Certs are expensive

As a broke college student I just don't have the funds to pay for the exams, but I'm studying for them anyways. Plus, I dont want them to expire on me before I finish my education. How do yall afford them?

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okplaya

Certifications can be costly. When you add in the study materials and resources, the cost can go up significantly.

Many people here are well into their careers and have the funds to cover the fees. One thing I would say is to keep in mind that certifications are an investment into your future. Just as college students take out thousands in student loans, the same applies here.

NetworkVeteran

Given the ROI on actually proving your skills, I'd take out a loan, skimp on your dining, or do some odd jobs to make it happen. You'll feel rather silly if you start out making $5,000-$10,000/yr less because you wanted to save $300.

Danielm7

REMOVED UNNECESSARY QUOTED REPLY FROM PREVIOUS POST

This ^^

Sort of like that old saying of "if you think education is expensive, try ignorance"

SharkDiver

Once you finish school, if you manage to get a job with a good company, you can probably get them to pay for the certs.
Some of mine were paid for by my company, and some I paid for myself, but I'm not still paying for school.

Akaricloud

Honestly compared to college tuition costs they're relatively cheap. Like others have said considering the ROI of certs make paying for them a no brainer, regardless of what needs to be done to pay for them.

I guarantee after if you gather certs now, by the time you finish school and are making 60, 70, 80k you won't think anything of what you spent on certs.

DoubleNNs

You can also try to get a discount on your certs from your school. I'm not too sure about the actual process, but there's a possibility to get pretty big discounts on certs from educational institutions.

odysseyelite

Like others stated, its about the ROI. I finished college, had several years of windows\programming\desktop support experience and couldn't get a job for 6 months. I landed helpdesk. Every interview I went started off with what certs do you have? I jsut spent 20k on a degree, I don't have any yet.

I also know from being in college, poor college kids waste so much money. Cut back on eating out, drinking, partying. If you get student loans, put some off to the side. Its it still being used for education. I also know Cisco, and MS offer academic pricing on their exams so do some research and see what you can find out. For study materials, you can get safari subscriptions, and trainsignal subscriptions pretty cheap or on a monthy basis.

You only get out, what you put in. Considering you will graduate with several students with the same degree going for the same jobs, you need to make yourself stand out.

ptilsen

Certs are cheap. They're so cheap. I mean, $500 can be the difference between $30-$40K/year and $20-25K/year. Another $1000 or $2000 is can be the difference between $40-$50K and $50-$60K. It's hard to truly put numbers to most individual certifications, but I would still put most of the more common infrastructure certs we talk about at anywhere between five and 100 times the one-time face value in annual salary. Getting the right certification can be the highest-percent-returning investment you ever make.

Don't get me wrong, it's not that hard to blow hundreds, even thousands on certs that don't add their face value, but for the most part their costs are easily justified. I know $300 might seem like a lot when you're a poor college student, but it's cheaper than one or two credit-hours' worth of tuition at most schools, and unlike that partial class, it can get you a job, now.

This, from someone in the finish-a-bachelor's-degree-at-some-point-almost-no-matter-what crowd.

coreyb80

Find out if your school has a deal with CompTIA which would allow you to purchase the certs at a nice discount. My jr college does this. I'm taking my A+ in either July or August and it will only run me $200.

aaron0011

Between books, some hardware for labbing (most I had to work), and exam fees to do CCNP Voice cost me about $2000+. And I passed every exam on the first attempt. Fortunately, my employer reimbursed me for all of it. I still would have done it out of pocket though.

Yes, it's expensive but the ROI is worth it as others have said.

N2IT

Certifications are expensive and I believe most are not worth it however some are. If you know what you want to do in the scope if IT, E.G. Networking etc then I think it would be wise to try to get one when you have the time. At the end of the day the lack of time will be a greater constraint than the money. This is how it seems as IT professionals progress. I myself am experiencing this and so have a dozen or so of my friends. While on the desk or prior I had a lot of time to go to training courses and self study exams. Now I have a wife with two children and a lot of work, IT and house work etc. If I can squeak out one this year it will be a small miracle. I am finishing up my MBA so I'll probably skip a certification for 2013 and resume in 2014, then again it will probably be only one. Also keep an eye out for free certifications. There was recently a MS CSS developer one just recently posted and a networking Brocade along with CompTIA Mobility. See if you can leverage the fact you are student and get a certifications that way. Some vendors are school friend and might give you a discount if you go the extra mile. Try contacting the customer service department of the different companies. I think the MTA MS exams might have a discount. In the end less is more so getting one certification that aligns with your career path is far greater than a ton of certifications that go all over the place.

gorebrush

Cert's don't cost me anything - my work pays for it.

When my work didn't pay for it, then all I needed was the £100 for the exam. Certs were still cheap.

The only expensive one I've ever embarked on is CCIE. It's going to cost me a lot of money, I guess. So far I've just got a stack of textbooks and I managed to get a 3550 for like £50 a few months back.

As most of it can be learned via the DocCD - which is free, then arguably you could make a CCIE as cheap or as expensive as you like. (I.e. vendor support training etc)(

About7Narwhal

I have an auto-transfer set up that moves $25.00 dollars a week into a separate account for "Random" expenses. Certifications draw from that account. If the money isn't there, I simply study until it is or I take a loan out against myself and pay myself back for it. Kinda lame, but it helps keep my spending in check.

N2IT

@Nar that's not a bad idea. Great way to monitor your spending habits and not allowing yourself to go out of control. Sounds very responsible not lame at all.

DeezyFF

I have gotten all of my certifications through my WGU degree program. I have also been saving to pay for the certs i want that arnt on my degree plan. The best part of this is that it is an online school, so i work full time as a System Analyst.

hoktauri

I had/have the same issue, my degree was paid for entirely by the Pell Grant but that doesn't seem to mean anything to most employers, they want the certs. Luckily I was able to do side work that built up my experience and launched my own IT services company, now I don't really need the low level ones. Thinking about trying to talk the owner of the business I'm currently partnered with into paying for some security related ones but we'll see.

Oh, also having an online portfolio with various projects and other samples helps a lot.

docrice

I know many people want to get a leg up on their competition and attain the shiny certifications ASAP given the way the job market feels at the moment, but many of these certifications cost money because the field is growing, training material changes often, and given how dynamic the industry is many vendors and independent training providers see a lot of cha-ching with the demand today. Many professional certifications aren't necessarily meant for the broke college student.

But if you're really serious, you'll have to decide how to make the real trade-offs. When money's tight and every penny is under your scrutiny, you'll have to figure out where your priorities are day to day. The real cost of certifications isn't the price of sitting an exam, but the time put into studying as well as potential lab equipment. There are a lot of ways to do things on the cheap (used equipment, open source software, borrow stuff, etc.), but everything comes with a price. Don't jump the gun just to make an impression on paper. Take the time to learn the fundamentals well because you'll stumble if you rush into getting certification xyz if you don't really get the underlying foundation. Those things tend to reveal themselves during the technical interviews.

Dakinggamer87

Certs can be expensive but can also pay off in huge dividends down the road. They are an investment in your future same as getting degrees. I have had to pay out of pocket for all my certs so I know it can be costly up to this point hopefully that will change in the future. However, they have helped me immensely move up to better pay/jobs.

Get certified get ahead!!

ITcognito

Thanks everybody for the feedback. You guys are right, certs are an investment for the future. Since I want to get into InfoSec, I'm looking at obtaining Security+, CCNA Security, CEH, CISSP and CISA. Which of these five can i realistically obtain before finishing my undergrad (two more years to go)?

j23evan

Security+ I found to be pretty easy, it's an exam that's breadth is a mile long, but its depth is an inch deep. I cannot comment on the CEH, though it is costly to take it without taking their course, which is also costly. CISSP requires verified references and years of experience, or they have an Associate version, but its 2 miles wide and 2 inches deep. CISA (I believe) also requires documented and verified experience. Now to make the same comment as everyone else, Certifications are an investment in yourself. And if you do not have experience, or references to back you up, it is a great "neutral 3rd party" endorsement of your achievement. Certifications are expensive, and they add up in cost. Just for the sense of accomplishment I decided to knock out most of the Microsoft Office and MTA exams. No studying, just going in with my existing knowledge and sitting them to validate it. I worked for an IT company that paid for 4 or 5 certs (No training, just the exam cost), and that was a bitter point of contention when I left. I vowed to not be beholden to any company trying to hold something over my head(though legally they had no recourse, and I took them in good faith for the company), and I would go without _something_ and have the certification instead.

NetworkVeteran

As it's the one certification not commented on, I'll note the CCNA Security is geared towards the entry-level and can be done on the cheap. It would also give you a better understanding of the fundamentals of computer networking in general, which you probably need to know to be any good at securing a network! I will leave what makes for the best path for InfoSec to others.

paul78

ITcognito wrote: »

two more years to go

I pesonally do not advocate getting any certificates until you are closer to graduation or after you get your first job. Don't let it be a distraction to focusing on your classes. If you have that much extra time, I would suggest focusing on improving your grades.

DoubleNNs

Or if you have that much extra time, an internship or PT IT job might be better.
Nothing like graduating w/ a shiny new degree and being told you need experience to gain experience in the field you just studied. X_x

JasminLandry

paul78 wrote: »

I pesonally do not advocate getting any certificates until you are closer to graduation or after you get your first job. Don't let it be a distraction to focusing on your classes. If you have that much extra time, I would suggest focusing on improving your grades.

I completely agree with this. I was trying to do my CCENT while at school and I had a part time job and forget it, it didn't go to well. I had to give up studying the exam just to stay awake in the class. It was too much at the same time.

ITcognito

paul78 wrote: »

I personally do not advocate getting any certificates until you are closer to graduation or after you get your first job. Don't let it be a distraction to focusing on your classes. If you have that much extra time, I would suggest focusing on improving your grades.

DoubleNNs wrote: »

Or if you have that much extra time, an internship or PT IT job might be better.
Nothing like graduating w/ a shiny new degree and being told you need experience to gain experience in the field you just studied. X_x

I was thinking of doing it during the summer when I won't be busy with anything else but a mundane summer job. Another reason I was thinking of holding off on getting certifications was the expiry date on them.

paul78

That seems reasonable. Also, just keep studying and learning. You can always take the actual exam at a later date. By the time you graduate, things could change.

joebanny

I agree with most of what have been said. I just want to offer my 2 cents. There is a neat way to get certifications- it is called "self study". I can tell you that 3 of my last certs have been done this way. So the cost to me mainly was the cost of textbooks and the exams.

I have even found out you can get a lot of books for free (maybe not in all cases) from the libraries in your area. The only thing with this is that you have to be self-disciplined and set a goal/target of completing each exam you want to take within a reasonable timeframe. (you may also have to renew the books from the library a couple of times before you take your exam). Make it a reasonable time frame.

The only caveat to self study I will say is that you should at least have some reasonable idea of what the certification entails. Generally, to take IT certification in a particular area, I think you should have some background in that given area, otherwise self study may not work in that case- in which case a boot camp may be your option!

One thing I can guarantee you is that certs will pay off in a big way. Recently I was thinking of influence of certs vs college degrees on my career and I realize that too much emphasize and money goes to the latter which may not yield a corresponding gain whereas certs almost always pay off much quickly. Don't get me wrong I am not saying degrees are not important, (I also have 2 of them - a B.Sc and M.Sc) but neither has paid off like the certs.

So my conclusion is this, if you really want to get some certs, I will strongly encourage you go for it (off course after the completion of your degree- which I assume is in progress) and you wont have to break the bank to get them, start small (take the easiest one first) buy some used textbooks (amazon carries a lot of them), pace yourself, look in your local library- it is doable, I wish you success!

NinjaBoy

ITcognito wrote: »

As a broke college student I just don't have the funds to pay for the exams, but I'm studying for them anyways. Plus, I dont want them to expire on me before I finish my education. How do yall afford them?

I do combination of things...

1. Save up and pay for them
2. Look out for beta exams
3. Get work (my main job) to pay for them as it relates to my job/post
4. An exchange program... For about 5 years, I've been teaching part-time at the local college and a University in exchange for pay and for their CPD program (which includes some certs and them paying for my post-grad studies while I work for them).

While loans can be an option, it's not always the case. A lot of people take out loans then find out that they still can't get a job straight away, some do in the long term, some don't.

ChooseLife

ITcognito wrote: »

I was thinking of doing it during the summer when I won't be busy with anything else but a mundane summer job. Another reason I was thinking of holding off on getting certifications was the expiry date on them.

I still support DoubleNNs' idea on getting an internship or a temp job to start gaining experience. That will put you in a better starting position after graduation than any entry-level certification.

NetworkVeteran

At least in networking, a solid degree plus certification will usually result in you getting snapped up quickly. Remember, employers have thousands of resumes to review, and "CCNA" makes for an easy filter. I'd agree some internships or temporary jobs would weight higher. For example, one person I hired worked at Cisco's TAC for a semester while in college. However, something like PC repair, or lab monitor, or help desk would be much less impressive and I wouldn't be able to offer them nearly as much if anything. I would also point out, the candidate I eventually hired got that TAC job, mostly because he had a Cisco certification already!