All CompTIA pricing is scheduled to increase as of January 1st, 2015

ibn_shaddad

Hey

I was just going to the bank to charge my prepaid master card to buy the A+ 220-801 exam voucher, and before I go out I wanted to check for any update or notes. And here it is on getcertified4less.com:

Important Updates: *All CompTIA pricing is scheduled to increase as of January 1st, 2015. *Security+ 301 exam will be retired on December 31st, 2014 and then only the Security+ 401 exam will be available to test takers. * The last day possible to schedule to test with Microsoft Prometric vouchers is December 31st, 2014. […]

So how much is the increase? Anybody with a clue?
I want to take the 220-801 exam the next week or so, and the other exam in the following one. Do you think I should buy another voucher for the other exam today? If the increase is not significant I will buy it later.

Darn, I'm on the last day!

cheers

NetworkingStudent

Why not just call their the GetCertified4Less customer support line?


Questions? Call Us!
Toll-Free: 1 800 232 4227
Mon-Fri 9am-7pm
Sat 10am-4PM EST

veritas_libertas

All the more reason to avoid them and pursue certifications with higher value such as Microsoft and Cisco.

ibn_shaddad

NetworkingStudent wrote: »

Why not just call their the GetCertified4Less customer support line?


Questions? Call Us!
Toll-Free: 1 800 232 4227
Mon-Fri 9am-7pm
Sat 10am-4PM EST

or to just go live chat, good point.
but anyway, the bank is closed coz of the holidays. So basically all I will do now is wait and see

ibn_shaddad

veritas_libertas wrote: »

All the more reason to avoid them and pursue certifications with higher value such as Microsoft and Cisco.

true true, can't agree more.

Comptia certs are overpriced, especially regarding their level and their weight in the industry among other certs

I'm doing Cisco certs now and starting with MS, but really interested with Sec+ from comptia, and today i said what the heck just go and get A+ coz i need some certs on mu CV. Plus I can't deny that I have that urge to get the trio A/net/sec like everyone do.

veritas_libertas

Resist the temptation The ROI is really not there.

Once you have MS and Cisco certs employers really don't care about CompTIA. If they do than you really don't want to work for them.

N2IT

Agreed with veritas

The Silent Assassin

veritas_libertas wrote: »

Resist the temptation The ROI is really not there.

Once you have MS and Cisco certs employers really don't care about CompTIA. If they do than you really don't want to work for them.

I have to partially disagree with that statement. Overall, if you are looking at the long term investment, they are not worth it but I will say that they do serve a short term purpose as it relates to getting in the door if you didn't go to school for IT. I have seen several second level desktop support jobs pretty much require that you have the A+, despite the fact that the material isn't that challenging if you have been around computers for a at least 5 years.

srabiee

As someone who holds six CompTIA certifications, I wholeheartedly agree that the ROI is terrible with CompTIA. Vendor-specific certs are the way to go.

ibn_shaddad

veritas_libertas wrote: »

Resist the temptation The ROI is really not there.

Once you have MS and Cisco certs employers really don't care about CompTIA. If they do than you really don't want to work for them.

ummm I will try, but don't take my word for it.
even if i don't do them now, I will come back later

brownwrap

veritas_libertas wrote: »

Resist the temptation The ROI is really not there.

Once you have MS and Cisco certs employers really don't care about CompTIA. If they do than you really don't want to work for them.

Not true. I am being forced to get CompTIA certs for my DOD job. I like the job, but I don't like the hassle of certs.

DoubleNNs

srabiee wrote: »

As someone who holds six CompTIA certifications, I wholeheartedly agree that the ROI is terrible with CompTIA. Vendor-specific certs are the way to go.

I was thinking of taking the Storage+ sometime this year. Do you recommend against that? (I see you have it in your sig.)

crobeinthehouse

veritas_libertas wrote: »

All the more reason to avoid them and pursue certifications with higher value such as Microsoft and Cisco.

DoD jobs (highly sought after) require Security+, so the value is still there. They don't care about vendor specific certs as much as other employers. I think a fair way to measure the value of a certification is to look at the sort of job it can land you. Would you disagree?

bigdogz

Vendor neutral certs may give you a foundation and vendor specific certifications are more specific to what a job entails to a certain extent.

I think that vendor neutral certs are good in the fact that you constantly have to keep up to date on the technology.
I have to pay Annual Maintenance Fees and keep your continuing professional credits (CPE's, CU's ...) by attending meetings, viewing webinars, listening to podcasts and attending conferences.
I really don't care that I only get 1 unit (CPE)per/hour to speak when it took me longer to obtain the information. If I obtain a CompTIA or other vendor the CPE's are maxed out. For example, If I pass my CEH, I get 120 CPE's.

I work for a MSP and have multiple vendor certs but I need to get it to show that 'I know my stuff'.
I have to prove to your worth to your customer(s) by showing you have the knowledge. Word of mouth helps but you should also need to help your organization if you are a partner of Cisco, Microsoft, or other vendor certification.

Some customers want to know if there are certified folks that work with the equipment.

JoJoCal19

I held the Network+ and Security+ for about 5 years. They did nothing for me and we're never so much as mentioned by HR or any hiring manager ever.

chickenlicken09

i am due to start studying the sec+ this week but do ye think it would be a good idea to skip it all together and just go for the cissp? i was only really doing it to show potential employers i have an interest in the security area. Why pay twice eh. And as has been said before its not really looked upon favourably. Might skip this one especially with the price increase.

srabiee

DoubleNNs wrote: »

I was thinking of taking the Storage+ sometime this year. Do you recommend against that? (I see you have it in your sig.)

Storage+ is a good starting point if you're brand new to storage concepts, but like all CompTIA certs the material is a mile wide and an inch deep in scope. It probably won't increase your chances of landing a job, getting a raise or promotion, etc. For that you will need to pursue vendor-specific certs like EMC or NetApp. But again, Storage+ isn't a bad one to have to get your foot in the door as far as learning about basic storage concepts.

brownwrap

crobeinthehouse wrote: »

DoD jobs (highly sought after) require Security+, so the value is still there. They don't care about vendor specific certs as much as other employers. I think a fair way to measure the value of a certification is to look at the sort of job it can land you. Would you disagree?

DOD is unwavering. Last job I had with the Army, I was working Solaris 10. I get hired and wa told, 'BTW you need Sec+". Almost as soon as I finished that, "Now you need Solaris System Administration". That was two more tests from ORacle. Now I am on a Navy contract. After being here a year and a half, best review of my life, a promotion, I'm told to get Linux+.

JockVSJock

veritas_libertas wrote: »

Resist the temptation The ROI is really not there.

Once you have MS and Cisco certs employers really don't care about CompTIA. If they do than you really don't want to work for them.

CompTIA isn't worth the time, money, and effort...PERIOD!

NotHackingYou

Looks like the price for a CompTIA Security+ voucher went from $280 to $302 on the CompTIA web site.

DoubleNNs

srabiee wrote: »

Storage+ is a good starting point if you're brand new to storage concepts, but like all CompTIA certs the material is a mile wide and an inch deep in scope. It probably won't increase your chances of landing a job, getting a raise or promotion, etc. For that you will need to pursue vendor-specific certs like EMC or NetApp. But again, Storage+ isn't a bad one to have to get your foot in the door as far as learning about basic storage concepts.

I know very little about storage in general and want to change that. I work in a data center w/ a wide collection of technologies I have access to. I mostly wanted to learn storage so i could understand the storage admins' job better, and have something on my resume to provide in case I work in a similar situation in the future. I have no intention of going down the storage route or getting vendor specific storage certs however.

Would it be recommended to get the cert? Or just skip it?

ibn_shaddad

JoJoCal19 wrote: »

I held the Network+ and Security+ for about 5 years. They did nothing for me and we're never so much as mentioned by HR or any hiring manager ever.

that's a sad thing to hear my friend, i hope other HRs do know about them

ibn_shaddad

CompTIA has raised the prices for their exams effective January 1, 2014.

You can save money by purchasing discount exam vouchers from Total Seminars. Visit CompTIA Discount Vouchers to buy your vouchers and save.
Effective January 1, 2014 the new CompTIA exam prices have increased as follows:
CompTIA A+ Certification – The prices for both the CompTIA A+ 220-801 and CompTIA A+ 220-802 exams have been raised from $183.00 to $188.00.

CompTIA Network+ Certification – The price for the CompTIA Network+ Certification exam has been raised from $261.00 to $269.00.

CompTIA Security+ Certification – The price for the CompTIA Security+ Certification exam has been raised from $284.00 to $293.00.

You can always save money by buying discount vouchers from Total Seminars but we are holding our discount prices based on the old CompTIA exam prices for a few days. Get your vouchers now before we have to raise the prices to reflect the new CompTIA prices.

Source:
http://www.totalsem.com/blog/new-************-prices/

Even if the increase is not that much, but still I don't why their exam prices keep going up, especially that Comptia is a "non-profit" association!

tpatt100

The A+ was my very first IT certification, it helped me a bit back in the day but I went for Microsoft certs among other things after that. I had to get the Security+ because I was doing DOD work.

PC509

crobeinthehouse wrote: »

DoD jobs (highly sought after) require Security+, so the value is still there. They don't care about vendor specific certs as much as other employers. I think a fair way to measure the value of a certification is to look at the sort of job it can land you. Would you disagree?

After the CE designation, I stopped taking those CompTIA certs. If I need it in the future, I'll take it again. But, I'm not going to recertify until I need it. Doesn't make any sense to. Of course, I could pay them an annual fee and keep taking the classes I'm already taking, but it just seems too much like a money grab.

brownwrap

It is a money grab, but there is not I can do about it. I work for DOD, and if I want to continue, I have no choice. Luckily I met the CE requirements for Sec+ so I am a good for three more years. If I want the company will reimburse me. I still have to meet the OS requirement though.

Iristheangel

Besides the S+ which helped me knock off a year requirement on my CISSP, I found almost no use from my CompTIA certifications. I got my first IT job without certifications and by the time I jumped from the first to the second job, I was already starting down the path of MCSE 2003. I probably sunk about $1,500 into CompTIA certifications prior to the CE requirement and at that time, I just didn't have the money to spend on certifications. I had to take a second job and work as a security guard at nights just to scrap up the dough to take my certs. If I had been wiser and known more back when I first started, I would have just gone over the N+ and L+ material but never taken the tests. A+ I would have completely ditched altogether. Oh well, 20/20 hindsight.

srabiee

DoubleNNs wrote: »

I know very little about storage in general and want to change that. I work in a data center w/ a wide collection of technologies I have access to. I mostly wanted to learn storage so i could understand the storage admins' job better, and have something on my resume to provide in case I work in a similar situation in the future. I have no intention of going down the storage route or getting vendor specific storage certs however.

Would it be recommended to get the cert? Or just skip it?

Studying the material would certainly be beneficial. Spending the $308 to take the exam...well that's up to you. With the exception of the Linux+, I don't recommend CompTIA certs unless they are specifically required for a certain position.

Remedymp

People are spending plenty of money and seeing very little return on investment and are still $30k in the debt with student loans. I don't see how Comptia raising their fees as a big deal.

brownwrap

I know someone who told me she is nearly 100K in debt with student loans. Not only that, she majored in architecture, had an intern ship, but was fired. She decided to go to a private college. My son graduated from a state university, after getting everything he could from a junior college. He graduated without school loans.

overthetop

I will speak from experience, having Security+ AND a Clearance has been nothing but beneficial to me in the Northern Virginia area. I will add if you just so happen to be on shift work and just so happen to get night shift differential pay that will then significantly increase your pay. Again talking from experience you can be at a good financial arena with a Security+ Certification and Clearance in that above listed area. If you cant touch 100K you can be pretty close to it. To add to the figure if you are eligible and use your VA Benefits, me personally that added another 26K a year to my already "decent" salary. So if you were not already close to 100K you just surpassed it! I will speak from experience, I pay round-a-bout 1200 in rent for a one bedroom thats $14,400 a year if you subtract that from lets say 100k and even gas, water, and electric and tell me you cant live comfortably and have a decent bank account you might want to hire a financial advisor. Again, speaking from experience..from someone who is not married and no kids. The DC/Maryland/Virginia bashing has to come from no offense, people who are married and/or with children. If you want to pay $2400 a month on a mortgage or more and spend $50-$60K a year on that not including utilities of course 100K is nothing in the DMV area. Thats common sense