VMware Certification physical certificates

[jsm79]

I recently passed the Cisco 200-301 exam for my CCNA. After this, and various CompTIA certs in the past, I'm kind of disappointed that the VCP program does not offer a physical copy of their certificate. Yes, of course we can print out the .pdf, but that isn't the same, and depending on what kind of paper you're using, doesn't look as nice. Cisco and CompTIA both will mail you a copy of their certificates at no extra charge (other than what you paid for the exam fee).

VMware professional level certs require purchased (either monetarily or with credits, either of which cost a significant sum) training, AND a purchased exam fee. So it would be nice to have a physical certificate provided, similar to other industry certs.

I plan to email the certification/education team about this, but thought I'd share my opinion here on the forum, as well. I'd like to display my VCP-DCV cert on my cubicle wall along with the other ones! It's a very minor complaint, to be sure, but certainly an area that VMware could improve upon! Sometimes in life, it's the little things...

Cheers,

[Sharelle Patterson]

It's quite rare to get a physical copy from any certification provider today. Even CompTIA has switched to a 'certification kit' that you purchase to get the physical copy. IBM, Microsoft, AWS, Linux Foundation ..... none of them provide a physical copy.

[jsm79]

Hmmm, I didn't know CompTIA phased that out. It used to be included in the cost of the exam. But only for new certifications. Not renewals.

Thanks for taking the time to reply, SharelleP!

[Renkir]

First, congrats on passing that exam, from what I remember of what I did CCNA/CCDA, those exams are really not easy to pass.
You're now a subnet calculating machine, if that part was left in CCNA from the past

I believe that most providers are now no longer offering physical copies of certificates.

Gone are the days when you pass an exam and you get a very official package\envelope sent to your home address with certificate(s) that you can frame and hang up.

That said, I do believe Microsoft has an option to buy a physical copy, or at least they used to have this.
Perhaps Cisco and Vmware have something similar, I have not checked this myself.

You are right that printing a PDF file, even in color and/or on heavy paper is really not the same as before.

[Sharelle Patterson]

I just got confirmation from my Microsoft contact that they also don't send any physical copies - self print only.

[Sharelle Patterson]

 Also, because you hold a CCNA, you have a shorter path to the VCP-NV. See here for details, select the "Cisco Certification" path information - https://www.vmware.com/learning/certification/vcp-nv-nsxt.html

[jsm79]

So, in summary, Cisco sends physical certificates for every candidate that achieves them, at no extra charge (although you do have to request it). CompTIA used to, but now requires add'l fee. Microsoft does not. Neither does VMware, Google, AWS, IBM, etc...

I wouldn't call that rare. CompTIA and Cisco are industry leaders when it comes to certifications. Cisco may not have the enterprise level network infrastructure market cornered quite as well as they used to (Juniper comes to mind), but they're still the undisputed industry leader in routers and switches, and thus the most sought-after when it comes to certs. I'd estimate that the number of Cisco cert holders is significantly higher than VMware/Google/AWS/IBM/Dell, with the exception being Microsoft.

Anyhow, as I stated before, it's a very minor detail in the grand scheme of things.