Do all the cert holders here re-certify after the certificate expires?

For me, having a few cert is fine and reflect the person's desire for self improvement.. but having too many certs gives me a different impression which is:

1. The person is a paper chaser
2. The person is too free
3. The person does not know what he/she wants to do (if the certs are from different areas)

Is it really better to chase so many paper qualification or just to chase a couple and go for masters/phD ? Time and resource is limited, so need to carefully choose what field and what certs you want to pursue for your career advancement.

From employer perspective. It's quite fine if the candidate has a clear objective in the paper chase. E.g. from CCNA all the way to CCIE, it will give an impression the candidate is very focused on networking and on Cisco products for example.

If the hiring company is looking for a Cisco expert, this candidate will have a high chance to get the job and get paid well because he/she is clearly very specialized. This is also a double-edged sword, because the person is too specialized in 1 area. If the candidate finds a job that is not relevant to the area of expertise, it is a waste of time and money and the future employer may also be concerned the candidate will eventually find another job that more closely fits his/her time and effort spent to get the certifications.

To some employers, the cert only have value if it relates to your future job. If you have too much certs, you need to look back at which one of it actually is relevant to your current job. Jack of all trades, master of none people is good for smaller companies, but bigger companies tend to appreciate a person who mastered a specific trade instead.

Anyway, my opinion is certification is still a good thing especially for fresh grads. Just have to be careful not to overdo it because some people might get a different impression.