confidence in knowing they are working with a professional and not just somebody there to collect a check. Besides, they don't know the level of certifications...It's all the same to them....a CCNA holder should be able to fix a computer in their eyes like a A+ holder...LOL

Now if I was in the INFOSEC realm or maybe coding and walking amongst those folks all day, everyday, I probably would NOT put them in my sig line.

networker050184

Just say no to certs in email.

TheFORCE

I used it on my personal email for testing purposes and then I was told it just make me look like I'm boasting. Never used it for any official communication.

At my previous company, one of the managers had some signature where he was listing his certs so the IT auditor guys picked on him to play a game. Basically what they did was they found out when he was out to lunch, went to his office and put a usb keylogger behind his station. Few days passed and hey just ripped him apart by exposing passwords, communications and anything that he was doing.

What was their point? According to what I was told was that, if you are going to put all that information on your work signature email, certs, titles, etc. Attackers will target your account more often because they will assume you have crazy root privileges to sensitive systems. And supposedly someone at their level should be more diligent about making sure their system has not been tampered with. I kinda understand the point and it makes sense now. Then again, looking at the other side of the coin, IT Auditors always want to find something :P

PC509

I don't. We have a contractor that does list all his Cisco certs. But, he's a Cisco guy that manages all our Cisco stuff, so we expect him to have them. Me? I don't have anyone to impress. All my users are internal, and for them - if it gets fixed, it's good. Doesn't matter if I have a degree or even graduated high school. I guess it depends on your intended audience.

twodogs62

This is what I think.

List only your top ones
logo on buisness card looks professional.

certs show IT is profession.
even car mechanics have professional certifications.

N2IT

The worst is the MBA's lol. Generalist degree in your signature.

GreaterNinja

When I worked for Apollo / University of Phoenix, people would list their Bachelor degree, Masters, or PhD + IT certifications. Still even at my last company, people would list a bachelor’s degree in their email signature here and there.

I think listing a bachelor’s degree on your email signature is tacky.
However, listing a Master’s degree or higher degree + your top certs is acceptable. This shows you have an experienced / qualified level of knowledge.
I would only list 3-5 certs max on an email signature, unless you can display it eloquently.

daviddws

Many times i think it depends where you work. When i was a government contractor most people listed their certifications. My current job at a startup no one cares so much as its more of how hard you work and can you learn whats needed at the time.

kly630

I don't think it's wrong to, but I wouldn't. I equate them to basically getting good grades in school so it's kind of like advertising your gpa in your email line.

Stuff like a law license, CPA, medical degree would make more sense to display, but then if I had those I would worry about displaying them carelessly. Specifically I would worry some email would be misconstrued as providing professional advice and open me to liability.

dou2ble

N2IT wrote: »

The worst is the MBA's lol. Generalist degree in your signature.

Lol I agree! I think only PHD's should ever be listed.

I don't think it's wrong to, but I wouldn't. I equate them to basically getting good grades in school so it's kind of like advertising your gpa in your email line.

I don't think this is the same thing. A certification shows your proficiency in a specific field or task. A grade shows you exceled in that subject.

Kinet1c

I place zero value in someone putting certs in their signature, impress me by doing your job, nothing else matters tbh. I worked with one project manager who put certs in her signature - she must have dumped them because she was one of the most incompetent people I've ever met.