Anyone else pay for their own certification exams/materials?

Just wondering who else pays for their own certifications (bootcamps, training, materials). Nothing new to me as I have done this to confirm what I know, but at the same time, shows me how the organization values (or not) those employees who are willing to step up and improve, better themselves, and bring those area's of the organization to a point where they can consider themselves "certified" in those area's.

I give my respect to those who do this even though the organziation doesn't care. Good luck to you out there in the same situation as I am.

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Node Man

Sometimes, it seems when a company pays for a cert, its like giving the employee permission to leave for a better job.

tedjames

november24 wrote: »

I I asked my boss whether I could use it for practicing new technologies, and he replayed that we shouldn't use the office equipment for our private benefits.

That's really lame! I hate short-sighted managers. He doesn't realize that you can apply what you learn to your current job. I'm lucky in that I have two test boxes on my desk and I get encouragement to essentially do whatever I want. If I learn something new, I'll try to apply it to my job.

Talk to your boss again and explain that you'll use what you learn to help the company. If nothing else, if you have admin privileges on your own machine, install some virtual machines and practice on those.

willieb

I've never taken an exam without be reimbursed for it.

If the company won't pay for it then I will still do it myself and will push me a little further to look for a new job that will. It's not about the money (mostly). It's about caring about your employees and helping progress their knowledge to do a better job. As a manager in IT on my last job I highly encouraged employees to better themselves with certs and gaining knowledge.

If a company doesn't want to pay for your certs because they are scared you are going to leave then they prob aren't paying you enough. The more an employee knows the more they are worth. If your employer doesn't see that then yes you are probably going to end up leaving.

What's even better is, if you are going down the Cisco route, when your company purchases Cisco equipment be sure at the last minute to get the sales rep to throw in some CLCs (Cisco Learning Credits). One purchase I recall was about $100k and they threw in 100 CLCs. This is worth $10,000 to go towards training at Cisco Learning partners (i.e. Global Knowledge) and other events such as Cisco Live (Great experience, I've been 4 times). $100k isn't much either even for a small to medium sized business. The CLCs allow you to get training and go to events without having to request additional funds from your business, so of course they should be more willing to let you go as it's a value for them as well.

malachi1612

willieb wrote: »

I've never taken an exam without be reimbursed for it.

If the company won't pay for it then I will still do it myself and will push me a little further to look for a new job that will. It's not about the money (mostly). It's about caring about your employees and helping progress their knowledge to do a better job. As a manager in IT on my last job I highly encouraged employees to better themselves with certs and gaining knowledge.

If a company doesn't want to pay for your certs because they are scared you are going to leave then they prob aren't paying you enough. The more an employee knows the more they are worth. If your employer doesn't see that then yes you are probably going to end up leaving.

What's even better is, if you are going down the Cisco route, when your company purchases Cisco equipment be sure at the last minute to get the sales rep to throw in some CLCs (Cisco Learning Credits). One purchase I recall was about $100k and they threw in 100 CLCs. This is worth $10,000 to go towards training at Cisco Learning partners (i.e. Global Knowledge) and other events such as Cisco Live (Great experience, I've been 4 times). $100k isn't much either even for a small to medium sized business. The CLCs allow you to get training and go to events without having to request additional funds from your business, so of course they should be more willing to let you go as it's a value for them as well.

Doesn't work like that in my company. When I asked about my certs and the possibility of them funded me (wasn't expecting them to but HR said ask anyway) The response I was,

"You are a desktop engineer so why would we funded your Server 2016 certs when you don't work on the Server Team? And we are not upgrading to Server 2016 for a few years yet"

Fine by me, didnt need their help anyway

willieb

malachi1612 wrote: »

Doesn't work like that in my company. When I asked about my certs and the possibility of them funded me (wasn't expecting them to but HR said ask anyway) The response I was,

"You are a desktop engineer so why would we funded your Server 2016 certs when you don't work on the Server Team? And we are not upgrading to Server 2016 for a few years yet"

Fine by me, didnt need their help anyway

Lol well there are logistics involved.

I wouldn't encourage someone on my network team to go for a Microsoft cert or vice versa. But if they want to make a change then that may be a long term change to consider that can be worked out. It depends on a lot of factors of course.

But in the mean time you may consider Server 2016 certs from your own pocket which could be more helpful when the time does come for needed additions or changes.

Syntax

Node Man wrote: »

Sometimes, it seems when a company pays for a cert, its like giving the employee permission to leave for a better job.

But on the other hand, like many people here, they will pay for their own certs and leave for a better job where they feel more valued without feeling or being obligated to stay.

tedjames

One place I worked paid $3000 for me to take project management training. They wanted me to become an IT project manager within our security team. I passed the 10-week night course with an A. Afterward, they promptly said, "Great job! Now get back to work," never giving me an opportunity to use those expensive skills. That's fine. I brought the skills with me to another job, and I use them a lot.

logisticalstyles

My employers have always paid for upfront or reimbursed for any certs that I passed. They also paid for the training materials and classes. Some have included clauses that say I have to stay for 6 months after completing the certification but my current employer doesn't have that.

johndabomb44

I pay for my own materials and even vouchers. The companies I have worked for either didn't help out or they said they would and then drop that part of the deal altogether.

securitychops

It has been a mixed bag for me thus far. Some companies have paid for certs and others have not ... but the ones I really want I will just take anyway and pay for myself if need be.

snokerpoker

Luckily for me my employer pays for books and all vouchers.

ecuison

geo8 wrote: »

I have paid for certs on my own and never told my jealous colleagues about it.

I thank my ISO for this. I inform my mangement of this as more for tracking as well as what assets has what skill sets. In turn, she sends out a mass email to the entire IT department of the accomplishment. Thus starts the little behind the back comments from other colleagues.

DatabaseHead

NavyMooseCCNA wrote: »

I haven't worked for a company that will pay for certification costs...

Certifications (IMO) most of the time are viewed as self improvement and marketability. Most companies that I have been apart of view them as risk and won't support that initiative.

What I have seen in lieu of certifications is training. I have been sent to onsite training quite a bit. Sometimes these training are paired up with some certification and if the individual choose to go forward they can, most don't from my experiences.

Iristheangel

Sort of a mix for me. I think a lot of companies I worked with wanted to provide more but didn't find much of an appetite with the employees. I definitely can say I've moved up in my career from always learning and being willing to jump into learning some new tricky thing. Hell... my job title at work is now "ISE Queen" for a reason :P

My first IT job I paid for them entirely out of pocket. It was a $12.50/hr entry level gig so I didn't expect much. Thankfully, CompTIA study materials aren't that expensive so buying books and videos were fairly easy at that point. I know for a fact that I was the only person going for certs at this job.

My second IT job would pay for the passed exams and some training materials were available but not for all the certifications I wanted to go for so I ended up paying some out of pocket. They did pay for my tuition reimbursement though and what I ended up doing is just taking out student loans to pay for school and using my tuition reimbursement on study materials. Since I was going for slightly higher certifications (i.e. MCSE, CISSP, etc), I ended up spending a little more on training materials. I think I was the only one actively going for certifications of all my peers at that job so heavy investments in training was not in demand or asked for by people.

Next job paid for training materials, bootcamps, rack rentals, certifications, etc. Almost no one utilized it though but they kept paying for it as a perk.

My current job is a mixed bag. Certifications and school are paid for, internal training provided, usually can get bootcamps through our training partners for free with some finesse, lab equipment is easy to find, there's a bonus give for CCIEs, usually easier to negotiate raises/promotions with certifications, etc but purchasing grey market external training is usually up to your boss or the budget. I got a lot of help for my CCIE DC but I probably paid for the CCIE Security training materials mostly out of pocket because I had three different bosses and roles in the period I was studying for it and didn't have any stability to get anyone to pay for those things. To give you an idea of the cost of the CCIE DC and CCIE Security for me:
CCIE DC: https://www.network-node.com/blog/2017/5/19/the-cost-of-a-ccie-my-ccie-data-center-in-review
CCIE Security: https://www.network-node.com/blog/2018/5/23/the-cost-of-my-ccie-security-time-money-in-review
That being said, in terms of overall population and employees, I would say that there's still a small percentage of people who chase after certs. It's still hard to convince people to study in their free time.

In my experience over the last 10+ years, most companies I've worked with will pay for something but it's often not utilized by other employees. I've seen companies provide their employees with learning credits, bootcamps, CBT Nuggets/INE/etc, and people not use them or they go to the bootcamp for a free vacation away from work.

triplea

Current company signed up to be iso27001 in 2010, didn't want to pay for me to do sec+ even though Im part of the IT team supporting it. Even had to use holiday to do the exam...

I paid for it myself...and passed

Same with my HyperV exam, I passed

Company finally offered to pay for my SSCP cert, if done in my own time, after many many reasons why I explained it should be helpful to us, passed it. No congratulations or encouragement.

No raise, no increase, nothing. But I did then get to work unofficially for the InfoSec manager on occasions.

New company wants all of the above and wants you to show continued education rather than just getting a job and staying there collecting a pay check. Guess what I can show on my CV? and the new companies given me 15% pay increase.

As someone said. Its not about the money but investing in your people and giving them new skills that make them feel valued. Make them feel valued they tend to worker harder for you.

When I told my current manager Im off to a new career as an InfoSec officer he replied that maybe you could do a boot camp for CISSP. That shows he had no idea what skills I have, what experience I have etc. Only been there 11 years.

Just my 2 cents.

Mike7

I usually self study and pay for my certs, so I am motivated to pass the exam. I view certs as self improvement where the new knowledge helps me in my current job role and open up opportunities for newer roles. Certs also helps to fufil CPE (Continuing Professional Education) requirements for my ISC2, ISACA and GIAC certification.

kaiju

I use self study and pay for my own certs. I do not want to feel as though I am "tied" to an organization just because they reimbursed me for a cert. I will most likely never go to a boot camp unless an employer sends me there without strings attached so it will never happen....lol. One of my previous employers was great. They provided free study material, would reimburse your upkeep fees and would waiver the payback if you were in good standing with the company. They pretty much pleaded with me for months in order to get me to submit a receipt and proof of certification for a cert that I completed on my own. Why did they do this? Because it looks good when all of your employees are properly certified.

I see paying for my own certs as investing into my future by ensuring that my level of certification matches my level of experience. I do not go for certs that are out of my skill level. Kind of silly to have a cert when you cannot put it to use or have lots of experience but no industry standard cert that many organizations desire/require to meet a certain level of employ-ability.

Like Mike7 said, I also use newer certs to meet my CPE/CEU requirements so I have scaled back on how many I will do each year.

chmod

kaiju wrote: »

I use self study and pay for my own certs. I do not want to feel as though I am "tied" to an organization just because they reimbursed me for a cert. I will most likely never go to a boot camp unless an employer sends me there without strings attached so it will never happen....lol. One of my previous employers was great. They provided free study material, would reimburse your upkeep fees and would waiver the payback if you were in good standing with the company. They pretty much pleaded with me for months in order to get me to submit a receipt and proof of certification for a cert that I completed on my own. Why did they do this? Because it looks good when all of your employees are properly certified.

I see paying for my own certs as investing into my future by ensuring that my level of certification matches my level of experience. I do not go for certs that are out of my skill level. Kind of silly to have a cert when you cannot put it to use or have lots of experience but no industry standard cert that many organizations desire/require to meet a certain level of employ-ability.

Like Mike7 said, I also use newer certs to meet my CPE/CEU requirements so I have scaled back on how many I will do each year.

^This is exactly my mindset, i'd rather pay for my own certs/training when is feasible than been tied to an organization due to a certification or training. I have received courses/classes been completely sponsored by the organization(no strings attached) luckily i have never been in a position where i get an offer recently after that.
I prefer to invest in myself and feel free/independent.

albinorhino187

My last job paid for CBT Nuggets, and my current job provides INE all access. But I've never been reimbursed for certifications.

willieb

chmod wrote: »

^This is exactly my mindset, i'd rather pay for my own certs/training when is feasible than been tied to an organization due to a certification or training. I have received courses/classes been completely sponsored by the organization(no strings attached) luckily i have never been in a position where i get an offer recently after that.
I prefer to invest in myself and feel free/independent.

As long as I've studied on my own time I've never felt tied to an organization based off of materials or exam reimbursements. As a past manager my thoughts are when an employee certifies they are more valuable to the company and therefore should compensated accordingly. If they aren't then it's fair game. Otherwise why would the employee want to go through the trouble and make themselves more valuable and useful for the company with no reward in return? Again I'm strictly talking study and certifying outside of normal business hours.

But hey that's me, ymmv.