Which certifications did you let expire and why?

E Double U

I think the title is self-explanatory so I am curious to hear your responses. I was triggered by a discussion on my CRISC thread about maintaining credentials because my employer foots the bill. I know for a fact that I would not attempt nor maintain so many certs if I had to pay for all of this out-of-pocket. 

I have let my Cisco, Check Point, and (non-Azure) Microsoft certs expire. I achieved those credentials while in hands-on technical roles and when I moved on to positions that did not require CLI/GUI access to those technologies I let them go. Plus retaking exams was a requirement to maintain them. If there were annual maintenance fees involved that I could expense to my organization then I would have done so. 

Related inquiry: Do you continue to list your expired certs on your CV/resume? For a while I did not, but have recently started doing so again just to capture all of my accomplishments. I event started listing my CompTIA credentials again just for the sake of it though an A+ will not help with the opportunities that I seek out at this stage in my career. 

FluffyBunny

CEH, because I no longer wish to support ECC with my money.

GCCC (the class you and I met in), because it's just not worth the money. I've done the CPE, but I'd rather put that money elsewhere.

Related inquiry: Do you continue to list your expired certs on your CV/resume? 

CEH I'm taking off completely, everywhere. It's a matter of principle to me. 

GCCC I will list as lapsed on LinkedIn and may include as lapsed on resumés that may call for it. 

UnixGuy

All of my Sun Solaris certs (those were the days)

CCNA

RHCE 5

I have server+ and security+ , no idea if they need renewal, removed them from my CV

SABSA cert doesn't expire

I maintain my SANS and ISACA certs....and if I don't, it wont matter, they will still be on my CV with the pass date, employers I work for don't really care, they've never been brought up before

E Double U

Interesting points from the both of you which makes me wonder the following:

- When you tailor your resume for a vacancy, does that mean you only list the certifications mentioned in the job posting?
- Besides principle, why do you leave active certifications off of your CV?

I completed my CompTIA credentials in 2005 so they do not expire, but after a few years in security in addition to having other credentials under my belt (ISC2, GIAC, Cisco) I started leaving off A+ and Network+. I just thought those certifications would not help more than the more attractive credentials, but at the same time I do not see how it hurts to list them. I wonder do people feel that a certain amount is overkill and has a negative impact 

JDMurray

I let all my certs expire except for my CISSP. I've found no good reason to keep any of the others renewed. The (ISC)2 is a worthwhile organization to retain membership in, and my employers does pay for my (ISC)2 Annual Maintenance Fee. One day, I may also feel the same way about ISACA if I ever buckle-down and get my CISM.

I list all my certs on my resume regardless of their current status. It is an accomplishment to just get a cert regardless of whether it is currently "in good standing" or not. I also include the information needed to verify my cert on the cert vendor's website.

E Double U

JDMurray said:

 I also include the information needed to verify my cert on the cert vendor's website.

So you also include the member and/or cert id? I do list that on LinkedIn, but not my CV. Have you ever had anyone mention going through the effort to verify your certifications?

JDMurray

E Double U said:

Have you ever had anyone mention going through the effort to verify your certifications?

I don't believe that anyone has mention to me that they verified my certs. I provide the verification info for an honest disclosure and to show hiring managers that they don't need to accept the word alone of job candidates that they have the certs they claim. I would verify certs myself of job candidates that I interview, but I rarely see that info on anyone's resumes.

SteveLavoie

Well. I did some Comptia certs(A+, Network+) at the beginning of my career so they don't expire, but if they did I would not renewed it because my career have evolved. I would list them on my resume, and tell the years it's been done.  IMO, I would be foolish for HR to care about a lifetime (expired or not) A+ from 2001, when you are seeking a management or senior role. Certs have their use at each new step in a career.  

UnixGuy

Have never been asked to verify any cert I own BUT I was asked about GCFA and my knowledge of the tools in the cert contents as it was relevant to the role (incident response)

chrisone

CCNA RS & SEC / CCNP / CCDA / CCDP / CCNP Sec - Entered into security role and needed to obtain other security certs. It was painful to see them go, I just couldn't keep up with the renewals. 

LFCS - had a two year expiration. Only wanted to learn and strengthen my Linux skill set. I wasn't looking for a Linux SysAdmin role. 

E Double U

@SteveLavoie and @JDMurray - I am interested in seeing the layout of your resumes. I put so many certs on mine that adding cert IDs or years would just take up space. 

@UnixGuy - I was never quizzed on a particular cert, but I did have an internal manager ask during an interview if I planned to obtain the CCNA and then he offered me the role after hearing that I had passed. In the same company, I started another role that required CCNA and also in a role at another company after that. The hiring manager was very keen on my Cisco knowledge/experience. Outside of that I do not recall receiving any comments about my certs during the interview process though I did apply for roles that had certs listed in the vacancy. I interviewed with NATO some years back and they actually required the hard copies of your credentials.

@chrisone - I also did not want to let go of my Cisco certs. I had a lot of fun during those CCNA - CCNP Security years, but with no longer needing hands-on experience with Cisco equipment I did not want to retake any of those exams. 

JDMurray

E Double U said:

@SteveLavoie and @JDMurray - I am interested in seeing the layout of your resumes. I put so many certs on mine that adding cert IDs or years would just take up space.

Oh, I don't put them all on there. First, I only put certs on my resume that can actually be verified. I have a bunch of ancient certs that can't be verified, so I leave them off. After that, I only leave on the certs that are actually relevant to my current career path, and that I want to show a little of my diverse knowledge and past learning experience.

So many job application systems now require you to enter your resume information into a Webform that you never know how much space you'll have to input your resume info.

SteveLavoie

E Double U said:

@SteveLavoie and @JDMurray - I am interested in seeing the layout of your resumes. I put so many certs on mine that adding cert IDs or years would just take up space. 

Sorry, my last resume was almost 20 years ago and the last time someone asked me one, I sent him to my Linkedin profile. 

I have a "business profile" that we are sending for customer proposal, and on this resume, I am listing all my certs with the years including a big appendice with all my vendors certifications (2 pages)

Info_Sec_Wannabe

I let my CASP+ expire as no job posting in my location is looking for it. Currently on the fence on letting one of my ISACA certs expire as I think my CISSP is more than sufficient to make up for it.

For the lapsed certs, I have it listed on my profile and marked as expired.

Oh..I do have a cert that I don't use anymore, but renewed it anyway, CPA, as it is acceptable as a government ID (where I am from) that is quite useful in many occassions.

chrisone

@Info_Sec_Wannabe - I did the same with CEH. Don't use it but keeping it alive as an HR check box. 

FluffyBunny

E Double U said:

- When you tailor your resume for a vacancy, does that mean you only list the certifications mentioned in the job posting?
- Besides principle, why do you leave active certifications off of your CV?

Overall, I do very little tailoring to my CV. I know, that's bad practice, but I guess that's one of the privileges that comes with getting older and having lots of in-demand experience. 

If I do leave off certs it's because they A) don't contribute value (i.e. I took them for fun, like all the CompTIA beta tests) or they're really not relevant (e.g. my data center work safety exam, like an OSHA thing).

  So you also include the member and/or cert id? I do list that on LinkedIn, but not my CV. Have you ever had anyone mention going through the effort to verify your certifications?

Nobody's ever verified me, but like JDM I put it in there always, as a sign of confidence.  "Yes, go ahead, audit me. I'm all ok.".

E Double U

@Info_Sec_Wannabe - Does that mean that CASP was in heavy demand at your time of attempting it? The job market areas that I have searched in over the years (Los Angeles, The Netherlands) have never shown CASP in the results. Honestly, if it wasn't for my participation in this board I would have never heard of CASP and a number of other certifications lol. 

@FluffyBunny - Were some of those credentials relevant at one point or were they purely for fun? I like to pursue credentials that I feel are both fun and relevant which is why I have taken so many SANS trainings lol. 

Info_Sec_Wannabe

E Double U said:

@Info_Sec_Wannabe - Does that mean that CASP was in heavy demand at your time of attempting it? The job market areas that I have searched in over the years (Los Angeles, The Netherlands) have never shown CASP in the results. Honestly, if it wasn't for my participation in this board I would have never heard of CASP and a number of other certifications lol. 

Not really. I simply didn't feel confident jumping in on CISSP immediately as it had been some time since I sat for a certification exam when I took it. 

itdept

I plan to keep my certs up to date. I have an A+ and Linux+ that won't expire but I would let them expire if I needed to retake. I just renewed Sec + again because I felt it had value and was easy for me. I look at my certs as a badge of honor and I work pretty hard to know the material and not just get a piece of paper. I guess I would let ones expire where there is a technological dead end or something vendor specific. There would be exceptions like Cisco where it has that name recognition.

E Double U

I let one of my Azure certs expire over the summer and will likely let another expire next year. Not interested in keeping up the skills for certain credentials. 

chrisone

Which Azure certs you let go? 

E Double U

Azure Security Engineer Associate expired in July and Azure Solutions Architect Expert will expire in Feb '23. Azure Fundamentals does not expire so I will forever hold that without effort like my A+ and Network+ lol. 

DatabaseHead

quite a few

Security + CE
CAPM
RMP
CSM
I think my A+ and N+ expired since I did teh SEC+ CE one.....    Maybe not

Teradata Database August 2023 expires

chrisone

Out of curiosity did you let them expire due to a new role?

E Double U

@chrisone - I was on a network security team when I obtained my Azure certifications. AZ-900 was required and the others (AZ-500, 303, 304) were offered to my team (all free) so I took advantage. I changed roles internally twice since obtaining those credentials and used very little of that knowledge. I will join AWS in a few weeks so I definitely do not have a need for Azure there lol. ISACA and (ISC)2 credentials are the most relevant certifications to maintain for my career path. I also prefer vendor agnostic certs. 

chrisone

Oh wow joining AWS that would definitely negate needing Azure certs

I agree ISACA and ISC2 certs are more relevant for an experienced career. Skills change, they come and go, experience is priceless and compound towards any discipline within IT.

I am in the same position where AZ-500 is an awesome achievement, but as I study it and work towards it, I know my employer doesn't have much any IaaS, apps, infrastructure in Azure and I am working tireless hours studying for AZ-500 The only reason I stay committed is because I don't want to allow the lack of technologies from any employer stop me from growing. A little burnt out and kind of forcing myself these last two months. Looking to finally take it in October. 

Good luck at Amazon!

E Double U

chrisone said:

I am in the same position where AZ-500 is an awesome achievement, but as I study it and work towards it, I know my employer doesn't have much any IaaS, apps, infrastructure in Azure and I am working tireless hours studying for AZ-500 The only reason I stay committed is because I don't want to allow the lack of technologies from any employer stop me from growing. A little burnt out and kind of forcing myself these last two months. Looking to finally take it in October. 

I wonder if this is time well spent then.

chrisone

Yeah, it's tough when you know and understand the value of time. Just going to hang on to the idea that its a skill I should acquire regardless of my employers lack of tech. Got the exam for free from a previous Ignite challenge. So its just time that I am giving away. I guess I could be throwing away my time on other stupid things, getting a cloud security cert is definitely not one of them

Ugh I am so over certs this year too. I just want it done before Halloween so I can enjoy the rest of the year off from studying for certs. 

E Double U

@chrisone - I wonder what makes you feel this is a skill that you need to acquire. Is your goal to be hands on with Azure in your next role? I only went for vendor specific certs when I worked in environments with that tech so I could use what I was learning on the job in real time plus use my access to the tech to help prepare for the exam. 

chrisone

Azure being one of top two cloud technologies, isn't going anywhere. More and more employers are going to adopt it whether it's SaaS, PaaS, or IaaS. The reality is Azure will be adopted at a fast rate due to 99% on-prem Windows AD Environments and most companies going to a hybrid model. I just want to be marketable incase tough times come in the future. You never know, economies crash, war, global economic struggle domino effect, etc. Pretty much what is going on now in the world. 

I could say all the above is justifiable, but mainly targeting az-500 because I failed it back in 2019. I have a free cert and I see it as a challenge to finish the job. 

E Double U

I understand your motivation. I also do not like to give up on certifications once I have put time and effort into it them. If I fail and can retake the exam for free then I would do the same.

Regarding marketability, I would recommend CCSP over any specific vendor cloud cert. I prefer the cloud knowledge without having to learn about a certain technology, but if you plan to remain hands-on then it makes sense.