Certification Reimbursement

drew PDdrew PD Member Posts: 10 ■□□□□□□□□□
Excellent news! I just found out today that my company will reimburse me for any IT certification I wish to acquire as long as I pass the exam!

I've already started studying for A+ and I plan on keep getting certified until I run out of certifications to go for.

Comments

  • SlowhandSlowhand Mod Posts: 5,161 Mod
    That's excellent news. I've worked for companies that didn't want to spend any money on training, certifications, or even reference books to use for the job. Make sure you understand what stipulations there are in your contract, such as having to work for a certain amount of time with the company after you take your certs, or if you would have to pay them back if/when you leave. Good luck on your studies!

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  • dynamikdynamik Banned Posts: 12,312 ■■■■■■■■■□
    drew PD wrote:
    ...and I plan on keep getting certified until I run out of certifications to go for.

    You'll die first, but it's nice to aim high icon_lol.gif

    That sounds like a great deal, congratulations.
  • BeaverC32BeaverC32 Member Posts: 670 ■■■□□□□□□□
    My employer also reimburses for all certification expenses (books + CBTs + exam costs). It works out very well, and I have gotten several certifications I otherwise would not have pursued (like the Server+).
    MCSE 2003, MCSA 2003, LPIC-1, MCP, MCTS: Vista Config, MCTS: SQL Server 2005, CCNA, A+, Network+, Server+, Security+, Linux+, BSCS (Information Systems)
  • brad-brad- Member Posts: 1,218
    If nothing else, make sure you get the A+/N+ (or whatever comptia exams) out of the way first...as they are the most expensive.
  • drew PDdrew PD Member Posts: 10 ■□□□□□□□□□
    Yeah I'm going for A+ and N+ first. I'll probably get most of the COMPTIA certs.

    I guess I should have read the fine print though. They require that you continue to work here for 3 years after the date of the last certification exam. That's ok though. I like the people I work with, and I'm going to milk them for a ton of certs, and I think I'm going to finish my bachelors on their dime as well.
  • Tyrant1919Tyrant1919 Member Posts: 519 ■■■□□□□□□□
    Comptia is where it's at. I'm just Sad I missed out on the I-net+ exam :^(.
    A+/N+/S+/L+/Svr+
    MCSA:03/08/12/16 MCSE:03s/EA08/Core Infra
    CCNA
  • sthomassthomas Member Posts: 1,240 ■■■□□□□□□□
    drew PD wrote:
    Excellent news! I just found out today that my company will reimburse me for any IT certification I wish to acquire as long as I pass the exam!

    I've already started studying for A+ and I plan on keep getting certified until I run out of certifications to go for.

    That is cool...Just make sure you take full advantage of this.
    Working on: MCSA 2012 R2
  • nelnel Member Posts: 2,859 ■□□□□□□□□□
    congrats man. thats a good plus for you.

    i work for a big company and they wont even consider paying anything for my degree or my certifications. So take it while you can.
    Xbox Live: Bring It On

    Bsc (hons) Network Computing - 1st Class
    WIP: Msc advanced networking
  • Megadeth4168Megadeth4168 Member Posts: 2,157
    My job will reimburse me up to $600 per year. So far, this has not been an issue. The fine print for my job state that if I leave the company within 1 year of being reimbursed, I have to pay them back anything in the past year that they paid for....

    It's actually a pretty sweet deal. Oh yeah, I forgot that they have a "training budget" set aside that is separate from the reimbursement. If they wanted to send me to go train to learn how to use a new product, then they pay for everything and it's never expected of me to pay anything back.... Of course, the last time I went to a training for something was 4 years ago. So that doesn't happen often.
  • PashPash Member Posts: 1,600 ■■■■■□□□□□
    Atm I am only getting my exams paid for, looking for training budget this year, waiting for pay review to pass first icon_wink.gif

    Good luck in your new job!
    DevOps Engineer and Security Champion. https://blog.pash.by - I am trying to find my writing style, so please bear with me.
  • stupidboystupidboy Member Posts: 470
    I am lucky enough to have both books and exam fees covered by the company. Class room training is an option but can be difficult to get hold of and not something that works well with me (like my dark room with a book).

    The catch is that if I leave within 12 months I have to pay a percentage back (I think it goes down 25% each quarter) so in the 13 month you would pay back nothing.
  • rymetymeukrymetymeuk Member Posts: 13 ■□□□□□□□□□
    wow nice one!

    If I were you, depending on what you want to do career wise, i'd skip A+ because I felt it was a waste of time. I guess it will give you a bit of background knowledge but for the same amount of effort and time, i'd go and study 70-270 or CCENT or even CCNA. You don;t need to know IRQ assignments to learn CCNA, and i've never had to check the IRQ's of any machine i've worked on... (i know it was a basic example but you catch my drift)..

    N+ however is great, definately do that.
  • ClaymooreClaymoore Member Posts: 1,637
    drew PD wrote:
    I guess I should have read the fine print though. They require that you continue to work here for 3 years after the date of the last certification exam. That's ok though. I like the people I work with, and I'm going to milk them for a ton of certs, and I think I'm going to finish my bachelors on their dime as well.

    That's a shorter time commitment than the Army, and nobody will be shooting at you either.

    Take advantage of everything they offer while you can. Getting paid while you gain experience, certs and a degree is a pretty sweet deal - as long as the pay is adequate of course. Certs are great and all, but I don't get a discount on my rent because I am an MCSE. Although you might expect your salary to be slightly below market value due to the other benefits, don't let them screw you in the salary department while you are serving out your indentured servitude.

    I am currently in a discussion with my company about their educational benefits in regards to my updated MCSE. 4 months and counting without any answer or reimbursement.
  • chuckzitochuckzito Member Posts: 28 ■□□□□□□□□□
    I have had my employer pay for two of my certifications, and was planning on a few more. But I also want to look for a new job in about 6 months. My only issue is I remember signing a contract that I can not work with any customer or something like that for a certain amount of years. I don't recall anything about having to stay a certain amount of years after them paying for certification. I guess what I'm trying to say is how should I go about asking them for all the paper work I signed??? I can ask the office manager but I don't want her to tell my boss that I'm asking for all this paper work. Is there anything I can say that I need it for other reasons that are less suspicious???

    Help!
  • rfult001rfult001 Member Posts: 407
    Since we're bragging....
    I work for a university. They reimburse for every exam I pass as long as it is relevant to my position. As a full-time employee, I am eligible for bonuses for certs I earn while employed. We also have contracts with training vendors, such as AppDev, for training materials. And to top it off, they will pay for up to 6 credit hours per semester for me to take classes. I don't have to pay anything back.
    I think I landed a sweet deal. I have MCSA (620 + 621), Linux+, and Network+ planned for this summer when I am not taking classes.
    It's always a good idea to take an advantage of what is available. Ask your employer about it, you'd be surprised what is available.
  • drew PDdrew PD Member Posts: 10 ■□□□□□□□□□
    Claymoore wrote:
    Getting paid while you gain experience, certs and a degree is a pretty sweet deal - as long as the pay is adequate of course.

    Well, it's below average from what various salary reporting websites tell me. It's not too bad though. It's good experience, and they tell me that a network administrator job will be opening up next year. If I can get a couple of certs by then, I should have a good chance of moving into it and getting a nice raise.

    Either way, with my employee education program, and some other education programs I can claim, I might be able to make a little extra money on the side.
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