Company certification/training policy

Started by jinxer, January 07, 2015, 12:45:42 PM

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jinxer

Does your company have kind of certification policy? Meaning it encourages you by paying for books/training/certification costs.. But also payraise on successful pass.


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deanwebb

Reimburses for successful passing.
Pays for training.
No guarantee of a pay rise, but it does look nice on the "professional development" section for the annual review.
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Ironman

Past companies paid reimbursement for passing. My current company pays for the exams up front, which is really cool! Also, I usually get a small bonus for passing.

javentre

We don't pay for exams, nor do we compensate for passed certifications.

We get 1 training class / event per year, I usually pick Cisco Live.
[url="http://networking.ventrefamily.com"]http://networking.ventrefamily.com[/url]

wintermute000

#4
We get free exams including 2xCCIE lab attempts, which is awesome.

Training however is a crapshoot, you do get some but its random and you might not get to pick, typically you get two short courses a year which could be awesome like Nexus DCUFI or something random and crappy e.g. ARC operator console server or some third party voicemail vendor.


Note I said typically, I got zero last year (though I did go to two Cisco route-switch SEVTs @ Cisco), it varies


One pretty major plus is we get full Cisco Partner Education Connection access loaded against our CCOs including all the remote labs (they are often slow and crappy to run but they do work). You also have effectively the CCO to rule them all lol - I can download pretty much anything from virtual ASAs to call manager images.

killabee

We get a budget for training and we pick what we want.  However, training courses, conferences, and the like cost so much that we can usually only pick one.

We get reimbursed the cost of a successfully passed exam. 

javentre

Quote from: killabee on January 08, 2015, 09:10:33 PMHowever, training courses, conferences, and the like cost so much that we can usually only pick one.

Make sure you're getting Cisco Learning Credits with all of your purchases.  They're often thrown in to sweeten the pot on big orders, and they can really pile up after a while.
[url="http://networking.ventrefamily.com"]http://networking.ventrefamily.com[/url]

jinxer

Quote from: javentre on January 09, 2015, 04:50:02 AM
Quote from: killabee on January 08, 2015, 09:10:33 PMHowever, training courses, conferences, and the like cost so much that we can usually only pick one.

Make sure you're getting Cisco Learning Credits with all of your purchases.  They're often thrown in to sweeten the pot on big orders, and they can really pile up after a while.
Thats a good tip.. I usually forget to do that..

AdamTilbrook

My company reimburses the cost of the exam on successful completion with the condition that you will retain your employment with the company for at least another 12 months.
Adam Tilbrook
Network Administrator | iiNet Ltd

Atrum

Current company pays for vouchers upfront, has bonus each quarter for hitting professional development goals, has annual training $$$ for each employee

Fred

Previous employer, I set the policy.  For testing, it was awesome:
* Employer will pay for first test attempt without question, assuming it aligns with job responsibilities.
* Upon verification of test results, if it was close, we will pay for a retry. If not, see bullet #3.
* If the employee fails again, manager will sit with employee to come up with a better plan.  Costs for these tests may or may not be employee's responsibility.

I felt this encouraged people to take the test early rather than wait until they were overprepared.  I'm a strong advocate of taking the test early to know where you stand, and retaking it shortly thereafter to take advantage of your memory. 

That employer also had a really strong training budget. Basically, if an employee could justify it, we'd probably pay for it. Despite my encouragement, few of my employees actually bothered to write up the one-page request/justification requested.

However, that employer was a reseller of services, so the certifications were very clearly a "Win-Win" (employee gets better knowledge and resume material, employer gets to advertise they have x number of CCxx's).

My new employer is quite a different story.  They don't reimburse for testing and there is a limited training budget shared amongst all teams.  It's boiled down to about half my team will attend a conference or training in a given year.  The equation is a bit different here, since they don't resell my services so it's not as much of a 'win' for them, but I still hope they'll see the error of their ways.


config t

Everyone gets the same set amount to spend per year on certs/training courses. I apply for reimbursement beforehand and upon successfully passing I submit the reimbursement with proof that I passed.

Easy peasy and not too shabby.
:matrix:

Please don't mistake my experience for intelligence.

Seittit

Good lord.

As a contractor, I foot the bill for all training, books, and exams. Nor do I receive a pay increase.

With that said, contractors get paid a considerable amount more than FTEs, so I'll take that any day of the week.

wintermute000

Woohoo, just got approval to go on DCUFI (the main nexus course) March 2-6!  :woohoo:



Ironman

Quote from: wintermute000 on February 05, 2015, 09:13:19 PM
Woohoo, just got approval to go on DCUFI (the main nexus course) March 2-6!  :woohoo:

Congrats! I got word today that they are booking my hotel and registration for Cisco Live 2015!!!