E-mail Signature?? Frame it?

What is the general concensous with certifications and email signatures?

I have seen people list only A+ after their name (John Doe, A+) and I think that looks pretty ridiculous. Some people list several certs...others none. What is the general feeling around here about what level of certs merit being listed in a signature?

In the same vain, what certs command a frame to be hung on the wall? I know this is a personal choice, but do people frame entry level certs?

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astorrs

Degrees and professional accreditations (e.g., CMA, CPA, P.Eng, etc) only in my opinion.

dynamik

larrydaman wrote:

In the same vain, what certs command a frame to be hung on the wall? I know this is a personal choice, but do people frame entry level certs?

Go for it. It'll keep you motivated. Swap them out as you advance.

I don't list my certs in my signatures, nor know anyone who does. Unless you're just communicating with IT people, no one would probably understand them anyway.

jryantech

Any certification is an accomplishment... It took time and money to earn it...
Why not frame them all? And as dynamilk said it serves as motivation to achieve the next level.

In my personal perspective getting a degree, diploma or certification and sticking it in a shoe box, closest or on top of a desk is a bit tacky...

undomiel

jryantech wrote:

In my personal perspective getting a degree, diploma or certification and sticking it in a shoe box, closest or on top of a desk is a bit tacky...

In the end it's just a piece of paper.

he-man

The company i work for have recently introduced a "standard" signature, which requires everyone have the same font/color/size, only differences are the actual name/numbers etc

We're not aloud to stray from that format, so no certs, personal prefs, funny quotes etc. Before that though i didn't list my certs, it made people "wonder" how clever i was!!

Mishra

I know dell puts their certifications in their signatures.

I've personally never put anything but contact info and job positions in my sigs

scheistermeister

I've never put my certs in my sig for emails. Actually the only time I think I ever put something in my email sig was to screw with a friend of mine while we were working on a group project and the whole group was emailing back and forth. He had something like:

President of Student Counsel Tribunal
Vice President of UCIT Pros

So in one of mine address to the whole group I added:

President of Absolutely Nothing at All
Vice President of Even Less

jryantech

undomiel wrote:

jryantech wrote:

In my personal perspective getting a degree, diploma or certification and sticking it in a shoe box, closest or on top of a desk is a bit tacky...

In the end it's just a piece of paper.

Try telling that to someone with a PhD and see how they make you feel

undomiel

jryantech wrote:

undomiel wrote:

jryantech wrote:

In my personal perspective getting a degree, diploma or certification and sticking it in a shoe box, closest or on top of a desk is a bit tacky...

In the end it's just a piece of paper.

Try telling that to someone with a PhD and see how they make you feel

I've done it before and will do it again. It feels just the same as telling it to someone who doesn't have any degree of any sort.

networker050184

I usually see people put CCIE or other high level certifications in their signature. I don't put CCNA in mine, but when I achieve a CCIE I'll put that

As far as framing, I agree with dynamik frame them all!

blargoe

Frame it? Sure, if you like.

When I got my first Corporate IT job, fresh after getting my 2000 MCSA, I put it in my sig because I saw that my manager did the same, he had a string of initials after his name and i thought it was the norm. When I realized he did it because he was vain and only trying to make himself look more important than he was (and after not seeing any one else follow the same standard), I stopped doing it, and later realized as I gained experience and exposure to other IT resources and environments that it generally was regarded as a silly practice (at least for minor certs, if I ever got a MCA or CCIE I'd reconsider)

darkerosxx

If you accomplished something important to you, do what you feel like doing. I pin up certs and courses I've completed that are important to me on my cube wall, but I don't put up everything. I have my diploma on my desk.

Not that Und's view is wrong, because everyone has a right to their opinion, but my diploma is a lot more than just a piece of paper to me.

snadam

I put all 5 of my certs in my sig. I saw that my other colleagues did it and followed suit. They are not vain by any means. I always considered myself 'young' in IT world (just turned 25). When I started a few years back, I figured I needed to prove myself; I guess thats why I really wanted to do it. Now its just a running joke between us to see whose sig has the most acronyms

as for framing, I have all my certs framed and left an empty spot for my MCSA on the wall. When I finally got it, I was so glad I filled the hole. I see it as a good reminder what Im pursuing and to get on the ball. I haven't hung the certs on the wall since I moved, but I guarantee there will be an empty spot on the wall for the MCSE.

if you got it, flaunt it...

dynamik

It's interesting to see the differences in the value everyone puts on their papers.

I think I'm in the same boat as Undomiel. I don't even know where my MCP and Security+ certificates are (although I'm pretty sure they got crushed and/or spilled on). I didn't even keep up with my welcome kids. I tried to order all six a couple weeks ago, but there must have been some error because it still lists them as available to order. I just tried again, so we'll see... I'm happy with the credential, but Gates' signature just isn't that exciting for me. Like I said before, I'd rather have a coupon for a steak dinner

This is just my personal opinion; I'm not criticizing anyone who thinks otherwise.

networker050184

I don't value the actual piece of paper, but I do value the certification.

sthomas

I have a special sig that I list my A+ and MCSE in. I actually copied it from Dell because I thought it was cool. Why do I list A+?!?!?! Because it is a well known certification. I know it is as entry level as you can get but almost everyone knows what it is. Sure I could list my Security+, Linux+, MCDST, MCITP, etc....but they are not nearly as well known so I don't see the point. And I don't use the certification sig all that often anyway usually it is just a normal sig with contact info without certs listed. Once I get my CCNA I will probably list that as well, of course I should state that in my opinion if you are using a standard signature format then it is better to list the certs under your name not next to it unless it is a high level cert like MCSE, RHCE, CCIE, CCNP,etc....

whistler

I don't frame my certs, much rather have real art on my wall. I do have them and the test results in a 3 ring binder in protective sleeves.

snadam

he-man wrote:

The company i work for have recently introduced a "standard" signature, which requires everyone have the same font/color/size, only differences are the actual name/numbers etc

We're not aloud to stray from that format, so no certs, personal prefs, funny quotes etc. Before that though i didn't list my certs, it made people "wonder" how clever i was!!

we did (or should I say 'tried') that. From my own personal experience, I say good luck trying to manage that one...

jryantech

whistler wrote:

I don't frame my certs, much rather have real art on my wall. I do have them and the test results in a 3 ring binder in protective sleeves.

Ahh, I think my baseball cards in the attic use that 3 ring binder w/ protective sleeve you speak of

LarryDaMan

jryantech wrote:

whistler wrote:

I don't frame my certs, much rather have real art on my wall. I do have them and the test results in a 3 ring binder in protective sleeves.

Ahh, I think my baseball cards in the attic use that 3 ring binder w/ protective sleeve you speak of

Yeah buddy me too, I was pretty organized... organized by team and alphabetically by player. I collected in an era of extreme mass production (85'-93'), so even though many of my cards are 20+ years old, they are essentially worthless... it was fun though.

scheistermeister

larrydaman wrote:

Yeah buddy me too, I was pretty organized... organized by team and alphabetically by player. I collected in an era of extreme mass production (85'-93'), so even though many of my cards are 20+ years old, they are essentially worthless... it was fun though.

Mine were sorted by card number. One year I actually got the whole set. They are still around here too. I loved all kinds of cards, comic cards (hologram ones were the coolest), baseball, football, ect.. Also have a bunch of comic books in the binders and plastic.

eMeS

Andrew hit it in his response.

We are all proud of our accomplishments; regardless of that most certifications are not post-nominally accredited.

In commonwealth (and many other) countries the use of post-nominal initials is legally controlled.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:List_of_post-nominal_letters#Legal_post_nominal_letters.3F

I'm not aware of any IT vendor certification providers that are mandated by the crown to offer valid post-nominals.

Someone else will have to speak to this in continental Europe...I would imagine that pre- and post-nominal letters are legally managed in a similar manner as to what the commonwealth does.

In the US you're free to call yourself whatever you like, and everyone that reads your name is free to not care.

FWIW, of all of the things I have done, only 1 (other than college degrees) is officially post-nominally accredited in the UK. In the US, very few people would know what a "MISM" is.

I roll with my name only.

MS

astorrs

eMeS wrote:

I'm not aware of any IT vendor certification providers that are mandated by the crown to offer valid post-nominals.

No vendor certifications are, but some professional ones are, for example:

The I.S.P. designation in Canada is, it's an accreditation protected by law in many provinces (just like a Professional Engineer (P.Eng), or Certified Management Accountant (CMA), etc are).

I would presume the same goes for the CITP in the UK, PCP in Australia, and the MNZCS in New Zealand. There is no equivalent accreditation in the US right now.

Also I would expect a number of countries to accept the IITP (International IT Professional) accreditation for use as a post-nominal now that it has been approved by the I3P (a UNESCO sponsored organization of about 85 global computing societies) and CIPS, BCS, ACS, NZCS (among the rest of the members after they are certified) will start issuing them later this year.

Edit: A glossary for those who are interested:

I.S.P. = Information Systems Professional (in Canada by CIPS)
CITP = Chartered IT Professional (in UK and globally by BCS)
PCP = Practicing Computer Professional (in Australia by ACS)
MNZCS = Member New Zealand Computing Society (in New Zealand by NZCS)

HeroPsycho

I used to put my certifications in my email sig, and maybe it was beneficial to my career early on. However, there is a point you simply shouldn't do it when you've climbed high enough in the ladder.

I began noticing that people I didn't know that I emailed would off the bat become immediately adversarial when I emailed them when working on something. I'd hear second hand that co-workers in other offices within the company who didn't know me thought of me as "condescending". So I tried taking the certs out, and I saw a noticeable improvement right away.

I began asking myself, "what exactly is the point of including certs in my sig?" I originally thought it was a way of promoting myself, so people would associate my name with good technical skills and knowledge. But I'd say probably 1/3 of your audience won't understand the certs, 1/3 will interpret it subconsciously as an attack, and 1/3 take it as a sign you're more knowledgeable. I can win people over to believe I'm knowledgeable without certs in my sigs, but overcoming a negative impression is very difficult.

I've come now to the conclusion listing certs is bad for sigs, great for resumes. You shouldn't put them on routine communications.

===================================================
HeroPsycho
Senior Systems Engineer
MCSE 2000/2003: Messaging; MCSE 2000: Security; MCSA 2000/2003: Security/Messaging; MCP; MCITP: Enterprise Messaging Administrator, MCTS: Internet Security and Acceleration Server 2006, Configuring, Configuring Exchange Server 2007; VCP: VI3, LOL

Daniel333

We have a guy at our network operation center who adds A+ and CCNA on his signature and he's dumb as #$#%%. We spend so much time making fun of him. He has single handedly devalued the CCNA and Comptia as a whole.

But no, don't list it. Stay humble, prove yourself in action don't advertise.

seuss_ssues

HeroPsycho wrote:

I used to put my certifications in my email sig, and maybe it was beneficial to my career early on. However, there is a point you simply shouldn't do it when you've climbed high enough in the ladder.

I think that sums it up nicely. Certs are a great accomplishment at all levels and it is nice to be recognized for your work. But there is a point where you do climb high enough that you may have 20 certs next to your name and you are working with a guy who has no college and no certs, and he knows 20 times what you do. Certs have their place and in the company of this board they are very highly valued. Just dont let it go to your head. Many a cert holding admin has been humbled by the "idiot" helpdesk guy.

eMeS

seuss_ssues wrote:

HeroPsycho wrote:

I used to put my certifications in my email sig, and maybe it was beneficial to my career early on. However, there is a point you simply shouldn't do it when you've climbed high enough in the ladder.

I think that sums it up nicely. Certs are a great accomplishment at all levels and it is nice to be recognized for your work. But there is a point where you do climb high enough that you may have 20 certs next to your name and you are working with a guy who has no college and no certs, and he knows 20 times what you do. Certs have their place and in the company of this board they are very highly valued. Just dont let it go to your head. Many a cert holding admin has been humbled by the "idiot" helpdesk guy.

Both nicely said...

MS

JDMurray

Put the certs in your signature only in the appropriate context. If I'm posting on an InfoSec Web site, it's appropriate for me to include SSCP, CSWP, and Security+ in my sig. If I'm posting on a Web site about beer making, or in some other non-InfoSec context, I should omit the certs (and substitute the name of my favorite beer instead

);

NetAdmin2436

Wide range of opinions about this. Interesting....

Emailing internally or emailing to people I know, I don't put any certs in my signature. I just keep it simple and include my name, title and company. I do have a cert email signature template I use if I'm emailing or responding to someone new.

Personally, I'd like it if other did to early on....just so I can get a feel of who I'm talking to and if I can speak technical....or if I have to KISS (keep it simple stupid) with them.

Just my 2 cents

Aldur

We have a new guy at work who recently obtained his JNCIA-M, which by all means is nothing to laugh at. And then he put his cert in his email sig, which frankly when you consider the people that we deal with it is a laughing matter. Most of the customer's we work with have years upon years of experience with routers/networking and some pretty serious certs, CCIE's and JNCIE's. I just wouldn't feel confident that somebody who had their JNCIA-M could help me with a problem that I couldn't figure out if I had a high level cert like a CCIE or JNCIE plus years of expreience.

The moral of the story I suppose is to know your audience and apply certs in your email sig appropriately.