Hi Glenn, Designer Certification is the only method available today to get recognition for the qualifications and experience that a PCB designer has, (other than his/her resume...) There are over 2100 Certified Interconnect Designers out there to date, and more than 217 have gone on to get the Advanced Designer certification, CID+. Many companies are recognizing the CID and CID+ titles, and request them in job descriptions or indicate that the possession of the certification is a 'plus' when applying for a job. One thing I always point out is that the CID is an indication that the designer has passed a given knowledge requirement and earned the CID certification that he/she can compare to his/her peers. That the Designer cares about their career and it's continued advancement and It creates a baseline of knowledge measurement that can be compared to other designers who have achieved the certification credential of the CID. Those that have gone on to achieve the CID+ rating are setting a higher 'watermark', if you will, of advanced design knowledge and as you would expect they are somewhat more elite, the 'best of the best'... It is important to note, that a certification doesn't guarantee that the designer will be skilled with the specific design challenge that you may have at your company, however as members of the IPC Designers Council they have the support and networking of over 2000 fellow designers that make use of the continuing education and e-mail forums that help them to get the answers to design problems quickly and get the job done right. The DC has many programs that provide educational content and personal design skill development seminars and meetings. These are available at discounts to the members of the DC and enable them in improving their skills with various aspect of PCB design. Certification has helped many designers with their careers and employers to identify those that will continue to improve their skills and be a valuable member of any design team... and we encourage all DC members to "Design for Excellence"... in all that they do. I hope that helps to answer your question... please feel free to visit the Designers Council website or contact anyone in the IPC DC for further information on the benefits of being a Designers council member, or CID. http://www.ipcdesignerscouncil.org http://dcchapters.ipc.org/SanDiego/index.html Bill Brooks - KG6VVP PCB Design Engineer , C.I.D., C.I.I. Tel: (760)597-1500 Ext 3772 Fax: (760)597-1510 http://www.dtwc.com http://pcbwizards.com -----Original Message----- From: Glenn Pelkey [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Wednesday, October 13, 2004 1:30 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [TN] Certified Interconnect Designer (C.I.D.) Just a quick survey.... Who has found benefits of becoming a Certified Interconnect Designer (CID)? We have some folks here that are interested, and I'm looking for the benefits. Thanks, Glenn --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8e To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.5315 ----------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8e To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.5315 -----------------------------------------------------