Does your employer pay for your certification tests?

Just curious. I've done a couple interviews here lately and their response to this question is "No, only training is paid for." My current employer has always reimbursed me for the tests. Is this uncommon?

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The Silent Assassin

My employer will pay for the first attempt of a certification, if you fail they will not pay for the exam again which is fair imo. Some would say that if you pay out of pocket with no reimbursement it could provide motivation to pass.

210mike

My company will reimburse me for training books, courses, and successfully passed tests.

GoodBishop

My employer reimburses me for materials and the test.

E Double U

Current and previous employer paid for training and reimbursed for books and exams (only when I pass). When I worked as a contractor I did not have any paid training and took care of books/exams out of pocket.

Its nice that my boss, the CISO, has CISSP, CISA, and GCIH because he encourages me to also get those certs. I didn't know anything about SANS training until he brought it to my attention

daviddws

My company pays for them IF you pass. Unfortunately they do not pay for certification classes but if they did I would be all over it.

RomBUS

Nope not since my first IT job. And I was only reimbursed if I passed. All other costs such as study material (besides the licensed Transcender we had) was all out of pocket.

joelsfood

As an aside, thanks for starting this thread, as it finally prompted me to finish filling out all the paperwork for the two reimbursements (JNCIA and VCA) that I've had sitting in expense report system waiting on paperwork.

markulous

daviddws wrote: »

My company pays for them IF you pass. Unfortunately they do not pay for certification classes but if they did I would be all over it.

Same here. Luckily I'm in WGU and have all of that included in my tuition. After I graduate though it's going to be a stickier situation.

bobloblaw

Employer pays for everything upfront. That said, I plan multiple ahead of time because they can drag their feet for 1-2 months. I get $3k a year. Also, if I quit I have to pay X amount back depending on when I took them (75% after a few months, 50% after 6 months, etc.) If they terminate my employment, then I pay back nothing.

olaHalo

None of my employers ever paid for my certs or education
And I didnt expect them to

Kai123

My employer pays for certs and courses, but you have to be with the company for a year once they pay for it. If you leave before then, you have to cough up the costs.

There are no courses near me that I would want to do anyway. I'd prefer a CCNP classroom based course but there are almost none in Dublin. After my CCNA it will be self-taught certs again.

tkerber

Yes, a lot of larger companies have budgets for this and will pay for your voucher if you pass or something like this.

I also think it's largely dependent on the industry though as well. I've noticed a lot of the tech companies I've worked at loved and embraced certified techs and engineers because it makes them look good to be able to say "All of our techs are Microsoft Certified Solutions Associates" or something like that. Where as some companies like for example a small insurance agency--may not care about certs..

joelsfood

If your company is in the tech field and are hesitant to help with certs, consider doing research on your regular vendors and their partner programs. This can give significant savings (which means bigger profit margin), and often requires certified people. IE, Cisco Gold Partner is something like 12 certified individuals, 4 CCIEs, and 3 specializations (5 now, possibly, not sure when next two happened). So fact that I have almost filled out one whole specialization myself, plus hopefully my CCIE next year, adds to the bottom line for my employer.

TLeTourneau

Full payment for required certifications, $300/yr for optional certifications. We so get $3,000/yr for undergrad level courses and $5,250/yr for graduate level courses.