A lot of aggro from coworkers after getting certification

Anyone else ever experience this? Every other hour, I hear a sentence phrased like this: "Well im not <cert> certified but I would do this" or randomly out of the blue a person will come up to me and give reasons why they are not certified. I don't even bring it up at all (Put in for a company reimbursement upon pass and Boss sent an email to the 15+ people on the team) but all my coworkers constantly remind me. They also think i'm now available at anytime for their trivia quiz questions so I can prove my knowledge to them and If I miss i'm a fraud. These guys have been in the same position for 3-5 years, complain about their pay day after day and yet don't make an effort to try to learn something new. /rant

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odysseyelite

I've seen that at previous jobs but not at that constant level of every other hour. For some reason its easier for people to be negative than positive. I think its because you are doing what they want\wish to be doing but come up with every excuse in the book to not do it. I had one coworker that would just flat out say certification was BS. That's his opinion but its part of the game. I take the exams to force me to study, its the goal at the end of the road and second its what gets the HR\hiring managers attention out in the resume playing field. Best advice is to just keep doing what you are doing and soon enough you will be onto bigger and better things and they will still be stuck at the same job with the same pay.

Jon_Cisco

I think it is pretty common to get a little push back when you are trying to improve yourself and being successful at it.

I am not going to go so far as to say people want to see the other guy fail. However I would say a lot of people don't want to see the other guy succeed.

iBrokeIT

"Crab mentality" my friend. They are projecting their insecurity that you are passing them up and they are trying to pull you back down. Call them out on it and laugh at them for someone else's success bothering them so much to the point it is a distraction.

ThePawofRizzo

I suspect most of them are concerned you're looking better than they are as an employee because you took the time and earned certifications....so your co-workers feel the pressure. Don't let it stop you from continuing. Ultimately learning for a cert is just that: learning. The certificate is there to help show others - mostly employers - that you keep learning, keep challenging yourself, and thereby may offer some at the ready skills and won't take as long to get up to speed when you are exposed to something new. You gotta look out for your own career, just like your co-workers need to look out for theirs.

The certs have never made me an expert, but over the years, they have definitely helped me grow personally and professionally. I work with a couple co-workers that seem to learn IT by osmosis, but I don't have that gift. So, I pick a cert as a goal, and move forward. And I learn a lot.

I work with a whole lot more co-workers that don't bother to get certs...nor do they bother to learn anything new. And they are slow to learn new technologies and slower to solve problems. Their lack of learning shows, and I'm sure they know it. And my certs and degrees may get their goat, but that's their problem.

I remember working with one dude who would bad mouth certs and university degrees as a "waste of time". He was an OK tech, albeit had never attended college nor attempted a cert. I generally tried to let it go at first. One day when he opened his yap about "education is a waste", I told him "It's funny to me how you 'know' so much about what a waste certifications and school are, yet you've never attempted an exam nor attended college to know how to be successful at either." He was mad for a bit, and got over it. Over the years I solved a number of complex issues that he had no idea how to start fixing, probably mostly due to my continual learning, and not because I'm an "IT god", and that helped humble him some more.

Info_Sec_Wannabe

Don't mind them and just do your thing.

Same as you, I don't talk about it and only let my immediate manager and finance team know so they can process the reimbursement of the exam fee (and a couple of colleagues, but only if they ask).

albinorhino187

I do the opposite, but it's all in good fun. I'm the junior on a 5 person network team, but 3 of us are mostly on the R/S and firewall side, and other 2 are more voip. The 2 other R/S guys are also senior, and one is the lead. But, having just earned my CCNP, I'm actually the highest certified.

So we'll be talking about something, and they'll give their two cents, and then I'll say something like, "well as the most certified person here, I think we should do blah blah." Mostly just messing with them cuz they talk about certifying but haven't motivated, and I beat them to it. One guy actually passed his CCIE written, but I use every opportunity to point out that it's not a certification.

yoba222

Your coworkers are crabs in a bucket. Time to consider getting out of there.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crab_mentality

Edit: iBrokeIT, you beat me to it.

LordQarlyn

Nope, I've been fortunate in that regard at work, never gotten grief for getting certs. Of course that does not mean it doesn't happen so I am not saying it does not happen.

Now when I was dropping weight like crazy and getting fit, that I did get a lot of resentment from some coworkers, even I never said anything about losing weight, I just did it (the results spoke for themselves lol).

backtracker

I've run into this at various points in the past. While pursuing my Master's I worked at financial institution doing enterprise desktop support. My co-worker and 'mentor' openly mocked me and questioned why I'd "waste my time" studying an InfoSec related topic and that it would not have any practical use (keep in mind this was 2005, but still...). My guess is he is still there changing out burnt power supplies

Ignore the naysayers and do what is right for you and your career.

networker050184

They hate us 'cause they anus.

It's just jealousy and insecurity showing through. Be the better person and ignore it while you continue to move on up.

ksijur

But the answer is sooo obvious... In the words of WoW, just FD (feign death) and you'll drop all the aggro...

tedjames

Yeah, F*** 'em! Keep pushing ahead. When you're at the top, they'll still be in the middle (or lower). I've seen the same thing happen when someone loses a lot of weight. Their co-workers start pushing them to eat again. Weirdest thing. Can't we just be happy when someone takes measures to improve themselves?

DatabaseHead

I always felt like it puts a target on your back. Not that you should care, but everything has pros and cons and what you are experiencing is one of the cons.

I personally never announce my accomplishments at work and only list them on my resume and sometimes linkedin.

infosecs

DatabaseHead wrote: »

I always felt like it puts a target on your back. Not that you should care, but everything has pros and cons and what you are experiencing is one of the cons.

Agreed. Been there several times, there are some who simply can not hide their jealousness. Sometimes it is better to not announce your recent accomplishments.

PC509

It happens. Some people are like that. I choose to ignore them and do the absolute best I can. I'm always looking for things to learn more and do better. I don't want to stagnate, I don't want to get complacent. I'm constantly trying to improve.

"Oh, you're just book smart" or whatever. Nah, I've got the stuff to back it up. I tend to keep my accomplishments to myself and my boss, but some of the bigger ones have been let out of the bag by online profiles and such.

But, in the end I just have to be that guy.... Yea, I'm ruttin' AWESOME! I'm kicking some major booty and furthering my career and bettering myself, because I'M AWESOME! You need a high five and a congratulations, not someone to try and beat you down. So, congratulations on your cert! They can be a real ***** and it takes a lot of effort, time, commitment, brain drain, and just a good determination to get through.

GREAT JOB!

It's hard to not knock them down, and I'm trying to say this nicely, but some people are fine with this being just a job and just doing the minimums to get by. Those of us on this forum are definitely not like that at all. As long as you're happy with your approach, great. Not knocking either way...

EnderWiggin

If I had a coworker that said "aggro," I'd be passive aggressive to them as well.

gespenstern

Keep climbing up the ladder.

Anonymouse

Kinda sucks that your manager broadcasted your achievement to everyone. I like keeping those things private only sharing with management. I don't talk to people about any labbing or studying unless they are also the type to grind and level up too.

Mike7

What the rest said. There will always be people (crabs) that are envious and wants to pull you down. Do not let them get into your head, stay positive, stay humble, make success a habit and move on. Years later, you will look back, marvel at your achievements and be glad that you did not let those crabs pull you back from moving ahead in life.

GeeLo

NoNameNoob wrote: »

Anyone else ever experience this? Every other hour, I hear a sentence phrased like this: "Well im not <cert> certified but I would do this" or randomly out of the blue a person will come up to me and give reasons why they are not certified. I don't even bring it up at all (Put in for a company reimbursement upon pass and Boss sent an email to the 15+ people on the team) but all my coworkers constantly remind me. They also think i'm now available at anytime for their trivia quiz questions so I can prove my knowledge to them and If I miss i'm a fraud. These guys have been in the same position for 3-5 years, complain about their pay day after day and yet don't make an effort to try to learn something new. /rant

YES! Welcome to Internet Technology and Services. You will see people say that to cover their own insecurities. They usually think they are the "Kings and Queens of I.T." and they usually get in the positions that they are in solely by some sort of "social interaction" that they have to their supervisors or management, with "very little" knowledge. Some companies, do not have any reimbursement even for a "book" so I think that is awesome that you are taking advantage on that. And I would tell those guys asking you questions, that they should know the answers already after "x" amount of years, you don't need that harassment.

Like I posted in another thread, here is the main three reason to get certified, remember this:

1) For Yourself FIRST, either to better your own understanding or to prove to “yourself”that you know this skillset / area. This is the number one thing to remember.

2) To get into a better job or a better raise and to better yourself.

3) To better your company and also maintain your position in the company. Leaning more skillsets makes “YOU” an valuable employee to your company. And again.. maybe in regards to your company as well -I've actually seen people that have got laid off” of the company“first” because they never went for any types of certifications even if that company “paid” for them to do so!

Keep your head up.

RussInGotham

Never let anyone rain on your parade. They can join you, or they can stay behind and wallow in negativity. Just keep marching forward!

Chris.Mackenzie01

Had this at my old place. I out qualified my manager but was content where I was for the time. He started firing work at me and claimed i should be able to handle the extra load as I should be able to get through the work faster.

I left and never looked back, every other team I've worked in its been a case of 'you know it more than me, help me understand it' which I've always been happy to do and they reciprocate back.

Get out of there. Negativity breads negativity.

tedjames

Chris.Mackenzie01 wrote: »

I left and never looked back, every other team I've worked in its been a case of 'you know it more than me, help me understand it' which I've always been happy to do and they reciprocate back.

That's the attitude in my office. We're a team, and we help each other out. I've helped co-workers with certifications, and others have helped me. It's great!

EANx

A team that doesn't support each other eats away at morale. Good on you for self-improvement, you'll eventually pass those losers.

UnixGuy

They're jealous and I've had co-workers try to 'test my knowledge' before

Don't allow them to test your knowledge..be a bit aggressive and say things like "im not your google" or something...just don't let them test you, they're not your boss and they're not in a position to do that - make it clear.

iBrokeIT

Love this tweet from today:

Capture.PNG

JoJoCal19

You know, some people just cant stand to see others rise up. While I didn't have in my face aggro from colleagues at the one bank I worked at for 8 years during the time I started on certs, I did get the dismissiveness whenever certs I was working on came up. I never brought it up, but when asked how I've been, how was my weekend, etc, it would occasionally come up. I ended up knocking out Net+, Sec+ and then the CISSP, which finally helped me accomplish my goal of getting out of there. Everyone complained about their jobs, the company, etc, yet I was the only one doing something to change my situation. I left there in 2013, and nobody else ever made it out of their own accord. Some were eventually RIF'd. One colleague in particular saw it as a waste of time. He ended up being one of the ones RIF'd, and when I saw his FB posting, I immediately offered to help in any way I could. Since he hadn't a single cert, I mentioned he should really think about knocking his CISSP to get his resume past as many filters as possible, and in front of as many hiring managers as possible. He was quite nasty in his response about how he was damned if he was going to pay for an effing piece of paper to prove he knew how to do what he's been doing for years. This was a couple of years back. Last I saw on his FB a few months back he was still unemployed. Basically, focus on yourself and what you can control, forget the haters and people who try to bring you down. As you keep moving up and on to bigger and better things, wave to them in the rear-view mirror.

McxRisley

Whenever I get aggro, I usually just pull the whole mob in and burn them down with AoE from my +5 certification of pentesting........wait.....this isn't WoW.

Hawk321

My first job after college:
The boss there played down my CCNA and Cisco in general (aside Americans) just because he did 1 (one !) wannabe cisco seller cert with around 35 q's 10 years back where he dumped everything. He has no idea what Spanning-Tree is or does know anything else of value. Yes, he holds a degree (Diplom similar to master) in an electrical field but, he forgot everything.
He tried to mock me daily with my eager-ism to get the LPIC-2 and CCNP Switch...after 4 month I left. Prior I told him the consequences and he was pissed.
Long story short.
Life in IT is like a RPG and only the LvL 50 Warrior with vulcan glass mega armor can beat the skeleton king. Let the goblins be goblins, you are the one who rescues the virgin lady.

Mooseboost

I have a split opinion on the matter. I've been heckled before because I tend to always be working on a certification and racked quite a few up over the years. The truth is though, not a single certification was wasted. I feel each one gave me something that helped me move to the next level in my career. Since I do them out of focus on my career, I tend to work on certifications that involve something I am passionate about. I never do just the minimum.

The flip side is that people often use certifications to chase money and end up skirting around the edges of barely passing or worse yet, cheating. I have lost count of the times that I have worked with another engineer or consultant who was certified out the wazoo but had absolutely no idea what they were talking about. Certification alone does not replace experience nor does it automatically infer that you have in-depth knowledge about a specific topic.

Personally, I look at the overall package before I judge someone. A very junior person who is certified at a higher level but fails to perform their job function at their level - I will second guess. A junior engineer who is certified at a higher level but goes out of their way to provide clients with that extra mile and always seems to be curious about things - will get nothing but praise.