Companies that pay for IT Certs

ira.a

I'm currently with an industry big-wig that basically pays for nothing. My current role is a cross between a Telecom and a Hardware Manager with some duties leaning into DevOps.

I'd like to find a company (or list of companies) that support their employees by paying for (some) I.T. certifications.

markulous

Maybe I've been lucky, but the company I'm at now (VMware) and the previous one paid/reimbursed for certs. I thought that was fairly common, but maybe not.

kohr-ah

First company paid for none.

Second company paid for relevant ones.

Third one paid for none.

Fourth company (now) pays for relevant or future growth ones and is big on training.

pevangel

I thought it was fairly common as well. Current and previous companies paid for certs if you passed. Current one pays for training as well your days off while on training so you don't have to use your PTO.

snunez889

All the companies I have been with are kinda on the fence about it. They do with the certs that are relevant and you push it, but none have ever required or even mentioned it as a option.

I don't understand why alot of companies don't offer it, I think it adds a big benefit. Then again I haven't worked with a company that provides a lab.

TheFORCE

First company i worked for had a training budged but i never used it thinking i wont be approved, my mistake.
Second company, i got approved for training and reimbursed for the exam fee. That's how I paid for my CISSP.
Third company now, they had mentioned the opportunity to take certs on the interview. 3 months after being with the company i tested the waters, didn't ask for approval and didn't mention what certificate i was taking. After passing the exam i mentioned it to my manager. They told me to send in the documents for reimbursement. I will be taking more.

dave330i

Company paying for certs is pretty low on my list of wants when I interview for a company. If it's really important to you, then it's easy enough to ask the recruiter if the company pays for certs during the interview process.

Danielm7

I haven't had one pay for certs yet. My current company will pay for training, if there is a cert included in the cost then it's fine. If it's an additional cost they won't cover it. My current IT director feels that certs are only good if you are trying to leave and find another job. On the plus side I think he might be replaced soon by someone who I know is very pro certification.

TheFORCE

dave330i wrote: »

Company paying for certs is pretty low on my list of wants when I interview for a company. If it's really important to you, then it's easy enough to ask the recruiter if the company pays for certs during the interview process.

This is also very true. Most of the time though this applies to people who really already have certifications or they are highly experienced, making the big bucks and $300 out of pocket for certifications doesnt break the bank.

For someone starting in IT or wants to increase their chances of moving up, getting more pay without spending their own money is a benefit. So, it really depends on what level on your career you are.

OctalDump

More important than paying for certs, is support from the company for you to get training. So they give you time to go and do a course, and take care of the work while you are gone so that taking training doesn't mean coming back to a headache. Or pay for the courses you are doing. Or allow you time for self study and exams.

IT is constantly evolving, and to be of best value you need to keep learning. If they just expect you to know everything, but don't help to keep you on the edge, they aren't fulfilling their side of the deal.

I do think that there is some value in organisations having staff certified for the technologies that they are using, as well as generally encouraging ongoing learning. I think some companies get the crazy idea that if they support their staff, then the staff will just go and get a better job, so better not to "waste" any money on helping staff.

My experience so far has been somewhere near the middle of this, occasional paid training (no more than once per year), a day off to do an exam, and occasionally being allowed to leave work 30 mins early to get to an evening class. But I've heard of people needing to take all their exams at the weekend, because they can't get time off, and no paid training and other people that get multiple degrees paid for by their workplace combined with time off to attend classes at full pay (yes, it was a government job).

Certainly, it's something that I would ask about in a job interview.

wd40

What about certification maintenance fees (ISACA - CompTIA, ISC2 etc)

If the company requires you to maintain CISA or CISSP for example I think they should pay the maintenance fees.

NetworkNewb

My current company won't help pay for any certs or training.

They actually did just send me to CRM training that was about $2500 for a week, although I did not want to go to it in the first place and feel like it was a waste of money. I get maybe one CRM question every 1 or 2 weeks. I know the only reason is because it supports the Sales team... Any training or certs that would actually help me support the IT dept better just gets shot down immediately. I'm pretty much whole IT support for about 200+ users.

Our receptionist just got converted to a support role for the Sales department and they are buying her a new iPhone 6S when I can get a new 5S for about $200 cheaper. But I can't even get $150 to take cert? Needless to say I have an interview somewhere else in about a week

joelsfood

TheFORCE wrote: »

Most of the time though this applies to people who really already have certifications or they are highly experienced, making the big bucks and $300 out of pocket for certifications doesnt break the bank.

Yes and no. Even with tons of experience and existing certs, paying out of pocket can be problematic. A cert like CCIE can easily cost 10k or more out of pocket (400+1600 on exams, maybe 700 on travel, 4-5k on a bootcamp, 2-5k on rack rentals, etc). Even those of us with experience might prefer not to pay somethign like that out of pocket.

dave330i

joelsfood wrote: »

Yes and no. Even with tons of experience and existing certs, paying out of pocket can be problematic. A cert like CCIE can easily cost 10k or more out of pocket (400+1600 on exams, maybe 700 on travel, 4-5k on a bootcamp, 2-5k on rack rentals, etc). Even those of us with experience might prefer not to pay somethign like that out of pocket.

Never had issue with spending money to make more money.

OctalDump

dave330i wrote: »

Never had issue with spending money to make more money.

I guess it is also the risk - what if you don't pass, or don't get the higher paying job - and also scraping together the upfront cost can be difficult depending on your circumstances.

The silly thing is that it will likely benefit the current employer if you know more stuff and have more skills, even when they aren't directly related to the job. All this IT stuff inter-relates.

networker050184

dave330i wrote: »

Company paying for certs is pretty low on my list of wants when I interview for a company.

Same here, but even then I've never worked for a company that hasn't paid. I thought all companies did these days.

yellowpad

+1 Totally agree

dave330i wrote: »

Never had issue with spending money to make more money.

EagerDinosaur

The company I work for will pay for exams if asked. However, they have a big spreadsheet on a shared drive that records who has claimed for which exams, and whether the exam was passed or failed. That tends to discourage claiming for unsuccessful exam attempts.

They rarely pay for training courses, and there are various productivity targets which discourage doing training in company time, so I end up studying for and taking most exams in my own time.

ira.a

My previous employer would pay for some certs (having you focus on in role certs and then letting you branch out). I figured this company would as well since they're a big name. I mainly took the job for the pay/title bump since my previous gig was basically tier-1 IT support in a retail location. However, this company basically pays for nothing. The insurance sucks, they have an awful in-house training program that they push you to for everything (basically train you on software the company developed that nobody uses), and they only reimburse for education if you make a B or higher. (I'm not joking on this.)

I might stick around a little longer, but I've been looking for another gig for the past 6 months. I live in a pretty backwards city, so good IT gigs are hard to come by.

E Double U

My current (a bank) and previous (a telco) employers paid for training and reimbursed for books/certifications after passing the exams. I have taken full advantage. Been in my current position for close to three years and I knocked out CCNA/P Security, CISSP, and GCIH. My previous employer even paid for my failed CCNA attempts. I paid for my CompTIA and Microsoft stuff out of pocket during my years as a contractor.

alias454

The company I work for has a decent tuition reimbursement program with a yearly limit of 5k. I was able to get $20,000 dollars paid towards my degree, which was a huge incentive. As far as paying for training/certs; The old policy was one paid training engagement per year and no certifications were included, unless it was part of the total cost. However, I have been offered reimbursement for my VCP certification recently and an upcoming training course was submitted with the inclusion of the cert as a line item. I always try to align my interests with the companies needs where training is involved since I feel they are not obligated to pay for any of it and I honestly appreciate that they pay for external training opportunities.

It's unfortunate that some companies don't see offering training as part of one's employment as an additional incentive to keep valued employees. Basically, it is like they are telling their employees we don't trust you not to take advantage of this opportunity, when in reality, very few would take advantage. Not to mention, legal agreements can be arranged to protect the company from bad apples abusing the system and ruining it for everyone. A simple agreement stating if you leave in x number of months after receiving training/certification then you are responsible for the cost or some pro-rated amount of said training. There can be some gray areas like mandatory training but those would probably be far and few between. I realize there are other reasons for companies not to foot the bill on training but when I see articles like this one http://www.content-loop.com/it-professionals-dont-have-what-the-tech-industry-wants/?utm_campaign=newscred&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin it makes me wonder what they are.

Regards,

scaredoftests

Where I am now, $2500 a year for education. However, they also paid $2,500 for my MTA and I am going again for a Querying SQL databases this week.The other jobs I have been in have paid for my certs...

Dakinggamer87

Before my current position at VMware I paid for all my certs out of pocket. It was costly but well worth it in the long haul. I'm a firm believer in investing in yourself if you want companies to invest in you.

SoCalGuy858

I never thought about certs at my previous companies, but with my current company (going on 3 years), my supervisors actively encourage both certification and education. At the company level, all employees are given $2,500 in tuition reimbursement, but our IT and InfoSec leaders go beyond that for us. They will pay for any and all certifications separate from the company-wide $2,500 allotment. So far, they have paid for all of the stuff I've got listed to the left... and just waiting for reimbursement for an online cyber-security program I completed at MIT.

blargoe

Current company will consider on a case by case basis if it is directly applicable to the job role. I have had one declined and one approved. I'm going to keep doing certs where they add value to my overall portfolio whether I get reimbursed or not.