General Certification Questions & Answers
See also our Linux Certification FAQ.
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This FAQ excerpted and adapted with permission from chapter 1 of Get Certified and Get Ahead (various editions) by Anne Martinez (McGraw-Hill, 1998, 1999, 2000). All rights reserved.
8. Which Program Is Best For Me?
9. How Much Will It Cost?
10. Is Financial Assistance Available For Certification Training?
11. How Long Does Earning Certification Take?
12. Where Will I Have To Go For Certification Training?
13. Do I Need A College Degree?
14. How Do I Decide Between An MBA Or Certification?
15. What If I Don't Remember How To Study?
16. What Resources Are Available To Help Me With Certification?
17. What Resources Provide Current Certification News?
18. How Can I Promote Myself And My Certification?
19. What’s The Future Of Computer Certification?
20. Can I Really Advance My Career Through Certification?
8. Which Program Is Best For Me?
You could just pick a certification based on a gut feeling, but if you want to be certain of the best match, it’s going to take a bit of homework. First, you’ll have to identify just what it is you’re trying to accomplish, which can be more difficult than it sounds. It’s like deciding what to major in at college, but at least this time you’ll have the advantages of perspective and experience, which will allow you to visualize the options more clearly.
Second, once you’ve managed that, you’ll have to pin down the details of your current skills and experience and see where the bridge needs to be built, or maybe just the foundations strengthened, to get where you’d like to be. These two steps come easily to some people, but take quite a bit of thought for others. Completing them will put you halfway there.
Next comes the research part. Because there are more than 200 certifications to choose from, and more are being added all the time, you’ll want to browse through the options until you identify the ones that might suit your purposes. Don’t stop when you uncover the first possible program because there may be several that make the first cut. Then you’ll want to find out as much as you can about the certifications on your tentative list before settling on one.
Again, this process will cost you some time and effort, but putting in the work up front will be time and effort well spent if it lands you in the right certification program.
9. How Much Will It Cost?
The price of certification is difficult to pin down in advance. There are many variables, the first and largest of which is your choice of certification to pursue. In some cases, the sole requirement for initial certification is that you pass the exam. An example is the Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) program from the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA). In 1999 the exam fee was $295 for ISACA members and $385 for nonmembers (more for late registration).
You might be able to pass a qualifying exam strictly by drawing on expertise you already have, but that’s risky. Consider that of about 4,300 people who took the 1998 CISA exam only 54% passed. So most likely you’ll want to study the relevant material first. A study guide may be all you need, or a series of hands-on courses might be more in order. Your needs will probably fall somewhere in between. A manual is obviously drastically less expensive than instructor-led training.
Most certifications require some degree of continuing education over time to retain the certification. Generally there’s a lot of freedom about the exact nature of the training, a community college class, a professional seminar, an employer run seminar (which costs you nothing), or an online course might all qualify. The cost of your continuing education can vary greatly, depending on how you choose to accomplish it.
In some instances, you’ll have to pay an annual maintenance fee to the sponsoring organization. The annual CISA maintenance fee, for example, is $35 for ISACA members and $45 for nonmembers.
Word on the street is that an MCSE certification (one of the hottest at the moment) can run you ten thousand dollars or more by the time you complete the necessary classes and requirements. There’s no denying that’s a serious chunk of change, but it’s alleged to have a major impact on future earnings that begins before you even complete the certification. Apparently you can gain value in the eyes of some employers simply by being in the process of earning an MCSE. A similar effect probably applies to other designations as well.
Monetary expenses aren’t the only costs of earning certification. You’ll also have to devote time and effort, often a substantial amount.
As you can see, it’s impossible to state that certification will cost X dollars or will take every candidate Y months to obtain. On the one hand the uncertainty can be very annoying, but the pay off is the flexibility that allows each person, to a large degree, to map out their own path and their own pace. Only after you’ve decided which certification to go after, and figured out which learning alternatives are most attractive to you will you be able to come up with a reasonably close cost estimate. You can use our certification expense worksheet to help you determine
what your costs will be.
