Should You Hang Your Degree in Your Home Office? (Is This Pretentious?)

Society is so competitive that we’re always trying to stay ahead in our careers.

There’s nothing wrong with accumulating hordes of academic papers.

More credentials translate to higher competence in any profession.

That’s probably why you are thinking of framing your degree and hanging it in your office.

Hence, Should You Hang Your Degree in Your Home Office?

Certainly yes if you feel like it; no if you think it’s petty and pretentious. This is one of those questions with no one clear answer. However, there are few genuine reasons for it and, of course, a fistful of reasons why you shouldn’t.

Why Would You Display Your Degree For All To See?

Whether you should frame and hang your qualifications can partly depend on the kind of degree certificate.

If it involves Ph.D. in Landscape/Building Architecture or a similar degree, go ahead and hang it in your office for all your clients to see it.

When it comes to building and construction, your previous work alone is not enough – I must see your qualifications as well.

Generally, I view a degree as:

  • The only way to validate your knowledge in a certain field
  • A tool to get a job.

Here’s why you should hang yours:

1. It Boosts Your Morale

You wouldn’t easily postpone a report or compromise on deadlines with a Bachelors in Civil Engineering – or PhD. for that matter – degree hang on your wall.

Tight deadlines and pressures of life can easily make you forget your worth.

But on seeing your hard-earned papers on the wall, you are more likely to push yourself and jump hurdles to deliver what’s expected of you.

2. Makes Your Family Proud

You want to remind your family daily you worked hard to get where you are.

Wouldn’t it be great for your kids to see your qualifications proudly displayed in your office?

Parents too would be proud of it.

It takes a lot of money to educate a child through university, so understand if they even ask for a copy to hang at their place as well?

3. Do It for Aesthetics

You may have realized that framed accreditation letters and similar certifications pinned on the wall makes an organization’s offices appear professional and focused on the objectives of the company.

Whether it’s an ISO certification or a framed declaration of the company’s motto or goals, the walls must have some sort of framed paper to bring the seriousness the room deserves.

Your home office is no exception. You want it to look similar to the traditional office at your workplace.

Also, just as you would frame and hang your portrait just for the sheer aesthetics of it, go ahead and hang your degree as décor.

4. You Get to Influence Everyone Visiting the Office

You might fail to realize this, but displaying your degree can influence everyone else visiting your home office including your own kids.

Regardless of your background – can be gender, race, or social class – you want to inspire someone facing the same obstacles you faced on the same path.

Seeing a degree on your wall can convince anyone to keep the faith.

5. Why Would You Hide Your Credentials/Accomplishments Anyway?

Degrees are intended to be used as proof of training.

As such, the is no point in hiding it away if you should be using it to show the world who you are. As children, we all dreamt about being somebody later in life.

If you are proud of pursuing a certain profession of your dream and eventually graduating, don’t be shy to show it to the rest of the world.

Degrees are low-key monumental achievements used to mark certain points in your life.

They are very much like family portraits, a visit to a place you only thought about in your teenage/childhood years or shaking a famous person’s hand.

You want all this to be captured on paper, framed, and placed in the open where you and everyone else can see it every day.

Why You Should Probably NOT Hang Your Degree

Generally, clients are interested in what you can offer more than whether you have a degree.

If I am looking for a web developer, for instance, I’ll be less inclined to ask for your degree.

Rather, I’ll want to see your previous work – the number and performance of the websites you made for previous clients.

If your old work is great, then it’s clear proof you have all it takes to deliver on my project.

1. Don’t Mix Home Life with Work

There are a few unwritten rules you must observe if you want to have a healthy living.

One of those rules is to never mix work with family.

Work-related paraphernalia, including your framed degree, should be left at the workplace away from home.

Your home, including your home office, should be set up and furnished in such a way that creates a relaxing family-oriented living environment.

As such, consider switching your degree and other academic or career-related stuff with regular décor, say, a semi-nude artwork a signed baseball cap, or jersey.

2. It May Comes Across as Pretentious, Even Arrogant

As a video game designer in today’s “cubicle” world where you find yourself working from home most of the time, I don’t have a real home office.

Oftentimes, I find myself working from what I might call ‘family room.’

Professionals like myself don’t generally hang our degrees on the wall in our working spaces for everyone to see because we think it’s pretentious and showy if not unnecessary.

However, if I did great work and got handed an award, you’d see it on my table.

3. Identity Theft

Unless you keep your home office locked all the time, regular visitors and burglars might capture the images of your degree for malicious purposes.

A degree normally carries bits of information you don’t want to get in the wrong hands like your full name, registration number, place of study, title, etc.

4. Risk of Destruction

If it doesn’t get stolen or leak your details, it might be destroyed by curious kids or a home fire.

Replacing it isn’t the easiest thing you could try.

What’s The Right Way to Hang Your Degrees in The Office?

There ought to be the right way to do it if you must display your qualifications at all.

Here’s how to go about it:

1. Keep It Simple

Take a minimalistic approach regardless of the size of your home office. Settle on one degree – one that means the most to you – to avoid turning your wall into a riot of framed papers.

2. Get It Engraved

Framing or laminating your degree is half the journey.

I’d recommend you take an extra step and engrave it with laser onto a fairly thick frame.

Not only does it make your qualification look neat and nice to look at, but can also be outside as most people have never seen such a style of framing.

However, not just any engraving is great engraving – be certain to take your degree to the most experienced engraver and remind them to produce nothing but a high-resolution well-lit scan of your degree.

Conclusion

So should you hang your degree in your home office?

It boils down to your mindset. It’s a yes if you feel like it; no if you think it’s petty and unnecessary.

However, there are few genuine reasons for it and, of course, a fistful of reasons why you shouldn’t.

References

https://manufacturedhomepartsandaccessories.com/tacky-university-degrees/