CompTIA Reneges, Reconsiders on Lifetime Certifications

garg0yle writes "Recently, it was reported that IT certification house CompTIA had changed their A+, Network+, and Security+ certifications — rather than being 'for life,' there would now be a recertification requirement through continuing-education credits (and an accompanying fee). Needless to say, this made a lot of people very unhappy, and today it was announced that CompTIA has reversed their decision. Basically, any certification obtained before 2011 will still be 'for life.'" Ars notes the coincidence that CompTIA contacted them about the change of heart an hour after Ars's story about CompTIA's initial switcheroo went live.

Comments

CompTIA

[Lord Ender]

CompTIA certs are the community college diplomas of the IT certification industry. Who cares, unless you're going for an internship or level-1 helpdesk position?

Re:CompTIA

[johnlcallaway]

I agree. I had to take the CompTIA Linux certification several years ago to teach a class and thought it was odd that there was no re-certification requirement. I passed it the first try without too much studying, just taking the sample test and finding out where I needed to brush up. I didn't have to pay for it, so I really didn't think too much about it, it was just one of those things I had to do to make a little extra spending money.

After I took it I found out that an NT guy with zero Linux experience passed it simply by studying for it.

CompTIA certs only impress people who don't know anything, and are helpful to get you through the HR screening by pasting it on your resume.

Re:CompTIA

[Attila Dimedici]

CompTIA certs only impress people who don't know anything, and are helpful to get you through the HR screening by pasting it on your resume. That accurately describes most college IT degrees, actually.

That accurately describes most college degrees, most of the time they are necessary to get past HR screening, but tell you nothing about the qualifications of the individual in question.

Re:CompTIA

[hduff]

And what good is an MBA?

You avoid standing with the Liberal Arts undegrads in the unemployment line, i.e. you get your own special Hell.

Re:CompTIA

[Lord Ender]

In pursuit of my engineering degree, I learned useful things I would not have "discovered" on my own. I understand how things work under the hood. I also learned finance and communication skills.

A diploma from a real college means something.

(oh and I got to build robots!)

Re:CompTIA

[Jaysyn]

Don't you mean accountants & PhDs in Economics?

Maybe you are right, but I don't work in banking. The MBAs I know are mostly small to medium business owners.

Re:CompTIA

[causality]

CompTIA certs only impress people who don't know anything, and are helpful to get you through the HR screening by pasting it on your resume. That accurately describes most college IT degrees, actually.

That accurately describes most college degrees, most of the time they are necessary to get past HR screening, but tell you nothing about the qualifications of the individual in question.

College is about having goals, meeting deadlines, and dealing well (i.e. obediently) with authority figures, your willingness to allow them to determine the use of your time, your ability to follow their detailed instructions, and your willingness to be a cog in a large institution. Those are the qualifications employers find desirable. They likely know that in this industry, a degree does not necessarily indicate skill or ability and that many of the most skilled developers and technicians never went to college. What they do know is that it demonstrates you are willing and able to jump through hoops of the sort that they find useful.

Re:CompTIA

[dcollins]

This is such horseshit. I found my time in college to be uniformly exciting and mind-expanding. I can't even imagine what kind of personality it takes to have never found a single college class be educational. It's like the whole "mentor/student" concept has a been a hideous gaffe for what, 4000 years?

Re:CompTIA

[infinite9]

This is such horseshit. I found my time in college to be uniformly exciting and mind-expanding. I can't even imagine what kind of personality it takes to have never found a single college class be educational. It's like the whole "mentor/student" concept has a been a hideous gaffe for what, 4000 years?

My university experience matches yours. My work experience matches the GP.

They probably ought to decertify me, actually

[cptnapalm]

I got my A+ about a decade ago. Tech bubble burst and I couldn't get a job doing A+ work around here. Then I didn't own a computer for a few years and I haven't done anything with Windows in years at this point. They probably ought to de-certify me, quite frankly. On the other hand, I'm not applying for any A+ jobs anymore, so I suppose the question, in my case, is moot.

Non-renewing certs are worthless

[Spittoon]

If the certifying authority doesn't require renewals, or some sort of ongoing training in order to stay certified, then the hiring managers will/should start requiring it. "When did you get your certification? What have you done since then to maintain your current knowledge of the field?" IT isn't like Ancient Literature. What you know today will likely be obsolete tomorrow, and any body that wants to certify qualifications in such a changing environment needs to take that into account. Sounds like they wanted to realize that, but people who just wanted a meaningless cert on their CV wouldn't let them do it.

Re:wow ...

[spun]

You have to jump through far more arbitrary hoops for a degree, even a measly four year. That's what employers want to see. Not particular skills, but arbitrary hoop-jumping ability.

In other words

[natehoy]

They have taken this policy change and turned it into an advertisement.

"If you act THIS YEAR, your certification will be good FOR LIFE! Act NOW!"

They can imply that certifications earned this year will have more value than certifications earned after 1 Jan 2011, because the ones earned this year never expire. Neither cert will be worth bupkus a year after it's granted, but one that never expires probably feels more valuable than one that does, even if the actual knowledge really does expire.

My 1337 386 skillz are still valid!

[Tmack]

W00! this means my A+ from 1995 is still good! Im gona make mad $$ since I know how to boot DOS and unplug keyboards and monitors... I even know how to install a 386sx and 30pin simms!

(not really, Im lame cause I never got my A+, just a job as a sysadmin)

Re:Where's your Evidence?

[Lord Ender]

Certifications which mean something tend to vary by specialization. Cisco certifications mean something if you work in networking. GIAC or ISC2 certifications mean something if you work in security.

CompTIA certifications don't command respect anywhere, except maybe to differentiate yourself from the other entry-level candidates with no experience. After your first job, mentioning your CompTIA cert is like talking about where you went to middle school. Who cares?

Re:Where's your Evidence?

[spun]

Well, I don't give a great God damn how useful my certs are on my job. I already know I can do my job. I don't need a cert to prove that to myself. I thought the whole point of certs was to help get a foot in the door.