For those who consistently get new certs--does it cause your coworkers to hate?

I started at a new company in January and one of the "informal" requirements is to get a cert within your first 90 days. They are a Novell shop so I got the CLA. I am in a help desk position right now so I'm trying to get certed up and get experience. Anyway a few people in my department have made half-jokes, saying that I'm making them look bad. Or they come up with excuses as to why they couldn't get a cert in their first 90 days ("I was more important and they threw a lot of tickets/projects at me right away").

Has anyone else experienced this? Is it common?

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JasminLandry

To be honest no, this has never happened to me. People are usually pretty happy for me or for whoever gets a cert. A cert doesn't make anyone look bad, it only makes a resume look good.

networker050184

Yeah definitely. It seems very common. I'd say about 90% of the people I've come across in this industry like to hate on the people that are making moves and improving themselves while they sit and soak up a pay check. It's probably the same in most industries I'd assume. Just human nature.

scaredoftests

Be proud of what you did and don't worry if you make them 'look bad'.

CAIRNE

No. This is very 'high school' and trying to demoralise you in the hope that you'll keep yourself in their small cesspool. Be bigger than that, laugh it off, shrug it off, keep your head high and keep earning those certificates. One day they'll be laughing on the other side of their faces when they're working for you (or your department). Keep on, keeping on. They can keep being nay-sayers, not doing it and secretly kicking themselves for not having the guts to break away from their immature high school-esq clique.

JustFred

thatguy67 wrote: »

I started at a new company in January and one of the "informal" requirements is to get a cert within your first 90 days. They are a Novell shop so I got the CLA. I am in a help desk position right now so I'm trying to get certed up and get experience. Anyway a few people in my department have made half-jokes, saying that I'm making them look bad. Or they come up with excuses as to why they couldn't get a cert in their first 90 days ("I was more important and they threw a lot of tickets/projects at me right away").

Has anyone else experienced this? Is it common?

Go ahead and continue getting certs to improve your career. Don't mind them.

ITBot

If I come across something I don't know, I do get a bunch of "So your piece of paper didn't teach you that?" Mostly from the older guys. They are just being grump old men though so nothing serious.

Rumblr33

They aren't paying your bills. You getting a cert in the first 90 days shows your drive to achieve, and take your personal development into your own hands. If they want to be lazy, that's on them. I tried to educate my coworkers on the value of certifications when I was working the helpdesk, but they didn't seem to care. To each his/her own. I was there for about 20 months and was promoted. Some people have been there 18+ years, maxed out at $25 an hour. Don't let them drag you down.

Jamm1n

It is those grumpy old guys and people that have been around in the business that give the most sh*t. Screw them though lol its my life and I want to learn and achieve.

Codeman6669

haha yes it does. It also motivates others to work on their certs. But i definitely had some negative feedback from someone i worked with. People are going to hate, i dont really care

dustervoice

No one at my current workplace hates on me. Frankly, they don't care at the end of the day its just a test.

JoJoCal19

Thankfully I haven't had shade thrown my way, but I have dealt with managers that don't care about certs, and co-workers who ask what I'm up to and when I say reading X or studying Y, they're like oh cool and then change the subject.

Danielm7

JoJoCal19 wrote: »

Thankfully I haven't had shade thrown my way, but I have dealt with managers that don't care about certs, and co-workers who ask what I'm up to and when I say reading X or studying Y, they're like oh cool and then change the subject.

Pretty similar here. I've had a one or two coworkers recently ask what I'm doing then say they might do the same but don't want to use their time outside of work or they're too busy during the day to study. Typically the same people take a lunch break 2x longer than I do, go outside to vape 8+x a day, etc. It just depends how you want to use your time.

--chris--

Very common.

My first job in IT I was the only one in 13 people who wanted to get certs and did get certs. Most paid no attention, 2-3 made jokes about it and me.
You gotta leave them in the dust, which is exactly what happens when you cert up and "sharpen your sword".

Infosec85

I honestly wouldn't let these people bother you. If they don't want to learn new technologies or improve their skill set that is their loss.

It's important to better yourself learn new tech. If the sh#t ever hits the fan you will have the skills to move on or up the ladder. These folks will likely then have to cert up again to get back in the game.

E Double U

Guess I'm pretty lucky because in most cases when I talk to people about certs they usually offer to help by giving test taking tips or recommending study material.

v1ral

My work actually likes it since I work for an MSP we have to have people on staff that are certified.

I have not yet met anyone who opposed certifications especially on newbies in the field.

Remedymp

The hate is real. Anytime you outshine your co-workers, they're going to throw salt. The best advice in your situation would be put your certs in a plaque or something and sit on your desk. I did that with all my certs and my degree and added my certs to my outlook signature and people went ballistic. You would have thought I pooped in their yogurt or something.

rjon17469

I think there are two sides to this. The first is the possibility of others fearing the "new guy" will outshine them. Having a new person get promoted before you can be tough, so it's not uncommon for people in these types of situations to give grief to those who are pulling ahead.

But, a significant portion of how others react to you is related to how you act with the certification. Being humble can go a long way in getting along with others in this situation.

Iristheangel

I think it's more common the further down the totem pole you are. So you mentioned you're at helpdesk and some of those folks have probably been there for awhile and don't believe or care to think there is a way they could have moved up or out of helpdesk. It still happens further up the totem pole but I notice less-so. When I was in helpdesk, I used to get a certification and old timers would try to challenge me by playing "stump the technician" to prove I didn't know everything or wasn't as good as them. That was always frustrating because I never claimed to know everything or be arrogant so I didn't like the idea of people trying to tear me down to make themselves feel better.

Further past helpdesk, it still happens where other engineers don't care for certifications (always the uncertified ones) but they don't try to stump me. Even when I was just past the CCNA and moving onto the CCNP, I had a couple people in the office that told me that I needed to get my head out of the book and let them do the real teaching because could teach me better than a book but they never tried to stump me by any means. There were also some amusing times where I'd ask about something random that they never deployed (EEM, Private VLANs, etc) and they looked at me stunned because they had no idea what I was talking about. It's easy to think that 10-20 years of experience in the same company == you know everything. In reality, you only really know what you've been exposed to at that point and while it might be nice to be the king or queen of your own domain, they might get destroyed in anyone else's environment.

thatguy67

Remedymp wrote: »

The hate is real. Anytime you outshine your co-workers, they're going to throw salt. The best advice in your situation would be put your certs in a plaque or something and sit on your desk. I did that with all my certs and my degree and added my certs to my outlook signature and people went ballistic. You would have thought I pooped in their yogurt or something.

lol this is the funniest post I've read in a long time.

Mike7

thatguy67 wrote: »

Anyway a few people in my department have made half-jokes, saying that I'm making them look bad. Or they come up with excuses as to why they couldn't get a cert in their first 90 days

Were you talking about getting certification with them? Putting your certs on your desk and in your email signature? Just ignore them or change the topic to kill any conversation about your certifications.

Being humble goes a long way. The more you learn, the more you realise you do not know.

thatguy67

In the weekly meetings my supervisor announces whenever someone gets a new cert, so I was mentioned. They would notice me studying after hours and sometimes I'd offer them to study with me but they always declined. I upload my notes/study guides/etc on our company's DropBox. Other than that I don't bring it up.

daviddws

There are truly some lazy people in this world. I run across that mentality from time to time, but honestly I look at it from the viewpoint that they are only hurting themselves, and making it easier for me to move ahead.

daviddws

Oh.. one other thing I should mention that no one tells you as you progress through your career. The more credentials (degrees/certs) you have, the more you have a nice shiny target on your back. So much fun...

apr911

Iristheangel wrote: »

I think it's more common the further down the totem pole you are. So you mentioned you're at helpdesk and some of those folks have probably been there for awhile and don't believe or care to think there is a way they could have moved up or out of helpdesk. It still happens further up the totem pole but I notice less-so. When I was in helpdesk, I used to get a certification and old timers would try to challenge me by playing "stump the technician" to prove I didn't know everything or wasn't as good as them. That was always frustrating because I never claimed to know everything or be arrogant so I didn't like the idea of people trying to tear me down to make themselves feel better.

Iris is spot on here. The lower down the totem pole, the more hate you'll receive from co-workers. These are the people who you will surpass and who you will one day be indirectly managing as a function of your more senior role. As you move out of help desk, you'll find less hate and more good-natured ribbing.

As to "stump the technician," that's an arrogance thing which again you'll see less of as you move up. When you're at the top of the bottom, its easy to get a big head and want to play stump the technician with every young upstart that gets a new certificate just to "prove" you're better than they are cert or no... You'll find though that arrogant people dont go as far in IT and if they make it out of that lower rung, they usually get stomped on pretty hard and made to eat humble pie in the mid-levels where they hopefully learn otherwise. Few who make it to senior levels do so with their arrogance in tact.

In her last statement, Iris hints at another thing that I really like and that I try to remind others of... Be humble but ambitious.

While the 2 traits generally repel each other with the ambitious person taking on a level of arrogance or the humble person becoming sated, if you can find and maintain the balance between the traits, you will go far in IT and in life. It requires a level of self awareness and you may sometimes falter but you should strive to remain humble and ambitious.

For me, I just recently overcame my own fall to the humble & sated side of the coin. For year's I've put off the pursuit of my CCIE because several people in the industry that I know, respect and feel like they could run circles around me have not gotten theirs (for a number of reasons) I was too humble and sated to see I was needless holding myself back. I've started work on my CCIE and plan to take the written next month with the lab hopefully around the end of the year if I can swing it (Im between jobs at the moment though so a move, new job and the like might make that goal a stretch).

I've never set out to be the best, only the best I can be. If the best I can be just so happens to be the best the company has I know it wont last; tomorrow someone will have a smarter, more efficient way to do it and they'll be the best and all I can do is accept that, learn from it, continue to be the best I can be and wait until it's my turn on top again.

noahp34 wrote: »

If I come across something I don't know, I do get a bunch of "So your piece of paper didn't teach you that?" Mostly from the older guys. They are just being grump old men though so nothing serious.

I dont think the "old guys" who are being "grumps" are truly hating on your new cert so much as they are giving you a hard time and keeping you humble. After passing a certification exam, it's easy to get a sense of "I know all because the cert says I do" and the good natured ribbing that comes when you get stumped is sort of deflating the balloon and reminding you that regardless of what your cert says, you only know what you know.

P.S. Someone give Iris some reputation points for me

I tried but apparently I need to spread some point around before giving her more...

TechGuru80

So many people are unwilling to commit to advance their careers. Basically who cares but don't let their poor attitude or lack of motivation bring you down.

mgmguy1

In my experience, My co-workers see me studying a-lot for the CCNA and give me positive encouragement but most are happy with their job and want to do nothing to progress. I "want" my CCNA and I want to move ahead. Don't let other people get you down. Smile in knowing you are pushing the ball forward.

fmitawaps

I've talked to many different people though several years of desktop support contract jobs. And 90% were clueless on the idea of certs, and the rest didn't care. Fine, the hell with them. They aren't giving me money, so I don't care about them.

I'm working on my cisco certs now and getting some, with lots more studying to do.

Someone mentioned the target being on their back. That is good, because it means you are AHEAD of them, for them to be able to see the target!

kiki162

When your dealing with ppl further down on the totem pole, yes you'll get a lot of flack from them. Most of these ppl IMO feel secure in their jobs, and don't ever really advance in their career unless someone retires or moves on to a new job. I also like to think that a lot of those ppl like drinking the "kool aid" and sitting in that "comfy" chair a little too much. How boring!

The further up the totem pole, ppl seem to have a lot more respect in you. When you are around ppl that have the same mindset, and are doing the same things to further their career...it almost becomes competitive in funny way. For example, most of my co-workers have their Masters, and I just started on mine. In order for anyone to stay ahead within IT, you have to keep your skills set up. I get certs these days primarily for educational purposes, CPE's, and to renew the ones I already have. It's like they say, if you don't invest in yourself, no one is going to invest in you.

Chevel

Funny you made a thread about this, the salt is very prevalent in my area. I was told to "slow down" and "it won't make a difference." Most of the folks in my area have been at their place for several years and refuse to get more certifications unless its required. Even then they still complain. If you try to advance or ask questions most feel threatening/hostile. I've even asked a few server administrators just general questions about the job and certifications and was basically blown off. I agree with the other folks focus on you and keep moving up.