Have you ever started a certification and then bailed?

What certification did you bail on?
Did it effect you, did you feel like you failed or the certification got the best of you?
Did you take some time away or did you go right into another one after you stopped pursuing the certification?
Why did you quit the certification?
Do you regret that you quit on the certification or when you look back was it the right thing to do?

I have bailed on quiet of few. Personally I think it shows immaturity, but there are other reasons that curbed my decision. Changing jobs, finances, family, and good ole fashion burnout.

Anyone experience this?

I started down the Windows 7 road and about 3 weeks in I just shut the book and gave it to another co worker for free. I also bought the CCNA books from Borders 70% off and ended up gifting the set to one of my employees since he was interested in transitioning into a NOC once he got Linux + and his CCNA.

I have a few lined up that I might never get to, but I haven't officially started them so I'll leave those out of my examples.

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Comments

TLeTourneau

The only one I've ever not completed was the MCSE (NT4) in 1998. The only reason I did not complete it was because my employer at the time had said they would pay for it and backed out. I did not have the money to get the study materials and take it on myself at the time. I think it may have helped me later on but it's hard to tell, even with hindsight.

SteveO86

CWNA.. I've read the books went through the videos got the hands on... but before I took the test I changed jobs and now deal with a lot more routing/switching/security.. not much wireless nowadays..

I've got the knowledge and I can gladly hold my own in the wireless so I'm not very concerned with the taking the test..

But I never took the test because of my job, I needed to brush up on the topics relevant to my position and had to put my wireless studies aside for now. Certifications are nice but I can't perform well at my position then they are useless pieces of paper.

My new goal is CCIP in the next 2-3 months.. (or by the end of the year to be realistic..)

Don't let it get to you, just step back and take care of the important things in your life when you get that stuff taken care then come back to studying on your terms.

instant000

N2IT wrote: »

What certification did you bail on?

VMware/Exchange/Citrix/Cisco ... I could probably go on, LOL

Did it effect you, did you feel like you failed or the certification got the best of you?

No.

Did you take some time away or did you go right into another one after you stopped pursuing the certification?

I switched to whatever was most appropriate for my current job at the time.

Why did you quit the certification?

I switched jobs, and already had the experience, the certification would have been nice if I ever wanted more jobs doing the same thing.

Do you regret that you quit on the certification or when you look back was it the right thing to do?

No regret, it just doesn't match what I'm doing right now, so ... it wouldn't make sense.

I have bailed on quiet of few. Personally I think it shows immaturity, but there are other reasons that curbed my decision. Changing jobs, finances, family, and good ole fashion burnout.

Anyone experience this?

Changing jobs, yes. It just makes sense.
Finances ... not an issue for anything I've wanted so far, TIME is usually the bigger issue, as there are only so many hours in a day.
Family ... not an issue, as my family supports me.
Burnout ... this happens if I don't pace myself properly, I develop a tendency to go full bore into something, and just stick at it until its completed. I guess a nice trait to have if you need something done, but not necessarily too bright when you need to do things over a period of time.

I started down the Windows 7 road and about 3 weeks in I just shut the book and gave it to another co worker for free. I also bought the CCNA books from Borders 70% off and ended up gifting the set to one of my employees since he was interested in transitioning into a NOC once he got Linux + and his CCNA.

I have a few lined up that I might never get to, but I haven't officially started them so I'll leave those out of my examples.

I don't mind giving away books to others, if they are not useful to me. Why store stuff? I gave away all of my Cisco stuff last year, and now I've just started building up another lab this year ... I was obviously not thinking long term back then.

Ron Brandt

I almost bailed on the CCNA after 2 years of evenings at a local Cisco Acadamy. I was burned out...BUT Microsoft came up with an offer of a Technet subscription for the first 1000 to pass a virtualization exam...

So for some comic relief I wrote all three for MCITP. This refreshed me and went full steam to write the CCNA before my 50% off voucher expired.
I passed the exam on the first shot...If I would have bailed I would have regreted it...

I have put some certs on hold in favor of others and still have to do my video for CTT+. I do certs for fun and with the exception of the CCNA do them all at my own pace. In fact I started in the last month CCNA IP Telephony , Wireless and Security jumping from one to another before deciding on Security..I have now spent the last week getting materials and labs prepaired. I have a flu right now so after my head clears it will be CCNA Security with a planed exam date of Nov 10.

Soooo in the end the it comes to this...I have postponed certs but never bailed...

NOC-Ninja

CCDA and CCNP-security
I feel like I wasted so much time learning. lol
I jumped into CCIE
I quit because the long term goal was to become a CCIE but I didnt have the guts before.
No. I regret not jumping to CCIE ASAP.

undomiel

I was studying for the RHCE at one point in time but I let it fall by the wayside. It was mostly just for personal interest and fun, I'm too steeped in Microsoft to reap much benefit from it. Plus the expense was a bit much to justify for a for fun cert. It ended up getting abandoned due to being laid off. I had to focus on what I could directly benefit from immediately. I may get back to it someday but I'm having too much fun with virtualization focused certs. Plus those are much more applicable to my current line of work.

Turgon

I have never bailed on a cert I have put my hands to. MCSE, CNE, CCNP all done years back. I wasn't able to complete MCNE simply because the track expired.

the_Grinch

CCNA almost beat me, but I am going for bust and taking ICND2 on the 29th. To be honest, I quit a lot of things in my life and pretty much regretted all of them (except football and track). Best things about certs is you always have time to go back and do it again. But I agree, stick to the stuff that directly effects your job and it is easier to do.

Turgon

SteveO86 wrote: »

I needed to brush up on the topics relevant to my position and had to put my wireless studies aside for now. Certifications are nice but I can't perform well at my position then they are useless pieces of paper.

Exactly. Your success in this industry is largely determined by your competance to get useful stuff done. You should spend most of your time attaining that competance by concentrating on your work in the field as opposed to the next cert track. I have never been hired or promoted because I have this qualification or that. It has mainly been because of what I have done in the world of work.

powerfool

Not yet... but I did take a really long time to get around to the CCNA before I actually took it. I started studying for it in 2001. I decided to take the Network+ as a gauge and passed it. Then, I got distracted by working on my MCSE in 2002. In 2003, I started my undergrad and took the first semester of the Cisco Academy. I took the second semester the following year and then didn't get around to the last two semesters. Then, there was no action on the CCNA front until 2007 when I finally decided to take the exam... and I did no preparation. Fortunately, they offered a free retake and I nailed it.

Time will tell, however. I have three certs on the burner right now: MCITP EMA 2010 (one exam to go), PMP, and VCP. I paid for the PMP a few months ago and I haven't made any moves. I imagine that I will likely put it off until the end of this semester and just crank out some studying during the downtime. Otherwise, I may never get around to it. I have been planning on doing that one since 2008...

Qord

N2IT wrote: »

What certification did you bail on?

Windows 7 exams: 680, 685, 686. Originally, I started that track for fun.

N2IT wrote: »

Did it effect you, did you feel like you failed or the certification got the best of you?

Nope.

N2IT wrote: »

Did you take some time away or did you go right into another one after you stopped pursuing the certification?

I realized how neurotic I am, and that I need to concentrate on one thing at a time. There' too much I want to study and learn, and Windows 7 lost the battle. I spend the time doing things I care about more.

N2IT wrote: »

Why did you quit the certification?

I decided that it wasn't worth the time, energy, and cost to finish. I learned quite a bit that has helped me at work, but the actual cert is not worth continuing. And I'd like to spend my "study time" on something that is personally worth my time, like finishing the MCSA core exams before they go away. To me (just my opinion of my time), the Win7 series of exams are of little value (to me) right now, and not something I really want at this time.

N2IT wrote: »

Do you regret that you quit on the certification or when you look back was it the right thing to do?

Not at all. My resources were cheap, technet, google, virtualbox, and a couple used books off Amazon. I lost out on $20 max. I learned a lot, I'm more knowledgeable and can use that at work, but there seems to little ROI on taking the exams since the expense would come out of my pocket.

Everyone

ITIL v3 Foundations.
I started it because it was going to be a requirement to move up in the company I was working for. Then that company lost the contract I was working on, and had no other openings for me, so I had to find another job.

I'd like to think of it more as "put on hold". I intend on going back to it, it may not be v3 anymore by the time I get around to it though.

cyberguypr

I was going for MCSE and had 70-270 and 290 under my belt. I was a almost ready to take 291 and woke up one day and decided to abandon it and go for MCITP:EA. That worked out great. I passed CCENT a few weeks ago and now have to push CCNA because my head is about to explode with 4 college classes + work. I'll be finishing my degree in spring and then I'll retake CCNA.

Lamini

was doing cisco certs, then a network guy took that role...

was finishing mcse (got mcsa) then server2008 became a requirement...

was working exchange 2003, and 2010 was required...

degrees looking better and better as they dont expire at least.

N2IT

Lamini wrote: »

was doing cisco certs, then a network guy took that role...

was finishing mcse (got mcsa) then server2008 became a requirement...

was working exchange 2003, and 2010 was required...

degrees looking better and better as they dont expire at least.

I feel your pain. Not exacly with those certifications, but I've been in that situation before, where you know if everything goes as plan it's the right thing to do to go for the certs. But if things don't then you are sitting there with all this knowledge and a piece of paper and nothing to use it on. That to me is the most sobering part.

Spend money, time, effort, family time, me time all for nothing or at least no where near as much return as you once thought you were getting.

Good point about the degree

Chivalry1

I planned on taking the CCNA or CCNP at one point in time but stopped. I had many of the books...all the way up to CCIE. At the time my job was as a network architect and the material seemed REALLY simple. I was installing and administrating with Cisco, Nortel and HP routers/switches. Although, I never ended up taking the tests. Oh well...maybe one day I may go back and take the CCNA or CCNP.

N2IT

Chivalry1 wrote: »

I planned on taking the CCNA or CCNP at one point in time but stopped. I had many of the books...all the way up to CCIE. At the time my job was as a network architect and the material seemed REALLY simple. I was installing and administrating with Cisco, Nortel and HP routers/switches. Although, I never ended up taking the tests. Oh well...maybe one day I may go back and take the CCNA or CCNP.

I think there is a hidden meaning in what you wrote. You can't do it all and you don't really need to do it all. Obviously you have quite a few certifications and if I had to guess you are a well established technologist.

Daniel333

All the time! I am the king of lack of cert completion.

Server+, read a book, did a pre-test. I am 100% sure I can pass. But why? I don't see any value. $250 to add one cert that no one wants?

Project+, work class on PMI done. Watched the CBT years before. Did some light project management. I just can't focus on getting serious on this.

HDI CSR, did the class. Forgot about the test and now I refused to repay for it.

ITIL Foundations, did a work related class on this. Watched the cbt. Listned to the art of service a lot. Skimmed the ITIL guides. Just never broke down and took it. 1

LPIC-1, studied a book. Took a class. I work with Linux day and day out. I even got Linux+. But if it's not RHCE, no one cares in the Linux world.

MCITP: Enterprise admin. I read the books, watched the train signal vids and did the labs and found the exams to unfair. Too much material on the exams that were not in books. I decided all I needed was MCITP: server admin, and I was right. Hasn't hurt my job opportunities at all.

MCTS: SQL 2005, failed this years ago by a couple points and never went back. Huge regrets here.

MCTS: Vista.. all studied. 90% sure I can pass. Ready to take the test, then 7 came out so I said screw it and started on win7 then got bored.

MCTS: Exchange 2010, I have been supporting exchange for 4 years now. Done a few dozen deployments etc etc. Certified up on 2003, took classes for 2007 (never certified) and did the CBTs for 2010. I might be able to pass, just never bothered.

MCTS: sharepoint... did the vids, did a couple deployments. might be able to pass.. might.

CHFI, took a class, read a few books but I couldn't figure out how to get experience so I dropped it. I even have a book on iPhone forensics I am nearly done with. I might be able to take this out, but again. No experience. Just an interest.

CCNA: Wireless, completed the CBTs and read the book. But since I couldn't afford a lab I had to drop it.

lol, man. Looking at that list makes me kinda depressed.

earweed

I bailed on the Windows 7 (70-680) cert. I had finished the book and felt ready for it but it wouldn't really benefit me where I worked and I didn't want to fork out the money. I could probably pass the test with a few days of review still.
Almost bailed on the CCNA recently. Changed my mind and got back to studying and labbing. I was scheduled to take it next week but got sick this past week and rescheduled it for 2 weeks from tomorrow.

N2IT

Daniel333 wrote: »

All the time! I am the king of lack of cert completion.

Server+, read a book, did a pre-test. I am 100% sure I can pass. But why? I don't see any value. $250 to add one cert that no one wants?

Project+, work class on PMI done. Watched the CBT years before. Did some light project management. I just can't focus on getting serious on this.

HDI CSR, did the class. Forgot about the test and now I refused to repay for it.

ITIL Foundations, did a work related class on this. Watched the cbt. Listned to the art of service a lot. Skimmed the ITIL guides. Just never broke down and took it. 1

LPIC-1, studied a book. Took a class. I work with Linux day and day out. I even got Linux+. But if it's not RHCE, no one cares in the Linux world.

MCITP: Enterprise admin. I read the books, watched the train signal vids and did the labs and found the exams to unfair. Too much material on the exams that were not in books. I decided all I needed was MCITP: server admin, and I was right. Hasn't hurt my job opportunities at all.

MCTS: SQL 2005, failed this years ago by a couple points and never went back. Huge regrets here.

MCTS: Vista.. all studied. 90% sure I can pass. Ready to take the test, then 7 came out so I said screw it and started on win7 then got bored.

MCTS: Exchange 2010, I have been supporting exchange for 4 years now. Done a few dozen deployments etc etc. Certified up on 2003, took classes for 2007 (never certified) and did the CBTs for 2010. I might be able to pass, just never bothered.

MCTS: sharepoint... did the vids, did a couple deployments. might be able to pass.. might.

CHFI, took a class, read a few books but I couldn't figure out how to get experience so I dropped it. I even have a book on iPhone forensics I am nearly done with. I might be able to take this out, but again. No experience. Just an interest.

CCNA: Wireless, completed the CBTs and read the book. But since I couldn't afford a lab I had to drop it.

lol, man. Looking at that list makes me kinda depressed.

I feel your pain. I am the king of this and it's not a good thing. O well C' est la vie, move forward and continue on.

Cisco Inferno

I'm seriously thinking of putting down my 290 (mcsa) studies since school is raping me right now. may pick it up later or the windows 7 certs.

N2IT

Cisco Inferno wrote: »

I'm seriously thinking of putting down my 290 (mcsa) studies since school is raping me right now. may pick it up later or the windows 7 certs.

School > 290

Wise decision

Cisco Inferno

N2IT wrote: »

School > 290

Wise decision

im 22 and am still living a summertime lifestyle...
it seriously needs to end haha.

maybe after a couple of weeks ill get into the groove, hang out less and be able to study my subjects along with microsoft. hmmmm. fingers crossed.

Heero

I started the CCDA after my CCNA, but quit in short order. It was boring and most of it was pretty obvious. Went onto the CCNP instead, and am now moving slowly towards the CCIP.

veritas_libertas

The CCNA on numerous occasions

QHalo

CCNA was the first certs that I put effort into and the first cert I ever got. Then I moved into MS stuff because of job relevance and started with 680, 685/6 and was almost ready to take the exams but never did. Studied for CCNA:S and took the test about a year ago. Failed just shy of passing. Never went back. Started in on VCP 4 because I have past VMware experience, built a lab and came really close. Never took the test. Right now I'm going back through CCNA:S because my CCNA expires in 3 months.

N2IT

veritas_libertas wrote: »

The CCNA on numerous occasions

Hehe

I know the feeling.

I've dropped Security + 4 or 5 times before finally finishing it.
Windows 7 was a disaster
CCNA I bought the books then gave them away 2 weeks later.
Some IBM certifications, who the heck knows why
Bought 70-290, never even opened it.
2008 SQL Developer. Failed it by 120 points

I am locked in on Six Sigma and CAPM. I asked my boss what do I need to learn to improve and he mentioned the PMP and I told him I didn't have enough project hours, (I am about 2000 away). He said do the CAPM then if I feel the need. I started Six Sigma on my own and started implementing some simplified FMEA's and QFD's to make sure our service is exactly what our customers want. He was so impressed he said keep doing that.

When you have direction from your superiors its easier to get motivated.

Zentraedi

What certification did you bail on?

Well, I've had to rearrange my priorities several times, but there has been nothing that I thought was impossible.

Oracle OCA (11g database) - Got a potential job offer if I were to pass that. The offer fell though, so I started on CCNA.
Might come back to it later, but want to focus more on networking and virtualization for now.

MSCE 2003 - Before getting hired, my current employer told me that getting MCSE 2003 and then upgrading to MCITP: EA was a waste of time. Glad I took that advice. There're just so many other things I could be working on rather than perpetual catchup.

Security+ - Bought the books, but was pushed to focus on other things ASAP. I really don't see any pressing need for this.

CCNA-V - Bought books, routers, an AIM-CUE module and IP phones. Then I was told that if I wanted a job, MCITP: EA was top priority. Might come back to this after I get my VCP.

I'm not on the Voice team at work, but I work with them often on a lot of projects. We even have weekly conference calls on these projects with our London branch and sometimes I get lost when they talk about stuff voice server configs. I figure having at least CCNA-V knowledge would allow me to have more of a voice when working with them.

Still, not sure if I should pursue this as a good intro to IP Telephony or go with Avaya certs. It's all Avaya where I work.

RHCE - Really wanted to pursue this, but got hired to work at a company that is all about SUSE and Solaris. Rather than pursuing RHCE/RHCSA right away, I'm going for Novell CLA/CLP and Oracle OCA/OCP on Solaris 10.

MCITP:SA - My bonus was linked to obtaining EA, so I went for that ASAP. Lots of debt to pay off... Now that I have EA, I don't really see SA as having much ROI. Also, getting VA and VCP will be crucial to determining my salary next year.

Daniel333

Alright, based on this dialog I went and scheduled my 642-813. Gotta stay serious about my IT skillz. Over 2 years on my CCNP I need to get this one knocked out.

N2IT

Daniel333 wrote: »

Alright, based on this dialog I went and scheduled my 642-813. Gotta stay serious about my IT skillz. Over 2 years on my CCNP I need to get this one knocked out.

Daniel good luck! Bring us home a winner!