Job paying for certifications

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drkat wrote: »

1. Jobs paying for certifictions, the good the bad and the ugly

If the company can afford to invest in you, great. The organisations that I've worked/work for has invested in me, and in turn I have used those skills & knowledge to improve my department.

The downside, getting trained up in something that realise afterwards that you dislike, but having to do because of the amount the company has invested in you...

drkat wrote: »

2. What if the training is not in line with your career goals

I don't see a downside to this. It may not be in line with your career goals, but if the company has invested in you to do the training, then it must be relevant to your job role. Alot of skills are transferable, and even if the main skills that you learn aren't inline with your career goals, the secondary skills (eg soft skills) that you learn/improve upon will be.

techdudehere

Here's what I think: They want you to spend your free time learning something you have no interest in. In that case, they should not simply pay for books and exam fees. They should pay for you to attend whatever training you decide on and allow time off to attend. Basically, figure up everything you'd need to minimize the amount of time you need to spend outside of work to do this and say, "if I am to do this I am going to need some things... here is my list." Put at least 2 things you can live without for bargaining. On issue with IT is employers tend to think it's like a hobby rather than a career. In any other field, people are sent on the clock to training, they aren't given books and told to spend every free moment of their life reading them and "by the way, I'll give you your cost of living raise if you happen to pass"

drkat

Oh yeah they're gonna send me to classes and all that jazz. Just after I pass the NA Voice

networker050184

If you don't want to do it just tell them so.

Iristheangel

If you hate it with a passion and you can't get into it at all, then it might not be the job for you. Better to pass up the job now than to be paying several thousand dollars for training, books, and exams because you quit early or were fired for not meeting certain educational milestones

jasong318

If you have no other prospects lined up and your boss is pretty insistent of you doing it, go ahead and get it out of the way. You'll probably learn a ton in the way of networking and switch/router configurations that will be transferrable to the R&S. Plus, you'll probably get some good networking (people wise) out of attending training/classes. I've had to do the same thing with wireless (two away from CCNP Wireless) even though I have no interest whatsoever in wireless, but I have managed to at least get interested in the security side of it and have learned some useful tips/tricks about configuring switches from having to configure wireless controllers. So, think of it as those general ed classes you have to take in college, not immediately useful for your chosen field of study, but every once and awhile is useful

drkat

I agree jasong - I am just gonna do it.

jamesp1983

Voice is certainly a good skill to have even if you dislike it.

MAC_Addy

My company said they'd reimburse me for my certifications. I put in my request for my ICND1 back in March, still haven't seen anything.

This isn't the first time. When I first started they said my travel would be once, maybe twice a month and that they'll pay for mileage and gas. I used my personal car (all other managers are provided with vehicles) - turns out they lied, it'll be more like 3 or 4 times a week. I put in my request for reimbursement and didn't get it back until a year later. I offered them an ultimatum - either you give my reimbursement back or I'll quit and sue. The reimbursement was around $2,500.

Nytrocide

Even though I'm still on the entry level certs, I can share one experience...

My company sent me to the New Horizons Network+ week course. After I finished I asked the instructor if it included a voucher code as the A+ course I took previously (on my own money before I worked for them) did. He said it didn't include one, which isn't a huge deal...it's only $253.

So I went ahead a bought a voucher myself on PearsonVUE, took the test, and once I told my manager he said congrats and that I should be able to claim it as a career expense. I was able to and got my $253 back!

log32

I'm really all into Linux, and my current job role is microsoft sysadmin. my current job offered me to go to a full time network administration role and offered me to go for a Juniper course + a raise, and in exchange, I had to commit to several more months/years for them but really, networking is not something I like doing, so I declined it. 2 weeks later I got a Linux sysadmin spot in a different company after months of job seeking. so I'm really happy I stick to what interests me and stayed according to my plans.

dave330i

To OP,

Since you're not interested in Voice and the company is asking you to take it mainly for company's benefit, it shouldn't count towards your educational reimbursement i.e. they should cover all the expenses and they shouldn't require you work X amount of time to pay off the expense.

Legacy User

voice isnt to bad I always disliked the idea of learning it. everyone would tell me voip you need to know it thats where the market is at yada yada yada but i would reply saying phones are stupid. Reading the theory seemed uninteresting to me. well let me tell you after working at my current job having call manager setup and getting phones to call each other on the lan it was kind of cool. Now I want to dig deeper. So maybe if you really get some hands on it and get a little taste you may just find yourself to be hooked.

Iristheangel

@OP, I'm sort of in a similar situation. I have to get my MCITP:EA before the end of the year and after getting my MCSE years ago, I didn't have any desire to really go back into the Microsoft certification tracks. MS stuff BORES me to tears, but I really like my new job. I'm gritting my teeth and bearing it but I can understand it if you decided not to do it. It's hard learning concepts that you don't find interesting in the least bit

SteveLord

Nytrocide wrote: »

Even though I'm still on the entry level certs, I can share one experience...

My company sent me to the New Horizons Network+ week course. After I finished I asked the instructor if it included a voucher code as the A+ course I took previously (on my own money before I worked for them) did. He said it didn't include one, which isn't a huge deal...it's only $253.

So I went ahead a bought a voucher myself on PearsonVUE, took the test, and once I told my manager he said congrats and that I should be able to claim it as a career expense. I was able to and got my $253 back!

Considering how much you pay to NH, it should include one right?

I've done courses (paid by the office) with them on Windows XP, Net+, Security+ and many others that do not carry certs.

Anyway, it is still great that an employer would put up the money for it. There are many that cringe at the idea of even paying for a test.

VAHokie56

I have only had one employer that paid the price of my certification exams and I took the ICND2 there but when I left I had to pay some of it back. the rest I have dished out myself,I am thinking around 800 dollars and I don't regret a dime...although the job I just interviewed for sends there network people to Cisco live for training on there dime and pays for certs...really hoping I get it!

the_Grinch

My previous company would only pay for the certifications, not the training or books. They did send one engineer to VMWare training and another two for Sonicwall training (we were a partner). It actually sucked big time because sure it was nice to get the cert paid for, but when training expenses are on you it can be tough. They would give you the time off to take the exam though. I always felt that only the training should require an agreement to repay if you leave after a certain period of time. Most certs aren't too expensive so to ding you for 6 months for a $125 Cisco exam seems like a bit much.

powerfool

If I am working somewhere and they expect me to get a certification, they can pay for it and the training without a commitment from me. If it is something that I want to do and they are willing pay, then I can understand the commitment.

ChooseLife

dave330i wrote: »

To OP,

Since you're not interested in Voice and the company is asking you to take it mainly for company's benefit, it shouldn't count towards your educational reimbursement i.e. they should cover all the expenses and they shouldn't require you work X amount of time to pay off the expense.

powerfool wrote: »

If I am working somewhere and they expect me to get a certification, they can pay for it and the training without a commitment from me. If it is something that I want to do and they are willing pay, then I can understand the commitment.

Interesting point, I never thought of it that way, but that does make a lot of sense...

dave330i

One of the advantages of working for a service provider is that they value certs. My company pays for all the books, training classes, videos, software and exam cost (only the 1st try) up to ~ $5000/year. I didn't think it was all that great since they don't cover hardware, no bonus for getting certs and only paying for the 1st try. Guess I should rethink my opinion.

drkat

it's better than nothing. I just dont like how I'm put in a role that I could really care less about, but then again....

drkat

Welp, I decided and I'm going for my NP R&S and leaving voice somewhere else. I've come to realize I dont understand anything about UC and frankly... well you know

However I'm having a ball of a time labbing up eigrp debugs and digging down into the protocol... So.. With regard to them paying for it and wanting me to get it, I guess I'll break the news to them once I pass my CCNP R&S, atleast that way I can have some leverage... or something. Thanks all for your input --

drkat

I decided that after trying to study for the NP R&S.. I dont like the material in that either... so guess what I'm doing?? .. dont know yet.. but something has to give... maybe rethinking systems/support vs network, but we'll see

N2IT

What about Citrix, SCCM, MCSE, or Red Hat?

doobies

VAHokie56 wrote: »

I have only had one employer that paid the price of my certification exams and I took the ICND2 there but when I left I had to pay some of it back. the rest I have dished out myself,I am thinking around 800 dollars and I don't regret a dime...although the job I just interviewed for sends there network people to Cisco live for training on there dime and pays for certs...really hoping I get it!

this red the fine print.. read the fine print.. if your gnna stay put for 2 years and they offer.. take em all

m3zilla

doobies wrote: »

this red the fine print.. read the fine print.. if your gnna stay put for 2 years and they offer.. take em all

I've had all my certifications paid for my employer without having to sign anything. But really, why does it matter? Would I still have attained the certification if I had to pay for it out of my pocket? Absolutely. I don't see what the big deal is about having to pay back a portion if you leave early....all you're really doing is paying for your own certs.

drkat

N2 - Yeah, thinking about mcse due to my extensive experience in wintel and maybe looking at some linux stuff.. we shall see

drkat

So I would like to give an update.

I'm going down the CCNP Voice track. I had the talk with the boss about the R&S vs Voice and well it came down to, do the voice or he'll find someone who will... So I'm going to exhaust the training budget and get sent to class with time off of work.

N2IT

@Steve I am one of them but the fear of the phones keeps me pumping dollars into certification machine.

It's been several years since I answered phones on a helpdesk, but I want to keep distancing myself as far way as possible.

N2IT

drkat

Smart move like James mentioned earlier VoIP is heavily in demand and a great skill to possess. Keep us posted!