Certification and Reimbursment
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Hi guys,
I mentioned BKelly's story to the director of s/w about pushing developers with MCAD to make sure they learn .NET. It comes true in my company; all developers must have MCAD in 1 year. But the company won't pay for tuition. The exem fee is compensated if pass the exam first time. It s..ks. How your company do with the tuition?
Thx.
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If you pass the test, they pay. No pass-No pay. Actually, we get to use vouchers for the 1st try so it's no money out of pocket, provided you pass 1st try.
Books - pretty much whatever we want
Classes - forget about it.
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I used to get tuition compensated in the past when the certificate meant nothing to the executives. Now they want pay $100 for the exam fee , not $2000 for the course. Smart move.
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I used to get tuition compensated in the past when the certificate meant nothing to the executives. Now they want pay $100 for the exam fee , not $2000 for the course. Smart move.
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Yea, my employer screwed me and that was the primary reason I didn't finish out the certification. They stated they would pay tuition cost and exam fees if we past. Good I paid almost $8000 for the MCSE course alone with a test pass guarantee (unfortunately that company screwed me to on that as it was the SQL 7 exam when it first came out and one of the requirements was to takes their practice exams which took a year to get in and at that point they stated the test pass guarantee was void, I will hold my tongue). Anyway, ok so if I pay the $100 for the test and fail no big deal, if I pass the company reimburses me. Ok take test, fail first 2 times (boy that test is confusing compared to the class). I get ready to take a third time when I find out my company had pulled reimbursement 3 months beforehand and made no mention except on a small section of the HR website. I checked with HR as the tests were requested before this and I had pass all but two. But since I bought a package deal they stated I must pass all 6 for reimbursement before the cutoff date which was 3 months before. (Thank you too). Needless to say I never trust anyone who is not willing to front the cost and if you fail your own your own next time. What makes me even madder is I still have a large amount and they restarted the freakin reimbursement and won't do anything for me. Well, since they always pull crap at certain times of the year I am not taking the chance on getting burned again until I can sit with someone and lay out the reimbursement beforehand even if they change company policy so I get paid back for what they want and don't leave me hanging.
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Minor correction: I think it was Andy who wrote about developers being asked to pick up MCAD and MCSD.
In my case, I have one premium cert: an NT 4.0 MCSE. Why do I have only one? Because I paid for it out of pocket. I was blessed in that I had > 2 years of in-depth experience with NT and SQL Server before I began taking tests. However, the books cost about $400 and the exams cost $600. That money came out of pocket. I spent far less than most others I know, but it was still $1000 out of my own pocket.
Where I work now, there is some ambiguity over what will be reimbursed and what won't. Have I considered upgrading my MCSE or picking up my MCSD and MCDBA? Sure, but I don't know what, if anything, will be handed back to me for a job well done. I've also considered going for a CISSP but that's $450 for the exam. At that price you can bet I'll know the material to pass it the first time, but it's still $450!!! Ouch. And if that has to come out of my own pocket... you get the idea.
Eventually I might get around to it. But with exams now $125 each, I always seem to find a reason to pass and use my time elsewhere, like playing Romance of the Three Kingdoms on PS2!
K. Brian Kelley
http://www.truthsolutions.com/
Author: Start to Finish Guide to SQL Server Performance Monitoring
http://www.netimpress.com/shop/product.asp?ProductID=NI-SQL1
K. Brian Kelley
@kbriankelley -
thx for sharing. I paid for my MCSE NT4 for the exams. When Windows 2000 came out, I didn't have time to upgrade my certificate because I do mostly with SQL and decided to take MCDBA. However reading posts in forums and the truth on the market made me stop thinking about it. How many developers making top salary and passing a single exam? Why wasting time and money to get a piece of paper? I think it is time for me to get back on track, for my own benefit.
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quote:
thx for sharing. I paid for my MCSE NT4 for the exams. When Windows 2000 came out, I didn't have time to upgrade my certificate because I do mostly with SQL and decided to take MCDBA. However reading posts in forums and the truth on the market made me stop thinking about it. How many developers making top salary and passing a single exam? Why wasting time and money to get a piece of paper? I think it is time for me to get back on track, for my own benefit.I have MCSE, MCDBA and formerly MCSD. I think microsoft found a goose that lays gold eggs because they can sell study material, courses and tests to us saps who fall for them. MCSD changed and expired so often, I no longer want (or can afford) to keep up with it. The study time is horrendous.
That said, I find that studying for a test has always taught me things that I didn't know. Usually I learned enough new things that made it worth my while to have done all the work.
Also, I can use the certification as a differentiator between me and my peers at work. Sad but true. When it comes to firing decisions, I think the added piece of paper is a reason to keep me over my cell .... er.... cube mate.
So I see it not so much as helping to GET a job as it does to KEEP my job.
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