Certifications are a big part of the IT industry, and many IT professionals have attained at least one certification. This would have taken quite a bit of work and you should be able to show it off, right? What better place to show it off than to add it to your resume! It can also help with getting a job, right? Well, let’s find out if you should put your certification logo on my resume.
The Short Answer is NO
So, you’ve got a certification, and as part of that you have a logo of the certification. Should you put that certification logo on your resume? Should you use a logo design tool to make your own?
The short answer is no, you should not put it on your resume or create something similar.
While it may seem like a good idea – it validates your certification, makes it stand out on your resume, and could impress the reader. Let’s take a look at some of the reasons why this is the case.
1. The Logo Takes Up Valuable Space
Resumes should be short and to the point. Two pages at the most – some people go for one page, some for two. A lot of the time, job candidates need to format their résumé and cut things out to make it fit neatly onto one or two pages. If I’m putting together my resume and try to add a certification logo on my resume, it just takes up valuable space, which isn’t always available and can mess up the formatting.
2. The Certification Is Already Listed On The Resume
Adding the logo of your recent or major certifications might put focus on it. However, the certification should already be listed on your resume in text form. For example, under your Certifications or Education section on the resume, you should have the name of the certification there, such as “Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP)“. The reader will see this and doesn’t need the logo to realize that you’re CCNP certified.
3. It Looks Tacky If It Is Not Done Right
The overall impression of certification logos on resumes is that they look tacky and unprofessional. In some cases, yes, it can actually look good, but in almost all cases it looks out of place. It’s like putting bumper stickers on your car – sometimes it can look good, but a lot of the time it doesn’t. Nothing against those of you that have bumper stickers – it’s just the most appropriate metaphor I could find.
4. Resume Scanning Software Does Not See It
A lot of the resumes that are received by recruitment teams are sent to them via software systems. If they come via recruitment systems or job websites, they are usually scanned for keywords. It’s unfortunate, but that’s how it is. These scanner systems don’t usually pick up the certification logo. This means it doesn’t really make any practical difference to these systems if there is a logo there or not. Depending on the system, it may actually cause problems on the resume as well.
So, in short, I don’t think certification logos should be added to resumes. The details of the certification should be listed on the resume, without the logo, for the best professional impression.
What do you think? Share your thoughts in the section below!