What kind of bonuses getting/expect for your certificationss?

Just curious, what kind of incentives companies out there are giving...

What's a good amount to expect?

Anyway, apparently I get a month's paycheck for MCITP: EA. Not sure how that compares at all to other places.

They want me to go for VA and VCP4 too, but those don't get bonuses. I suppose those do put me in a better position when contract renewal comes up though.

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networker050184

The places I have worked they haven't given a direct bonus for getting a certification. Certification has been worked into annual goals and meeting your goals factors into your bonus percentage at the end of the year though.

Everyone

A place I interviewed with recently indicated anywhere from 1% to 3% salary increase upon completion of certifications, depending on the cert. I don't think that is typical.

I'd be happy just working for a place that was willing to pay for my certs, especially if they want you to get VCP4, that's an expensive one. VMWare seems to be really in demand right now. I wish I had the opportunity to expand my skills in that area.

Hypntick

I get a 5k raise when I finish up MCITP in either Server 08 or Exchange. That's the only one that I know of 100% however. I'm sure there might be others available but that's the one I know for certain due to my offer letter. Makes me wonder if I get both if it'll be 10k

jdchilders

Lucky. I get NO bonuses/raises for any of my certs. I just self studied, self paid for security+ and CISSP(painful for my bank account- cause of the prep class); and get nothing.

hiddenknight821

Hypntick wrote: »

I get a 5k raise when I finish up MCITP in either Server 08 or Exchange. That's the only one that I know of 100% however. I'm sure there might be others available but that's the one I know for certain due to my offer letter. Makes me wonder if I get both if it'll be 10k

Are you sure it's a raise? It could be part of the tuition reimbursement program at your job. I know I would get a reimbursement of up to 5k if I go to classes, trainings, or got a couple certifications. I am not eligible for the benefit since I'm ony an intern here.

Tackle

I got to keep my job when I got my cert. My last interview they said "If you don't get a Microsoft Cert so we can keep our partnership in 6 months, we'll have to let you go".

cvuong1984

Like an above poster said, I have heard of companies giving 1-3% raises if you get a certification.

There are also a bunch that are willing to pay for your certification if it is related to your work. I got my MCSA/MCSE fully paid by my previous company. But they usually require you to stay a year, or you have to pay them back.

For VCP4 (VMWare??) I thought it was a requirement to attend their classes before they provide you a voucher to take the exam...
Did they change that so now you can self study for it?

Turgon

None. My career has taken me far beyond raise rewards for anymore certifications. Im not even required to get the CCIE as I was hired without that. Just in it for the knowledge and the medals now.

Devilsbane

I don't expect to get a bonus or a promotion or anything. What I do expect is that at some point down the road I will apply for and get offered a job higher up on the food chain that will come with my raise. I like my current job and they pay well, so it doesn't put me off that I don't get a raise.

cvuong1984 wrote: »

Like an above poster said, I have heard of companies giving 1-3% raises if you get a certification.

This really doesn't make sense. Businesses are concerned with their bottom line. If they are going to pay you more then they are going to expect more. Having a sheet of paper pinned on the wall doesn't mean that you are going to do a better job for them. (It MIGHT, but that is the point of having a yearly review/raise)

Heck, if I worked for a company like that I'd go out and find the 10 easiest certifications each year and take them down. After 5 years I could be making $100k but add no actual value to the company for it.

chrisone

networker050184 wrote: »

The places I have worked they haven't given a direct bonus for getting a certification. Certification has been worked into annual goals and meeting your goals factors into your bonus percentage at the end of the year though.

This is the same scenario for my job. It would be nice to get a little change for your hard work and efforts in obtaining a cert. But i understand if a company is hurting from the "economy" i guess....

I have also gotten i believe 5 certs since ive been with the current company i am with , its been 2 years now, no raises , however i did get a bonus. But bonuses are never guaranteed like a raise in salary is. Just gotta ride the wave sometimes, i do enjoy the downtime & low stress levels i get with this company and my overall pay isnt bad, so it does balance out and i am happy. Sooner or later they have to give you a raise at some point i guess.

cyberguypr

No direct bonus here either. But company pays for training and books. At my previous job I completed MCITP:EA ans Sec+ out of my pocket as they wouldn't even reimburse the exam fee.

chrisone

Yeah i feel your pain, i havent gotten reimbursed or helped out with any of my last 5 certs i have obtained. I paid for all my materials as well.

drew726

My CTO will only reimburse exam fees if we pass hehe. Otherwise, I don't think theres any raises...not that I'm aware of.

MrAgent

I dont get bonuses for completing any certs, but I do get reimbursed for any training materials, as well as the cert costs.

Hypntick

hiddenknight821 wrote: »

Are you sure it's a raise? It could be part of the tuition reimbursement program at your job. I know I would get a reimbursement of up to 5k if I go to classes, trainings, or got a couple certifications. I am not eligible for the benefit since I'm ony an intern here.

Nope in the offer letter at my current place of employment it states a 5k per year increase in pay for MCITP for Server 08 or Exchange, provided you finish them within a year of being hired. Not sure if everyone had this particular offer extended to them or not. Although I have heard some of the other guys mentioning raises in connection with certs. Heck I haven't even heard anything about tuition reimbursement but then again i've only been here about 3 months now.

Edit: To give you an idea, i've also been provided with a brand new laptop (in addition to my workstation in the office) as well an iPhone for my on-call rotation. They have no problems spending money to make sure they have the best trained and up to date people up here. Kind of a nice change of pace.

hiddenknight821

Hypntick wrote: »

Nope in the offer letter at my current place of employment it states a 5k per year increase in pay for MCITP for Server 08 or Exchange, provided you finish them within a year of being hired. Not sure if everyone had this particular offer extended to them or not. Although I have heard some of the other guys mentioning raises in connection with certs. Heck I haven't even heard anything about tuition reimbursement but then again i've only been here about 3 months now.

Edit: To give you an idea, i've also been provided with a brand new laptop (in addition to my workstation in the office) as well an iPhone for my on-call rotation. They have no problems spending money to make sure they have the best trained and up to date people up here. Kind of a nice change of pace.

Sounds like a sweet deal. I guess the majority of us envy you for that raise you are about to get in addition to a "free" iphone and a laptop.

Everyone

Devilsbane wrote: »

I don't expect to get a bonus or a promotion or anything. What I do expect is that at some point down the road I will apply for and get offered a job higher up on the food chain that will come with my raise. I like my current job and they pay well, so it doesn't put me off that I don't get a raise.

This really doesn't make sense. Businesses are concerned with their bottom line. If they are going to pay you more then they are going to expect more. Having a sheet of paper pinned on the wall doesn't mean that you are going to do a better job for them. (It MIGHT, but that is the point of having a yearly review/raise)

Heck, if I worked for a company like that I'd go out and find the 10 easiest certifications each year and take them down. After 5 years I could be making $100k but add no actual value to the company for it.

It's the high end consulting world that does this. You don't get a raise for every single cert, there are limitations. It has to be relevant to your position and the services you provide to the customers. If you're qualified to do this level of work, your starting salary is already going to be over $100k. 1% to 3% raise off $100k is only $1k to $3k. You'd be adding a lot of value, because you have to keep up with everything and be able to provide the services needed by the clients.

For a consulting firm to be a partner with companies like Microsoft (i.e. Microsoft Gold Certified Partner) or Cisco, their employees all have to have the certifications to back it up.

Business that pay these consulting firms to come in and do work for them, want to know the people doing the work are certified.

It's completely different from doing in-house IT anywhere. In-house IT can sometimes care less if you have any certs, as long as they know you can get the job done. At beast, most of them will reimburse you for the cost of taking an exam, but only if it's relevant to your position. Some may require you to have a specific cert that matches your position.

Turgon

To be honest there are two things potentially going for you in terms of certification and monies for those getting qualified in house or on your own time.

1. Costs of training materials and exams to be covered by the company
2. Recognition by way of a raise once exams are completed.

Most companies are generally more relaxed on point 1 than point 2. So if you are in it to win it at a company and have plans to tramp through many certifications you may be disappointed with the outcome to your bottom line without some discussions in advance.

Regardless, expect to have to use some commercial acumen to justify to your employer why they should invest in your training and especially why you should be rewarded with a raise by obtaining them. Far too many CCIE's sacrifice personal expense and personal time obtaining a number only to remain entrenched in a permanent job that does not recognise the achievement in payslip terms. It's a reasonably nice plaque but it is not in and of itself a ticket to the bigtime. You get that ticket by having the right conversations followed through with the ability to deliver the goods. Certification can help with the delivery aspect in some senses. Learned well they provide you insights and options to both save and make money for your employer. But you also need to think about what that actually means and its not something taught in any certification track. Learned poorly they offer neither.

If your certification efforts are targetted you should be learning stuff that you can leverage to your companies advantage either to A. Reduce costs or B. Win new business. Think about that and sell that to your boss before you invest a lot of money on workbooks and used equipment on ebay.

instant000

I don't expect any sort of bonus for any certifications. I don't count on my current employer to reimburse me for being certified. I'm counting on the next employer for that

I think that getting a certification in the line of work you're doing makes good business sense.

Jinuyr

jdchilders wrote: »

Lucky. I get NO bonuses/raises for any of my certs. I just self studied, self paid for security+ and CISSP(painful for my bank account- cause of the prep class); and get nothing.

I am going through the same programs I believe. I just completed my Security+, which gave me no immediate benefits except a possibility of reimbursement for the materials, but that's not guaranteed. The CISSP will be completely out of pocket but I hope to use it as a leveraging tool be promoted to Assistant Director of IT within my organization.

While certifications are recognized in the organization I work in, compenstation is much harder to come by. You usually get the additional responbilities based on your level of experience, competency, or completed education/certification but never get any actual dough to encourage you. However, with that said, they do recognize your efforts for future promotions within the company, and that's somebody they haven't screwed anyone on in this property.

As the saying goes I suppose... If you want the job, you have to already be doing the job.

Turgon

instant000 wrote: »

I don't expect any sort of bonus for any certifications. I don't count on my current employer to reimburse me for being certified. I'm counting on the next employer for that

I think that getting a certification in the line of work you're doing makes good business sense.

It does, but that's something you need to educate your existing employer on. One cannot job hop forever.

Shecky

I've been working at this company for almost 4 years now. Within that time I've acquired my bachelor's degree and an MCSE, MCITP:EA, CCNA, CEH, and Security+ certificates. All paid for within my own means. Company did not reimburse me for anything. And what kind of "bonus" did I get for that? About a 20-25 cent raise. No joke.

Devilsbane

Shecky wrote: »

I've been working at this company for almost 4 years now. Within that time I've acquired my bachelor's degree and an MCSE, MCITP:EA, CCNA, CEH, and Security+ certificates. All paid for within my own means. Company did not reimburse me for anything. And what kind of "bonus" did I get for that? About a 20-25 cent raise. No joke.

Your biggest raises usually won't come from a company. If you are willing to leave your company and apply for a job that is going to utilize your CCNA or MCSE you could probably expect a large pay increase.

instant000

Turgon wrote: »

It does, but that's something you need to educate your existing employer on. One cannot job hop forever.

I hear you.

I don't know if the UK has "at-will-employment" like it is in the U.S., but you can be fired at any time around here. So, the problem is two-fold:
1. It's at-will employment, which means that you can leave at any time (but is really designed so it is easy to fire you at any time.)
2. The catch is that if you have frequent employment changes on your resume, then it's a strike against you, that you won't stick around for a while (companies do invest a lot, in order to bring in employees).

In the grand scheme of things, I'm working for myself, and I'm selling my skills to the employers. If I feel that I'm getting more skilled, then I need to charge more for my wares (if only for the materials I have to buy and study, in order to maintain my skills). The easiest way for me to do this has been to change jobs.

I was at my last job for 3.5 years, no opportunity of promotion. Current job, I'm a contractor, which means I'm signed on to do a very specific job. If I want a better opportunity, then I move on to another contract, or get hired on somewhere. Lack of advancement (3 years at same rank) is the main reason I left the U.S. Army, to be honest. Advancement is something I feel strongly about. If I'm feeling stagnant, then it's neither good for me, or for the client I'm working for.

Once the dice roll just right and I get an opportunity with somewhere I can grow, I expect to stick around. Until then, I'm racking up my experience, so I can eventually run a company that consults to others: Instant000, Incorporated.

Repo Man

I expect to be switched to full time by the beginning of next year so I'll need to ask about this. I know they offer tuition reimbursement but I wonder if that covers technical training not pertaining to a current job role.

Turgon

instant000 wrote: »

I hear you.

I don't know if the UK has "at-will-employment" like it is in the U.S., but you can be fired at any time around here. So, the problem is two-fold:
1. It's at-will employment, which means that you can leave at any time (but is really designed so it is easy to fire you at any time.)
2. The catch is that if you have frequent employment changes on your resume, then it's a strike against you, that you won't stick around for a while (companies do invest a lot, in order to bring in employees).

In the grand scheme of things, I'm working for myself, and I'm selling my skills to the employers. If I feel that I'm getting more skilled, then I need to charge more for my wares (if only for the materials I have to buy and study, in order to maintain my skills). The easiest way for me to do this has been to change jobs.

I was at my last job for 3.5 years, no opportunity of promotion. Current job, I'm a contractor, which means I'm signed on to do a very specific job. If I want a better opportunity, then I move on to another contract, or get hired on somewhere. Lack of advancement (3 years at same rank) is the main reason I left the U.S. Army, to be honest. Advancement is something I feel strongly about. If I'm feeling stagnant, then it's neither good for me, or for the client I'm working for.

Once the dice roll just right and I get an opportunity with somewhere I can grow, I expect to stick around. Until then, I'm racking up my experience, so I can eventually run a company that consults to others: Instant000, Incorporated.

The problem with advancement is there just isn't enough to go around. In my opinion the trick is to get in with an organisation where the chemistry is good for you. If you have that going for you it beats your prior experience, education and certifications hands down. With it you get access to the kind of work that really gets you on. Often what we see are people diverting more time and energy into certifications and education on the basis that this will enable them to accomplish more, but I think you are often better off spending less time on that and more on raising your profile within your organisation with the job in hand.

If the chemistry isn't right, use some alchemy and change it for the better. If that is impossible find a company where it is good. Generally someone of reasonable intelligence with experience, a little education and a good work ethic is usally very employable. It really then comes down to finding a company where you can grow internally. A place where you are rated and well thought of. Once you find that company grab every opportunity presented to you and spend hours working late on projects that give you goldstars at work as opposed to the latest Cisco certification. It gets your promoted, gets you raises and if you do decide to move on, you have a CV full of impressive accomplishments.

WafflesAndRootbeer

In my area the IT industry is almost entirely contract-based, no matter who pays you, so you can forget any sort of compensation or even recognition for getting a cert. Oddly enough, quite a few companies will actually put it in writing when you sign on that you are to get additional certifications of their choosing in a timely manner and on a regular basis in order to remain employed with them. It's really absurd but nobody is actually hiring for real IT jobs here anymore so you don't have much choice but to bounce around from gig to gig if you can't keep up with the demands.

Plantwiz

Zentraedi wrote: »

Just curious, what kind of incentives companies out there are giving...

What's a good amount to expect?

Anyway, apparently I get a month's paycheck for MCITP: EA. Not sure how that compares at all to other places.

They want me to go for VA and VCP4 too, but those don't get bonuses. I suppose those do put me in a better position when contract renewal comes up though.

I've not seen many places give a bonus for gaining a certification. It usually helps the employee 'stay' employed because they remain current with the technology they are working with.

I've sesen employers pay for the exam, sometimes pay for a 2nd attempt as well as books. So, I guess this is a sort of 'bonus' because it saves the employee about $200.

However, I never quite understood why folks fee that someone else needs to reward them for achiving something that benefits themselves personally as well as the company. If you find yourself more marketable with a couple certifications, by all means, shop for a new job.

However, after a few decades in the work force, one begins to realize there is more to a 'great' job then mere pay.

ehnde

I've read enough posts on the Jobs/Degrees section of TE to come to this conclusion:
You have no expectation of a raise or promotion at MOST IT jobs, but if you seek out new employment in 3 - 5 years it is likely you will make more money and gain new responsibilities.

instant000

Plantwiz wrote: »

I've not seen many places give a bonus for gaining a certification. It usually helps the employee 'stay' employed because they remain current with the technology they are working with.

Amen.

Plantwiz wrote:

However, I never quite understood why folks fee that someone else needs to reward them for achiving something that benefits themselves personally as well as the company.

Amen.

Plantwiz wrote:

If you find yourself more marketable with a couple certifications, by all means, shop for a new job. However, after a few decades in the work force, one begins to realize there is more to a 'great' job then mere pay.

Yeah, I like opportunities to advance, that's honestly what drives me. I feel like if I ever stop advancing, then I'll start regressing. Of course, with advancement, usually comes more pay. For instance, my next job, I'm taking it because I want the particular experience, and as a kicker, it pays more, too. (But be it far from me to tell them that I would have taken a cut for the opportunity.)

Turgon wrote:

The problem with advancement is there just isn't enough to go around. In my opinion the trick is to get in with an organisation where the chemistry is good for you. If you have that going for you it beats your prior experience, education and certifications hands down.

Turgon wrote:

If the chemistry isn't right, use some alchemy and change it for the better. If that is impossible find a company where it is good.

You say a lot about chemistry in your post (it was my first major). Let me see if I can get this right.

major on-the-job accomplishments = 6.02x10^23(education+certs+prior experience)

Is that it?

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