Do Most Companies/Employers Cover Training/Education for Their Employees?

Do most companies cover certs, training, or education for their employees?
When searching for a job, is this something important to you?
What has been your best experience with a company covering these expenses?

*This subject does not negate the fact that we all know the importance of investing in ourselves.

Thank you for sharing your experience!

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Comments

netsysllc

My employer will cover some stuff if it is directly relevant to the job after successfully passing.

powerfool

I don't know about most, but there are certainly those that do not. When it comes to certs and training, you tend to see that when it provides a value to the employer: a partner that needs certified folks for marketing and partnership agreements/status. Also, larger partners often times get vouchers from vendors for their training based on the volume of sales. Many companies do offer tuition reimbursement, but there are still those that do not.

Remedymp

I can't speak for many others, but my current employer, my last employer and previous employer all paid for all certifications acquired during your tenure. My current employer pays 100% of your masters degree in Information security with the partnered institution.

Companies that refuse to pay are companies that are not worth working for.

T-RAV

From the couple places I've worked, I have been reimbursed for relevant continued education. I believe most companies do is some form. it is something to definitely ask in an interview. it is important to me to an extent. tuition is very important because lets face it, that stuff is expensive. Covering cost of certs is just a bonus for me. they aren't too expensive to not be able to pay for yourself.

where I work now covers college tuition and certs 100% as long as i pass. They also provide a premium CBT nugget subscription to the IT dept.

it makes me happy.

Dakinggamer87

qptp wrote: »

Do most companies cover certs, training, or education for their employees?
When searching for a job, is this something important to you?
What has been your best experience with a company covering these expenses?

*This subject does not negate the fact that we all know the importance of investing in ourselves.

Thank you for sharing your experience!

My current company pays for my VMware certs and tuition reimbursement for my education needs. However, prior hand I paid for everything out of pocket/loans. My current experience is great getting my training reimbursed and I can't complain.

I definitely think it's an important consideration in my job search going forward. My focus will likely be more on certs after my Master's degree is done so tuition might not be as important. However, to summarize getting reimbursement is a huge plus.

bermovick

My last one would reimbursement (with approval), but anything higher than a couple thousand you'd have to sign an agreement that you'd pay it back if you left within a year.

My current one requires 100% payback if you leave within a year, and 50% if you leave within 18 months. FOR ANYTHING. Needless to say I'm paying out of pocket as I'd rather not have that hanging over my head (since I'm not sure I want to stay that long)

techfiend

My last employer didn't, they had no appreciation of certs other than allowing me to take time off to test.

My current employer covers education and certs (study and tests) but has a 100% payback stipulation if I don't stay a year. In an at-will state they have some control of that but I think I'll take them up on the offer with certs at least. It's a lower risk and I'm not quite ready for a masters degree yet.

NetworkingStudent

My current employer requires 1 hour of training per week.
No certs are covered.
Tuition isn't covered.

techfiend

Require? That sounds like it could be a mess. Do you have to keep record of it?

Mike-Mike

Most of my previous employers cover a portion of tuition. It's about 50/50 on certs, and they def have to be job related

OctalDump

I have had training at every IT job I've had. Not sure if that is the norm. None have had a great policy on it.

The first one provided in house resources, paid for exams that you passed, and gave a small raise for certifications, but only where they satisfied partner requirements.

The second one had some compulsory training to satisfy partner requirements, but not much else. They were pretty flexible about giving raises where you could show a benefit to them eg getting relevant certifications generally meant getting a raise.

The third was able to send me for training which was direct benefit to them, gave time off for certification exams, I think paid for exams (a while ago), but wasn't able to find money for all the training needed. They also did in house training, but unpaid and outside work hours (free pizza, though).

Fourth company had a fixed training budget, and didn't properly align training with the business, so even if there was a good reason to send you on another course because of direct benefit, they wouldn't, although they would pay for courses that were tenuously related to the business out of the fixed budget. Basically, here's $5000 you can spend it on whatever you like IT related. Oh, there's another $1000 course that will deliver a real benefit to the business? Next year.

In all those jobs, I've also paid for my own training.

And the times where I've been self employed, I've spent much, much more on training than all those employers combined.

It would be something I would consider as part of the total package when looking for work. It's not just paying for the training, it's getting the time off work to do training.

NetworkingStudent

We keep track of training in completed in Onenote.
It gets complicated becasue everyone has their job to do, and they have to also complete their training as well.

Wigglytuff

My current companies covers up to $1000 for education/certification ventures. Sad part is you do have to incur a year with the company.

Iristheangel

My first two IT job definitely didn't pay for certs though my second job did pay for education as long as I could prove that it somehow related to my job. There was a yearly cap too of something like $6K or $10K. I don't entirely remember but I do know that if I were going to a normal school, I would have had to eat a lot of that because books and regular tuition adds up. WGU was a saving grace there. They did not pay for any training classes either.

My last company paid for passed certifications and we would get learning credits from large purchases and training budget every year so we probably each got 1-2 weeks of courses paid every year by the company for certification or whatever. It was only available for engineers - not helpdesk or desktop support. I think most companies that pay training are like this. It's probably seen as a better investment to train someone who's going to use that knowledge vs risk it on someone who is still Tier 1.

The prior companies I worked at were not technology-specific companies. From what I've seen of the vendor and partner space is that it's worth it to them to train up their staff and have more technical headcount. They'll usually throw money at bootcamps, training materials, set up labs, and pay for failed and passed attempts just to get their staff certed up and usually they just ask them to stay for 1-2 years in exchange for that cost. It makes sense for the industry. They can justify billing more, helps keep their partner credentials more secure, the engineer is more credible, etc...

xengoreth

Previous companies I have worked for often provided bootcamps or training courses, tuition reimbursement (the yearly cap usually being $5,000 and requiring signing into their indentured servitude program for a year or two), and sometimes reimbursement for passed certification fees as a one-off type thing.

However, my current company is a subcontractor in the business of providing a warm body for the real company on the prime contract. They don't provide anything. Hell, I haven't even talked to my boss for like ten months. I don't bother telling them if I pass a certification or a training course, since it's not like it will do me any good. My co-workers on the prime contract get at least two weeks of training per year (paid of course).

If the salary weren't so good, I'd quit today. Once I have my BSIT and a few certs under my belt, I feel the only reasonable response is to move on...

kohr-ah

Current job offers a 5k per year tuition reiumbursement and 2 certs per year reimbursement if they pertain to your job line.

The tuition you have to sign a 2 year agreement for it.

Past msp job paid for passed certifications unless you were going for the IE which they paid for lab failures also 2 times I believe.

Most places I been offer some kind of college reimbursement.

kenrin

Previous job and ones I interviewed at prior to this one paid for most all certifications as long as you could argue why it would be a good idea and provided you pass. The tuition assistance was a trap to get people to sign up for their "Leadership" program.

Current job doesn't pay for anything, but the entire company is around 15 people total, 5 of us being the "Tech Team" not including our two Tech Boss|Engineers. I count the experience for being so small in that we get much more freedom about what we can do|study. One guy on our team left a few months ago doubled his salary with no degree and no certs, I guess it evens out

UnixGuy

OctalDump wrote: »

..
..., I've also paid for my own training.

...I've spent much, much more on training then all those employers combined.

...

Maybe I should start doing that myself..

pevangel

Current employer pays for training including days off while at training. No need to take PTO. They also reimburse for certs if you pass.

NOC-Ninja

In summary, the company will pay for your training if they want you to learn and you are a good engineer.

qptp wrote: »

Do most companies cover certs, training, or education for their employees? No
When searching for a job, is this something important to you? Yes
What has been your best experience with a company covering these expenses? They are paying for my masters, gave me 5 days IPv6 bootcamp and is going to give me Cisco ISE 5 days bootcamp training.

*This subject does not negate the fact that we all know the importance of investing in ourselves.

Thank you for sharing your experience!

blargoe

I get one paid training course per year if it is relevant to my position, and usually can get reimbursed for relevant certs. I also fund some self-directed training/certs on my own.

Legacy User

At my place they only pay for certifications passed but only approved ones. It really depends on the company but I know plenty of engineers that work in MSP's in my area and their employer only pay for certifications passed that specifically pertains to the role but not for any training.

dustervoice

Current and all past employers paid (pass or fail) with no requirement to stay for any period of time. That is one of my requirements for any job i accept no compromise! As an above poster said if they are not willing to pay they are not worth working for. A paycheck cannot be the only benefit from a job.

stryder144

My first job in IT offered up to $3000 a year, provided it was pre-approved by your manager and HR. My second job provided in-house training, only. My third job offers one training course a year.

One thing to consider, during the negotiation phase when considering jumping ship, is to ask for a training/certification budget for yourself. A lot of companies will consider it, just make sure you get it in writing.