Loans For Studying/Certifications

jamesleecoleman

So I asked on Reddit about this and I wanted to get more input.

Anyone here use loans for study materials and/or to pay for certifications?
It's tough not having the money at the moment and since jobs require/request certifications, I figure I would take out a loan to cover the expenses for a couple of certification exams along with learning materials. Specifically the CISA with the database questions and the CISSP.

I applied for a position that recommended both of these certifications and I feel like I was passed up because I didn't have them.

SteveLavoie

I will write CISSP this week... successfully I hope! I would tell you that except the exam fee (699$) that it was one of the cheapest certification I studied for. There is no hardware for lab required, only a few books to read and study like hell

I am subscribing to Safaribooksonline.com, they have all the books (and access to the question banks) required for CISSP. Last time I checked it was 39$/month, usually there is some sales around Thanksgiving.

Sure 699$ is a big amount of money, but unless you are unemployed, it is not impossible. I would suggest that instead to take a loan, that you plan your study this way; I would plan to study for CISSP on about 6 to 12 month(depending on your experience). Take the Safaribookonline to get all material and save the money while studying. In 6 month, it would cost you 155$/month or 97$/month on 12 month. No interest! and no obligation if you changed your mind

Also, I can't imagine that your company cannot invest in your studies. Perhaps, I am very lucky but my company pay for all my certifications exam I want, pay some training (with a good business case), and pay some training material (Pluralsight, and books if they are not on Safaribooksonline).

Danielm7

Obviously your financial situation is private, so do what you need to do, but I'd focus on one cert at first and try to save for that. Unless you're going specifically for an auditing role, I'd wait on the CISA and focus on the CISSP, again going under the assumption that you have the actual work experience to qualify for it.

The CISSP exam is $699 now. There are TONS of free study material for that, maybe get 1 book but the cybrary videos are awesome, lots of free practice questions online, dig through the ISC2 passed forum posts for a lots of info. Everyone learns differently but I did a lot better taking quizzes and looking up everything I didn't know to understand it vs just reading thousands of pages.

Are you SURE you can get a job with your current experience if you had the CISSP? Might be worth the gamble to just charge it and pay it off over a couple months, but again, this isn't a personal finance forum either.

Nisseki

I try to cut costs as much as possible by looking out for deals on Amazon or Udemy.

Safari Books is great. It has a huge library of books and video courses. I also try and get free trials for cbt nuggets etc.

I personally only buy things I can afford so I budget my money and save up for things. I have a credit card I could use but I try not to (and only for little purchases).

Be careful how much you apply for a loan.

NetworkNewb

I would first try extremely hard to cut your costs (and maybe even sell some things) to pay for the exam. Taking out loans for a cert seems little over the top to me. But everyone's situation is different... I just hate having any debt and loans are, for the most part, throwing money down the drain and try to avoid them whenever possible.

Dakinggamer87

NetworkNewb wrote: »

I would first try extremely hard to cut your costs (and maybe even sell some things) to pay for the exam. Taking out loans for a cert seems little over the top to me. But everyone's situation is different... I just hate having any debt and loans are, for the most part, throwing money down the drain and try to avoid them whenever possible.

I would agree with this I would only advise a loan as a last resort option. The interest rates alone can be brutal plus the stress of having to repay the debt..

McxRisley

Well you dont really need a loan. They make these things called credit cards, where you can purchase things on credit and pay them back later With that being said, I'll tell you my own story when I had this issue. I signed up for a 0% interest credit card which also offered a $500 cashback deal if you spent $1500 in the first 3 months. I used that card for my OSCP and CEH, I ended up paying $1500 for $2000 worth of training and more than doubled my pay after obtaining the certs. It was a win win situation for me.

JoJoCal19

I recommend saving for the exam cost over 3-6 months while you're studying for the exam (SafariBooks is a great option as has been mentioned). Then you'll have the money set aside to pay for the exam. If that's not an option then I would say only pursue the loan if you are confident that you will be able to use the cert(s) to land a new job and increase your salary (pay it off immediately after landing the new higher paying job). If you have to borrow/charge for the certs, I recommend a small line of credit or personal loan over a credit card. With a loan, it's for a set time period and if you pay the minimum, it will be paid off at the end of the term. If you pay only the minimum on a credit card, it will take forever to pay off and you'll pay way more in interest.

McxRisley

JoJoCal19 wrote: »

I recommend saving for the exam cost over 3-6 months while you're studying for the exam (SafariBooks is a great option as has been mentioned). Then you'll have the money set aside to pay for the exam. If that's not an option then I would say only pursue the loan if you are confident that you will be able to use the cert(s) to land a new job and increase your salary (pay it off immediately after landing the new higher paying job). If you have to borrow/charge for the certs, I recommend a small line of credit or personal loan over a credit card. With a loan, it's for a set time period and if you pay the minimum, it will be paid off at the end of the term. If you pay only the minimum on a credit card, it will take forever to pay off and you'll pay way more in interest.

See above post about 0% interest card. There a plenty of cards that offer 0% interest for 12-18 months. Go check out nerdwallet.com

EagerDinosaur

I've never taken out a loan to finance a certification. It helps that I only take Microsoft and AWS exams, which are about $150 each.

For me, certifications are cheaper than other forms of study (both in time and money), and a lot cheaper than classroom training. The study guide books that Microsoft and Amazon publish are cheap. A lot of on-line training material is free. The threat of the exam looming in the future is a very powerful motivation for me to study hard, and not waste time or money by failing the exam.

SteveLavoie

I would only take a loan or put on credit unless I was ready to take the exam and waiting for it to complete a job offer. If not, save for it while you study. CISSP is not the kind of certs that you can study in 3-4 weeks..

jamesleecoleman

Thank you all for the replies.

I'll qualify for the full CISSP (after passing and with a waver) on 21July18. I don't plan on going down an audit role but I do think that it'll help me out with the work that I currently do.

As far as credit cards, the whole cash back after spending a good amount seems like a good deal. It's just that I see debt with credit cards but I'm going to look more into it as well.

NetworkingStudent

jamesleecoleman wrote: »

So I asked on Reddit about this and I wanted to get more input.

Anyone here use loans for study materials and/or to pay for certifications?
It's tough not having the money at the moment and since jobs require/request certifications, I figure I would take out a loan to cover the expenses for a couple of certification exams along with learning materials. Specifically the CISA with the database questions and the CISSP.

I applied for a position that recommended both of these certifications and I feel like I was passed up because I didn't have them.

You could try a meetup...for CISSP I saw one in Michigan...

https://www.meetup.com/Farmington-CISSP-Meetup/?scroll=true

If you are interested in pursuing a CISSP certification, this weekly meet-up is for you. Based upon the level of interest, I will book a room in the Farmington Hills Library (or Novi Library) to talk about CISSP certification on a weekly basis. We will discuss various different domains and we will also talk about the latest threats and vulnerabilities.

p@r0tuXus

Some payday loan companies will finance you when your credit isn't good enough to get you enough credit on cards to afford the certification cost - the downside of this is MUCH higher interest rates. Not a bad deal if you can pay it back really fast and shrink those interest payments. McxRisley certainly did it right with credit cards and profited much from that strategy. That seems like a good blue-print even if you were to use payday loans instead, if you could get a loan (even non-payday) that would help you accomplish the same thing. Hey, it worked for him! Good luck!

Danielm7

Please don't suggest people use payday loans, especially for certs, they are the most scummy businesses around. Plus imagine a payday loan with an APR that can literally be in the 100s of percent+, then you fail, don't get the next job, etc. We're not talking about 10K here or having to bail someone out of jail, it's a totally reasonable amount to save up.

TheFORCE

Take home made lunch to work- weekly savings =$50
Take the bus, train, dont drive = weekly savings $50
Don't go out 1-2 weekends, = savings $50-$
Use cashback credit cards = 1%, or 2% or 5% on every purchase
Purchace used books, savings = $200
Do small things like that and you will be fine. No need to take a loan.
Aftet passing the exam have your company reimburse you for the expense.

LarryTR

- If you have TV Cable/Satellite shut that off. That'll save you $80-200 a month.

- Turn your heat/AC down. For natural gas heat in my area, the difference between 70 degrees and 68 degrees is $100-150/month.

- Don't ever think in terms of of "extra money". There's no such thing.

- Don't blow your tax refund (if you get one) on anythings. It's not "free money". You earned that money and the govt
borrowed it from you without paying you interest.

- Never spend more than $2-3 per meal. Uh oh! That means no eating out! Brown bag it for lunch. Yeah, your co-workers will look at you funny, but they are all in debt and driving leased cars they will never own.

- Do you buy coffee or drinks at a coffee shop or convenience store everyday? STOP! I worked with a guy once who was always complaining about money but he used to spend at least $100 a month on designer coffee and energy drinks.

Do you know any old people 80+ that still have their wits? Talk to them and ask them how they lived and saved money when they were your age. Be prepared for a lesson in life. People use dot live on A LOT LESS than modern people do.

stryder144

Another way to reduce costs is to get a membership with ACM (Association for Computing Machinery). Skillsoft courses and Safari books are part of the Professional Membership. All for something like $99/year.

N7Valiant

jamesleecoleman wrote: »

Thank you all for the replies.

I'll qualify for the full CISSP (after passing and with a waver) on 21July18. I don't plan on going down an audit role but I do think that it'll help me out with the work that I currently do.

As far as credit cards, the whole cash back after spending a good amount seems like a good deal. It's just that I see debt with credit cards but I'm going to look more into it as well.

Credit card doesn't equal debt unless your personality is frequently "spend now, pay later" or you don't fixate on paying your debt off ASAP. I only have one credit card largely for security/convenience sake and I pay the full balance off every month.

EANx

In the US, try to find a community college that's offering the courses you want. You can get low interest loans and someone with a low enough income might qualify for grants.

jamesleecoleman

I have a budget that I've put together and if it can pretty much stay like I want it, it'll work out.
I'm staying with my aunt to get back on my feet right now and I've been looking at roommates or staying with someone I work with now. I told her that I could pay a few hundred a month and explained what I would pay her would cover as far as bills.

The community college is kinda a no no since I won't be able to get the loans. I've already graduated from there with a degree and the courses are in that degree program. I do kinda wanna get an associates degree in business though.

LarryTR

If you already have an associate's degree, no use in getting another one. Ger your BS business degree instead. You can still get student loans if you go for your BS assuming you didn't max out your loans, which is doubtful.

TechGuru80

Agreed definitely do not get another associates, nor an associates if you have a bachelors.

I would suggest against going into any kind of debt or loan for certifications since it’s never a sure thing to get you some other job.

Applying is a numbers game...just keep applying. Is there a reason you aren’t getting a call back? How does your resume look? Do you have a bachelors degree? With 3+ years experience, you really should qualify for a decent paying job. What kind of jobs and experience requirements have you been applying to? What is your background? A CISSP is great if you have been working in a true infosec job but if you have been help desk or entry level IT, it’s not likely to be the biggest bang for your buck. Also, finding a company that offers training budgets would be helpful in your situation.