Certifications in progress

Is it bad form to write down on your resume what certifications you are currently studying?

Eg,

CCNA (in progress)

or

MCSA (expected X 2014)

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Comments

FloOz

I've done it in the past and it has always been praised in my interviews. Shows that you care about bettering yourself. I would only list one certifications as in progress though.

Claymoore

Yes. You either have it or you don't. When I see 'In Progress' for a certification on a resume that is a big red flag for me. How long has it been in progress? Since you saw it as a requirement for this position? Or have you been studying for months and either don't know the material or are afraid of the test? Either of those make me doubt your fitness for the position.

Danielm7

I think if you list one in progress you should try to list an accurate date when you expect it to be completed. That way they can see you are really studying it and have a plan, vs just hoping to some day have X cert.

networker050184

If it is something that takes multiple exams then I think it is fine to put in progress if you have passed some of them. I wouldn't put something entry level like CCNA or A+ in progress even though you may need more than one exam for those.

I've put in progress on mine a couple times when I was doing the CCNP and CCIP and was specifically told by one interviewer that it was one of the reasons they were interested in talking with me.

RouteMyPacket

I think it's sad actually and people do it to "get noticed by the keyword filters bla bla" You can state your progress in person. Putting it down on your CV reeks of trying to be something you aren't, one of the worst is the "CCIE - Written" crowd.

Be confident in what you bring to the organization, make your case during the interview. "I have been aggressive in my career and over the last three months I have been working on my CCNP R/S" to which they would most likely ask "How many tests have you done"..to which it would feel good to say "I have passed SWITCH, so doing ROUTE now and then of course TSHOOT last" bla bla bla

To each his/her own...I won't ever put down anything "In progress" on my CV but will surely state it and the reasoning during the hiring process.

Tyb

I would personally use the :expected (month/year) and that would be if I had other certs already to possibly avoid the situation Claymoore was saying.

Added**
I didn't even think of what RouteMyPacket said about using it to get through filters, I can see how employers could frown upon it now.

ITcognito

Interesting perspectives.

As for the getting past filters, there's far easier methods of doing that

TomkoTech

So if you are currently working on your bachelors or masters degree would you put that on your resume? I mean if you follow the logic that you either have it or you don't then that tells me you wouldn't. Granted saying you are "working on" your A+ is ridiculous. But if you are in a training program or some such thing that is working you towards the CCNP or whatever I don't think it's an issue of putting that down. That isn't going to be the only reason your resume gets pulled for an interview, but it certainly could help.

--chris--

Claymoore wrote: »

Yes. You either have it or you don't. When I see 'In Progress' for a certification on a resume that is a big red flag for me. How long has it been in progress? Since you saw it as a requirement for this position? Or have you been studying for months and either don't know the material or are afraid of the test? Either of those make me doubt your fitness for the position.

I've had the opposite experience as the interviewee. You are right about the "how long" part, it can look bad if the position requires that EXACT certificate and its suddenly in progress but if the interviewer up front asks how long have you been studying this/what have you covered then follows up with questions to verify your answer (which has happened to me) it will be obvious whether you are fibbing or if you really have been working on it.

I see people say leave them off put them on...I dont think it can always be a solid answer. Its situational, if you have a pile of certs and your working on something not directly related to the job your applying to leave it off.

If your new and dont have much behind your name yet and the position could use that skill set AND you have been working on it for awhile, put it on. Expect to have your knowledge tested on it. If you get hired, your better be certain you keep up your end of the bargain...

RouteMyPacket

ITcognito wrote: »

Interesting perspectives.

As for the getting past filters, there's far easier methods of doing that

Yeah, i've caught people doing it and it's the classic "white font" trick. lol

networker050184

RouteMyPacket wrote: »

I think it's sad actually and people do it to "get noticed by the keyword filters bla bla" You can state your progress in person. Putting it down on your CV reeks of trying to be something you aren't, one of the worst is the "CCIE - Written" crowd.

Be confident in what you bring to the organization, make your case during the interview. "I have been aggressive in my career and over the last three months I have been working on my CCNP R/S" to which they would most likely ask "How many tests have you done"..to which it would feel good to say "I have passed SWITCH, so doing ROUTE now and then of course TSHOOT last" bla bla bla

To each his/her own...I won't ever put down anything "In progress" on my CV but will surely state it and the reasoning during the hiring process.

What is wrong with trying to get noticed? Isn't that the entire purpose of the resume?

Cherper

TomkoTech wrote: »

So if you are currently working on your bachelors or masters degree would you put that on your resume?

If you are graduating at the end of the current semester it is not uncommon to put that down. If you are graduating next year, then leave it off.

Chitownjedi

If there is a responsible time frame and actual in progress work being done for it, I don't think it is a negative. I've interviewed plenty of candidates that didn't have anything listed certification wise, and have worked with many more that didn't ever plan on pretending like they were remotely interested in getting certified in anything. I believe the continuing education/and pursuit of acquiring more, should be commended.

When my wife was switching into IT, I told her not to list her "In progress A+" until she passed at least the 801. Once she passed that and updated her resume with the "In progress" the amount of calls she received tripled, and she got her first position based on them being swayed by the fact that she was pursuing the A+... which is littered on tons of "qualification" list for jobs. She got her 802 and full A+ certification shortly after starting her first entry level IT job, and all things being equal... it helped her gain notice, as the other people she worked with did not have the A+ certification, so they were happy she even was "In progress." "The whole point of the interview is selling yourself, the resume is to get attention.. by saying it's in progress is not misleading, and again, depending on your market, you may need to do certain things to get yourself separated from the pretenders.

I've told her that I wouldn't recommend doing it again unless she was in a serious tract that had multiple exams... but for the most part. I don't think its a negative thing at all.... as long as you plan on completing it soon. I have a LinkedIN associate that has in her profile that she is working on her ICND2 for the CCNA since 2012... but complains about not getting opportunities to break into networking. I think that raises eye brows, and its irrelevant here..but I've been wanting to say something about that for quite a while... lol

RouteMyPacket

networker050184 wrote: »

What is wrong with trying to get noticed? Isn't that the entire purpose of the resume?

Sure, to get noticed for what skills I have not by those I don't.

networker050184

Well I don't think anyone here is saying put something you don't have or lie on your resume. That obviously is not a good idea.

ITcognito

Cherper wrote: »

If you are graduating at the end of the current semester it is not uncommon to put that down. If you are graduating next year, then leave it off.

lolwut?!11?

Danielm7

ITcognito wrote: »

lolwut?!11?

I know it sounds odd, but I had a bit of an issue with that on my last interview myself. I had that I was at WGU with an expected graduation date of about 6 or 8 months away. They asked a lot of questions about my school schedule and were concerned it would interfere with work. For what it's worth they were also the sort of company that spent A LOT of time talking about how you shouldn't expect to clock out at the end of your shift and just go home, etc, so the idea of any other commitment bothered them. I didn't actually get the job, and not sour grapes or anything, but I'm glad I didn't.