Jobs paying for certificates

Hello everyone,

I am within six months of graduating with a bachlor's degree and already hold a few certificates. I took off work to finish my last two semester of school and while I think there are many certifications I'm close to getting, I really can't afford all the tests.

I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations on finding a job that will pay for continued education/ getting a job to pay if that isn't mentioned at first. I've been actively searching through Monster, Dice and LinkedIn to get a feel for the positions out there, and while I've seen "must be able to get xxxx certification within three months" a few times, I have yet to see one that mentioned any sort of education benefit.

I'd also really appreciate some advice on which certifications to pursue first.

Currently I hold an A+ and Security+. I am just past the half way point of the Cisco Academy to get the CCNA. That I plan to take the test for. Two classes I have upcoming are a Linux Admin class, which should at least put me well on my way to the Linux+, and a MS Admin class, the text book for which is a prep book for the MS Exam 70-290, which I also plan to take at the time. The 290 and the Security+ put me half way to the MCSA, and I think I could knock out the Win7 test to put me 3/4 of the way there.

Below I've listed some certifications I'm confident I could get relatively quickly (one at a time, not all at once

), but that I'd rather not pay out of pocket for. Are there any that I shouldn't be waiting on?
Network+, Server+, JNCIA, Win7 (70-680) and MS 70-291 for the MCSA, BICSI ITS, and any of the various CCNA add ons (Wireless, Design, Voice)

Thank you very much, just reading through the forums here has already helped answer some of my other questions.

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Comments

odysseyelite

You won't typically see that as part of the job requirements. SOmetimes you can go to the company's website of a job you are interested in and check out there benefits page. Only other way is to ask during the interview.

In the past I have only taken advantage of one company who paid for the exams. My last company wanted me to use their training materials which I hated, so I sucked up and paid for the exam myself because I could get it done quicker.

I think you need to focus more on getting a job to get the experiance and not much of them paying for the cert exams.

There is also the problem where the company states you have to stay with them for x amout of time or you owe them the cost of the exam. I'm not a big fan of contracts like that.

From my experiance most companies do pay for the exams after you have completed it. They do not pay for the training material.

swild

I have worked for 4 different employers. The first was at a college and of course by being an employee, you got a major discount on tuition. The second was a small business and I never asked. The third was a small ISP and they said that they would pay for certifications, but I was the first to actually take advantage of it. After I got my A+, they decided to create a firm policy of reimbursing the cost of the test as long as you pass and that you have to work for 3 months after the date of the reimbursement check. I then got my Net+ and Sec+ and quickly found a new job (my last day was 3 months to the day after the reimbursement check for the Sec+ exam).

My current employer states that they provide "encouragement and continuing professional growth", which is open to interpretation. My boss said that he would pay for my CISSP exam as long as I passed. I just submitted the paperwork and am still awaiting the check. Its fairly uncommon in my area to pay for continuing education and/or certification. The common viewpoint is if they pay for my certification, they are essentially paying for me to leave and find a better job. My boss is leaving the company and I haven't discussed it with my new boss yet.

There is no room for growth in my position, so I don't expect them to be able to keep any employee for more than 3 years. However, If they are not willing to pay for my certs, I will be leaving as soon as I find a better place.

IMO, continuous experience is far far better than an employer that has whatever benefits. Beggars can't be choosers and it's a rough economy at the moment. If you can get a job that would benefit you professionally, take it. While you are working, never stop looking for something better. Unfortunately for me, something better means moving out of state. I am almost entirely set on the fact that if I do that, I want a job that will give me a security clearance since that's something I can't buy even if I could afford it but would open up a lot of options.

zaxbysauce

The company I work for gives each employee 5200 dollars to spend on education per year, and if you are in IT, certifications do not count towards the total. This includes all prep courses and materials you might need. So far I have gone to 3 prep courses at 500 each, taken 4 exams at 250 each, and have yet to use any of my 5200 dollars. All of it is done through disbursement instead of reimbursement so there is no out of pocket cost to me. You log in to the website, input the info for the course/exam, they approve it and send you a virtual credit card for the amount requested, you take the exam, you upload receipts and proof that you passed it, and you are done. Nice and easy.

powerfool

Many employers offer tuition reimbursement, and $5250 is a standard as that is the limit that they can provide without having to count it as wages for you (which means you don't get as much of a benefit, and they have to pay employer-side FICA on it). My employer does, in fact, and they are providing me with up to $10k this year for tuition reimbursement so long as I realize I will be taxed on the excess (but I also get to choose the lifetime learning tax credit or I can write it off as an unreimbursed expense and lower my adjusted gross income).

Certifications are another story. My employer allows us to use up to $2500 of our tuition funds for certification training. Beyond that, we can do normal expenses for certifications so long as it is approved by our manager.

If we leave before a year we have to pay back 100%, but after 18 months only 50%... and then nothing after 18 months. It is a good benefit if you want to entice your workers to stick around. Of course, people get burned out... but that is why they have big carrots at the end of the stick (in addition to tuition, our 401k matches are fantastic, but we have to stay six years to be vested).

Generally, if you work in consulting, YOU are the product that is offered to customers, so investing in you becomes important for your employer.

Turgon

random240 wrote: »

Hello everyone,

I am within six months of graduating with a bachlor's degree and already hold a few certificates. I took off work to finish my last two semester of school and while I think there are many certifications I'm close to getting, I really can't afford all the tests.

I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations on finding a job that will pay for continued education/ getting a job to pay if that isn't mentioned at first. I've been actively searching through Monster, Dice and LinkedIn to get a feel for the positions out there, and while I've seen "must be able to get xxxx certification within three months" a few times, I have yet to see one that mentioned any sort of education benefit.

I'd also really appreciate some advice on which certifications to pursue first.

Currently I hold an A+ and Security+. I am just past the half way point of the Cisco Academy to get the CCNA. That I plan to take the test for. Two classes I have upcoming are a Linux Admin class, which should at least put me well on my way to the Linux+, and a MS Admin class, the text book for which is a prep book for the MS Exam 70-290, which I also plan to take at the time. The 290 and the Security+ put me half way to the MCSA, and I think I could knock out the Win7 test to put me 3/4 of the way there.

Below I've listed some certifications I'm confident I could get relatively quickly (one at a time, not all at once ), but that I'd rather not pay out of pocket for. Are there any that I shouldn't be waiting on?
Network+, Server+, JNCIA, Win7 (70-680) and MS 70-291 for the MCSA, BICSI ITS, and any of the various CCNA add ons (Wireless, Design, Voice)

Thank you very much, just reading through the forums here has already helped answer some of my other questions.

You are too hung up on certifications. Circa 1999 there wasn't enough experience to go around so people compensated that by getting qualified. The companies that passed themselves as being expert solutions providers did the same by force feeding employees to get as qualified as they could in the shortest time possible. Today if you work for a provider that sells services they will most likely support you in your certification quest to some extent as they need qualified people on the books. If you are working in an operational capacity for a company there will be less stimulus to get qualified or support to achieve it.

Either way in today's IT landscape it is your work accomplishments that define you and your career trajectory, not your certifications anymore. So leverage what you already have going for you to get in with a company that will give you exposure to the kind of *work* that will accellerate your career, and take appropriate certification tracks to add value to your work and get you noticed internally, as well as springboard you towards the type of work you wish to do in future. If the company pays, great, but if not do what is necessary anyway. In either case expect to be spending significant personal time evenings and weekends hitting the books. If you are effective at work an employer tends to find you lots of useful stuff to do as opposed to boning up for your latest exam.

tha_dub

All the companies I've worked for paid after you passed the exam. My current employer pays for books and lets me take the test on a paid work day. I have about an 8 hour + round trip to get to the exam center write and come home though.

veritas_libertas

tha_dub wrote: »

All the companies I've worked for paid after you passed the exam. My current employer pays for books and lets me take the test on a paid work day. I have about an 8 hour + round trip to get to the exam center write and come home though.

Mine values certifications as well. They pay for my education + certifications. Take advantage of it if you can find a place like that.

Zartanasaurus

We have a training budget for the department this fiscal year. I don't know what it is, but we've already gotten CBT Nuggets purchased for the department. No clue if we could get reimbursed for the costs of a test.

random240

Thanks everyone for your responses, hopefully the places I end up will offer tuition/test reimbursement. A few people mentioned it but I obviously don't expect many places to pay for failed exams. A number of people in my Cisco classes are in that boat.

Aside from job listings, I've been combing through sites that let employees review companies that they've worked for, but they generally focus on salary ranges and the quality of the employment rather then any specific benefits.

And I certainly appreciate your response Turgon, I plan to pursue certifications in the future that compliment experience I will attain, not spend all my time building up a qualification list without actually doing anything. The certs I listed were the most common ones I saw under 'required qualifications' in most of the job advertisements I read.

/If I came off as too fixated on certifications its only because I finally found a place to ask all the questions I've had about them :P

nel

Turgon wrote: »

You are too hung up on certifications. Circa 1999 there wasn't enough experience to go around so people compensated that by getting qualified. The companies that passed themselves as being expert solutions providers did the same by force feeding employees to get as qualified as they could in the shortest time possible. Today if you work for a provider that sells services they will most likely support you in your certification quest to some extent as they need qualified people on the books. If you are working in an operational capacity for a company there will be less stimulus to get qualified or support to achieve it.

Either way in today's IT landscape it is your work accomplishments that define you and your career trajectory, not your certifications anymore. So leverage what you already have going for you to get in with a company that will give you exposure to the kind of *work* that will accellerate your career, and take appropriate certification tracks to add value to your work and get you noticed internally, as well as springboard you towards the type of work you wish to do in future. If the company pays, great, but if not do what is necessary anyway. In either case expect to be spending significant personal time evenings and weekends hitting the books. If you are effective at work an employer tends to find you lots of useful stuff to do as opposed to boning up for your latest exam.

great advice from turg there. if a company doesnt pay for them then i always see it as an investment in myself. If the qualification hasnt helped at the time, i have always found it will play a role at some point. ive worked for 2 big companies which refused to pay anything. Now i work at a "small" company who actively supports more qualifications, i.e. pay for books, exams etc. either way, it has never stopped me.