Hey guys,
I'm due to graduate soon and I'm just looking up prices for framing my certificate from a company recommended by the University itself. Prices range from $150-170, seems like a bit much for a frame. Is it worth getting at all? Do employers require the original copy of the Bachelors Degree ?
Here's a link to the site.
I think it'd be nice, it's not a necessity I'm just eh about paying so much. Are there cheaper alternatives?
No. No. Yes.
My one has been left in a stiff envelope and kept in a drawer with all of my other qualifications/certifications. Only one employer has actually asked for evidence of the qualifications and I've had multiple employers over the last 11 years since I graduated. I have electronic copies of all of them, but can easily provide the original if they ever ask for it.
I think my mum did have it framed in her house for a while, but I personally don't like having such things on display.
It's been a long time since I got both of mine, but I did get them framed and it does stop them getting damaged. They are currently hanging in the second bedroom so no one ever sees them. I've never been asked for a copy of my degree as the Uni sent me an official letter with my results.
Best of luck for the future. It is a sense of achievement when you are finished. The thing to keep in mind is that in a couple of years time the degree will basically mean squat and it is the experience you have built up since then that will mean everything. Build up your network and guard your reputation. It is the best way to get a job.
Just reminded me I never collected my Degree from Uni..Is 17 years too late to collect? Rock up like like a bad Rodney Dangerfield movie!
Sounds like tons of fun.
Do what I did - it's cheaper!
I've kept my LLB degree in its cardboard tube since I got it in 1982.
No-one has ever asked to see it - and I think that displaying it would be a bit of a wank.
But that's just my personal view.
Haha, reading stuff like this honestly makes it seem like university degrees are a joke (I suppose they are). It's surprising that employers don't ask to see your qualifications! I guess it all depends on what field you work in.
I think what the forum is more so hinting at, in my opinion at least, is that the piece of paper that says your qualification is itself rather worthless.
I don't believe people would say the degree is useless (from an engineering point of view, i would say its extremely important).
I framed mine only recently (graduated a number of years ago) from a couple of frames I bought from Ikea. They were nice and affordable. Looks great.
Employers ask for your academic transcript.
I'd suggest scanning it so that you have a digital copy and then either buy a frame from OW or cheap as chips, as others have suggested and frame the thing yourself.
You don't need a pro to frame a grad cert, just be careful and buy a big enough frame.
At $160 the frame would hold more value than the degree.
A low life must have better things to spend $160 on.
If you graduated with a bachelor of finance/accounting and wish to work as an accountant at your own business, then yes.
People generally look for qualifications in the office.
if for the home, it's waste of money.
Frame it - but like everyone else has already said - just get one from officeworks. I don't know about you, but my life revolved around my degree for many years and I had to sweat to get that damn thing. And since I am not using it for career purposes, when someone asks me what I plan to do with my degree I simply say 'frame it'.
USYD sold me a frame. $40. It's 'mahogany' and has a big fat USYD branding on the bottom. That price is absurd.
$40 seems so reasonable! Was it from the university itself? I go to UTS, they sent me an email about graduation photos etc and there was the framing from the 3rd party company which also has the lil branding logo at the bottom. I have no idea if the university itself provides such services for cheaper, here's hoping!
They didn't put the degree in the frame but it was waiting for me at the gown hire place. Part of the whole 'fleecing the graduates' package they do. I also kept my robe which is going to be really handy for when I need a shitty dress up party costume and it was like $20 to keep but it was fun to wear while getting weapons grade drunk after the ceremony. They might have an option just to buy the frame for less!
I imagine money is and will still be tight after graduating, one thing I haven't seen mentioned yet is getting a cheap frame now and a good (real wood etc) one later when you have the means. My husband and I got a $7 frame from Kmart for our civil partnership certificate to put it up on the wall, I imagine we'll do the same with our marriage certificate and his degree until we actually have some money (and more than a room in a share house) to show it off proper. I'm even thinking a little light on the wall to keep it lit like those fancy portraits in movies lol.
If you are a medical doctor then yes. If not then no.
Source: Someone who cant even remember where I placed my bachelor degree.
If you frame it yourself do it properly. Which means an acid free matte, and a decent frame, not the certificate pressed up against the glass in a $20 frame from The Reject Shop. Unless you want to try to pull that degree off the glass in 15 years only to find that it's stuck or transferred like a cheap 80s T-shirt iron on.
If you're proud of your degrees and the effort you put in and you want to frame them I don't think it's a waste of money. I framed mine but they're not on display.
Better off putting the money into a $80000+ car…..
I was also thinking of getting my degree framed (mum's idea), but it feels weird to hang it in my room. I think I might just roll it up and put it in a tube. My birth certificate came in that and it still looks perfectly curled fine after 20+ years.
Keep a physical copy in your filing cabinet and a digital copy on your computer. I've never taken the physical one out since, but I did once print off a copy of my subject results for a job interview. The longer you are out of uni though the less you need it.
damn. I've forgotten where is my degree!
If you don't frame it in 7 days, your degree is annulled
Mine isn't worth wiping my buttocks with.
Frame it yourself and also get it on a plaque in colour (many companies at graduation just do in black as they get so many sales).
no point. especially since employers want your original transcript, not the pretty certificate.
I don't even know where my original degree is.
I somehow read that "where" as "what".
Kids don't party too hard at uni…
For the amount of money you spent on the degree, what's another $160?
Do employers require the original copy of the Bachelors Degree
lol no, do they even ask to see a transcript, rarely
The HR person screening you earns (profanity) all, they don't care
Scan it.
Get some copies certified.
Buy a $30 laminator and $10 frame from officeworks.
Laminate it and frame it.
I have about 10 on my wall, all done that way and look nice.
Congratulations on finishing your degree.
Gongrats! What did you graduate in?
Thanks! Did a bachelors of IT :)
I had both of mine out on a plaque. My sister. Also has bit if hers too. Along with the graduationphotos they make a good feature wall.
I did still worth the $$$ every time I look at it gives me that winning feeling
Put glad wrap on it
Glad wrap and a bit of bubble wrap, she'll be right ;)
I used glad wrap and now have 4 kids
All these smart arse comments…see how funny it is when you can't get a job at Micky D's or the meat factory because you didn't have a Degree in Information Technology, digital media and outsourcing!
Is that what happened to you? haha
(wasn't me that negged ya!)
Nah tons of old mates I can think of though :(
This could explain why i could not get into subway as a sandwich artist. Never got a bachelor of arts degree.
+1 for being a savage
Money can be better spent somewhere else. :)
I thought I'd save money by not buying the frames from the framers at the uni when I graduated. I always regretted it. My wife lashed out on a frame - it still looks good. It's a memento, but worthwhile IMO.
I found my Bachelor of IT certificate under the bed in the spare room of my parent's house. It's still there.
Same marketing strategy when you buy new car, have a newborn etc…They hit you when you're most emotionally fragile.
You should frame your degree loud and proud, but get your frame from officeworks or other picture shops for much cheaper.
I framed mine. Paid about $150 each from the framing place at the Toowong Shops in Brisbane. I figure I'll have them hanging in my office for the next 30+ years, so why not get something decent? Colour matched the surround to my uni's colours too so they look schmick.
Everyone I work with has theirs framed and on display too.
I've never been asked for originals but I had to get admitted into my profession which is kind of a giveaway that you have the degree already.
nope..definitely not! Sorry to disappoint you. Once you're out there, you'll realise you're just like everybody else, bachelor don't worth anything these days…not even masters..
What about jobs that require Batchelors or masters?
What I meant is your employer don't really look at your cert during interview or your GPA score.. All it comes down is how you present yourself and your experiences at interviews
You just say you have it, they don't ask for the piece of paper.
If they want to check they'll ask the Uni, they're not going to look at a very easy to forge certificate.
I have 4 certificates hanging on the wall (hello wasted youth)…. all of them housed in $7 A3 plastic frames :)
You likely won't care about looking at degree certificate after you get a graduate job anyway.
Yes, an expensive frame will help you to get the job.
Make sure you take the framed degree to all your interviews, and ask where you can put your degree.
Put it on the interviewer's desk when you walk in!
Push everything else off the table, and critique how you think your frame is better than whatever frame they do or don't have in their office.
Went thru this same process when i graduated. $300 for a picture frame? No thanks. Went and had a look around at all the different shops, surprisingly, the reject shop had really nice frames for around $15-$30. Once its up on the wall, you cant even tell if its a $15 frame or $100 frame.
I'm fairly sure I have one of those somewhere in my room. Or at least, I know I have a postal tube from Monash somewhere in my room.
Nobody ever asked about it when going for IT jobs though.
Absolutely not!
The only people I've ever seen with framed graduation certificated are doctors.
If you want to put in in your home somewhere, as a constant reminder of how much money you spent, then I'd suggest a $5 frame from Big W.
:O, I came here just for the comments
Do it for yourself. You won't need it for an employer but it is great to have it above your desk at home or perhaps in a future home office. Do it while it's new to retain its appearance. As it will become part of your decor, you're less likely to lose it and it will be a reminder of your achievement.
Only do it if your course was an enjoyable challenge and you're proud to have completed it successfully.
If you do, use a professionally framing service as they'll use materials that will help protect it from light and from wearing.
$160 for a frame? Well it's cheap if it's made of gold.
For a wooden frame I believe $1.60 is a fair price! Just go to www.taobao.com and there are plenty under this price. The only thing is that you need to learn some Chinese.
It's too much effort to remove it from your frame to use when you run out of toilet paper.
I wouldn't recommend framing it.
It's a great achievement, congratulations. Frame it (check Kmart etc), and hang it at home near your computer. Your employer won't care just list your finishing date on your CV.
my parents laminated mine and put it on the fridge….. so no
How much commission does the Uni get for every sucker that hands over $160?
I bought a $10 frame from IKEA and my degree looks great in it
I have 3 qualifications and my wife has 5 and none of ours are framed. We just pull them out and photocopy them when we have to provide them
graduating is easy… now getting a job & paying off ur hecs debt - now there is an accomplishment worth framing!
Hahaha total agree with this. Once you get a job and pay off hec, then proudly frame it as an accomplishment.
Now a days, getting a job in the field is much harder than completing a degree.
The only possible reason you are posting this is for promoting the business, i.e. this is a marketing effort….
Otherwise what the hell are you bothering about? 160 bucks?
As above. Buy an A4 frame of your choosing. Then go back to uni and study economics/accounting.
I was pleasantly surprised when my mother gave me mine in a plastic folder, 29 years after the fact, when I visited her a few years ago. I had already moved to Australia during the intervening years and had forgotten about it.
Bless her, I had no idea what she expected me to do with it.
Get the frame. In my experience it is next to impossible to find a well priced frame in the unique size of a degree. I have three degrees and have searched multiple times.
Oh and mine are all from different places… None are the same size and all do not fit standard frames. My shoddy fix was frames that are too large.
i had mine done in plaques and kept the original rolled up in the plastic sleeve.
After a few years, I opened up the original and found that some of the text had transferred off the certificate onto the plastic sleeve. If you are to store the original and not frame it, do not keep it rolled up, and preferably inbetween some blank paper to avoid text transfer. Then again, it was probably due to the crappy printing of RMIT certificates.
mine got the text transferred to the plastic cover within 2 years.
I didn't even roll it.
unbelievable.
Did the printer use disappearing ink from the magic shop?:P
Mine has been in a plastic zipped folder since 1988 and there is no print transfer to the plastic.
Happened to me as well!! Print everywhere, it looks horrible. Stupid Monash issued sleeve+printjob :(
I know this is ozbargain, and we are all averse to spending money…
BUT
You worked at getting this degree, for years! My opinion is frame it and frame it well, the pros that the universities recommend do this every day and therefore you will get a quality result.
I framed mine, but at the time there was an option of having it etched in a plaque, the whole page of the degree… i seriously regret not doing that, despite the cost!
Take a look at what is costs to get a degree reprint if someone damages it, i would say it would not be cheap.
Ask yourself, where will it be if not hanging on the wall or on a desk?
If you're one of those medical field degrees and you get a room to see patients, having it framed or plaqued would be worth it, but any other degree? nahhhh
My Bachelor's Degree is in Social Science and my Master's Degree is in Management. I've had both of them professionally framed. Despite the consensus on here for folks with my qualifications, I dont flip burgers.
A degree is just a vehicle to help get you started. I own my own software company and I also sell engineers and other consultants into large High Tech projects (some of the biggest in the country) and to Blue Chip companies and Government departments. Within certain niches it is not uncommon to find people with relatively modest qualifications earning $1100 a day on long term contracts based upon their reputation and experience. I have hired software programmers to work on software projects where i dont even now what their qualifications were, they were recommended to me by my key technical staff. I tell my kids to get a degree, hopefully in something useful-ish as a way to help them get a start but that experience is the most useful qualification.
What amazed me when I tool my son to a uni open day was the interest from different kids in certain courses. I have been a Program Director on large infrastructure projects (despite not being a civil engineer). I have friends that are lawyers and accountants who struggle to get work. I walked into the Business Faculty of a large university and saw that the Accounting desk was overrun with people yet the Quantity Surveying desk was virtually empty. I know how hard it is for projects to find good estimators and how much those guys get paid and was astounded. No offence to good accountants but in general there are loads of accountants around, If i stuck an ad on seek I'd be overrun with applicants. Quantity Surveyors on the other hand are much harder to find. Supply and demand ensures that the Quantity Surveyors will get a much bigger pay packet. My son's answer was 'What's a quantity surveyor' and that is probably the crux of the matter. People like to live their lives by stereotypes; Lawyer, accountant, butcher, baker, candlestick maker are all well understood and safe.
Presumably you've worked hard to get your degree, in the big scheme of your life $160 is nothing. Get it framed and be proud of what you've achieved. The beers you'll buy over the next 3 weekends and the smashed avo from the inner city cafe will be forgotten within days, that degree will be hanging on your wall for the next 60 years.
To be honest, 'interest' in degrees for me was all about job security. If you were to ask me what I'd choose between Accounting and Quantity Surveying I'd pick Accounting purely because I'd be uncertain about getting a job within the other field. Maybe that's just me though, I kind of like to think ahead and prepare for the future even though it may limit my opportunities. Let's be real, I wouldn't sign up to waste my life for 3-5 years and be in debt for 50+K for a job that I might not even get. It's sort of a gamble, and well why you're young and no one else to tell you any better you'll go for the safer gamble. Much like your son I don't know what a Quantity Surveyor is either.
I frame my real one between my Will & the fake doctorate I bought when I was drunk, in a book on a shelf.
For that price you usually get a very nice custom frame with internal borders/bezels etc. Depends if you want to display your degree or not.
My certificates of bachelor, 2nd bachelor, master and phd are all rolled in the original package, maybe the last one was sent in a flat package? I forgot, didn't look twice since it came through.
I wouldn't agree it's recommended. I would think it's more like referral. Framing offered by the University is the last chance for them to get money from students so would be overpriced. Go elsewhere. Plenty of frames you can find that will fit. Remember, like the rest of us, University needs money to make a living.
I framed mine with a $5 polished wood frame from Crazy Clarks back in the day. They had frames that were sized for degrees. I'm sure you could find something similar at a discount store.
Short answer: No.
Your employer may need your uni degree when your a grad, but I dont' think i've been asked in subsequent jobs i've landed. I would take a photocopy of your original (colour preferably) and scan a colour version on before framing. With mine I was lucky. I didn't do it at my graduation as it was pretty exp i thought - $100 something+. But i crashed another graduation in a subsequent year and just asked to frame it haha.
So the main reason I wanted it framed wasn't becuase the wooden frame was particularly nice - it's not bad, but $100 + is a rip - but becuase it gives you the cardboard border inside which has the university's logo/insignia.
I thought it was an once in a lifetime , whereas buying a frame wouldn't get me my univeristy name/logo to border the degree. So yeah was abit of a suckered in moment, but hey - in the grand scheme, frame it and at least if the frame gets damaged it's unlikely it'll be tucked in a drawer and damaged when you chuck stuff on top or bend it. One day you may want to put it up in your home office or work office lol - like on tv, just for kicks ;)
It is worth framing you put a shit load of effort to get it but not for $160 go online get a 12$ frame
Nah.. wouldn't bother.. unless you can match it w/ a bunch of post graduates..
Would be nice to have a decent scan of it and a bunch of notarised (jp'd) copies just in case.
PS.
Congratulations as well!
It's a final test from the Uni, to see who'd be smart enough to frame it themselves for less.
Totally up to personal preference, I have mates who framed all their degrees and I have mates who chucked theirs in the bin.
I framed mine, and couldn't recommend these guys enough! http://certificateframing.com.au/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIiZrcr9KN…
I got my dual degree (2 certificates) framed for $99 inc shipping. I think they do single certificates for $79.
It's a locally run North Brisbane business, and Peter the owner was very helpful when my girlfriend had to replace a frame that was damaged on arrival.
They offer a bunch of different options/colours to match your University's colour scheme.
I don't actually have mine hanging at the moment as I rent, but when I have the chance to hang it no doubt it will look great!
The acid-free frames also prevent your certificates from discolouring overtime (a $2 office works frame might not offer the same protection).
But as I said, it's up to you whether you see any value in it.
With regards to showing potential employers, they will be more interested in your official transcript than you certificate.
I got a custom made one with nice matting for $60 (A3 size too)
I got a diy one from office works from memory i don't think it cost me more than a $20 at most.
+1 that you should supply it to employers with your transcript if at all.
I would also get a certified copy (i usually get it from any pharmacist) just incase you need a certified copy for future study at other uni's . or other unforeseen requirements.
Just to add my 2 cents…
DIY. Save the money. Kmart/Target/Reject Shop frames do the job nicely.
Use the money on celebrating your graduation.
Better use of funds, experiences over material..
Congratulations btw
For residency visa reasons.