Ask Slashdot: On the Job Certification Training?

beerdini writes "There is a debate going on within my IT department about how our continued training offerings compare to others in the industry. I'm hoping other Slashdotters can help to provide comparisons. Currently, if we are implementing a new technology or updated software we will send someone from IT for training to become a specialist; in other words, they go to formal training as a part of their job where they learn their new skills. Alternatively, for someone pursuing an industry certification, employees usually take the training on their own time and dime. On passing the certification exam, they can submit the exam fee for reimbursement. This is the most common practice that I've seen in the various places that I've worked, but I have one co-worker who insists that it is our company's responsibility to pay for the materials, allow them to study and practice while on the job, and that all attempts to take the test should be paid by the company because it should be a company investment in the employee. So, my questions to the Slashdot community: what are the ongoing training practices in your organization? Are there any places that pay for someone to get an industry certificate? Are there any rules associated with it?"

Comments

Wrong field, man.

[girlintraining]

Are there any places that pay for someone to get an industry certificate?

Not really. This industry is routinely and repeatedly gutted by idiot lawmakers on behalf of greedy corporations who have managed to turn most IT positions into contract positions without benefits. Before the dot com bubble burst, contract positions paid more than salaried positions, with the understanding you'd be responsible for covering benefits. This was because the multitude of startups didn't have the resources for proper HR. But once the bubble burst, the bottom fell out of the market. Naturally, the lower salaries being offered drove many into other fields. Those that stayed endured high rates of unemployment, because businesses anticipated this and claimed to Congress that there were no qualified workers. In truth, there were -- they just redefined "qualified" to mean "paid shit". So now there's about a million immigrants here on visas getting no benefits on the promise of earning citizenship someday... while the domestic workers who were already here continue to languish in unemployment or have switched into alternative fields. But this isn't news to anyone in the industry, just anyone outside of it.

You won't find many businesses investing in their workers. But if you want to look, you're welcome to it. I suggest starting by pulling their IRS records and finding out what percentage of their workforce is under contract and going from there. Small businesses won't invest in you. Eating the other end of the spectrum is our soaring rates of tuition; Nobody can afford a degree in this country now. Naturally, this means there are "no qualified people", and thus, more immigrants. Because it's a lot cheaper for them to meet the HR demands for certification and have dozens of cheap (but valid) degrees than you are.

Bottom line: If you're dead set on getting on the job certification, get out of this field, or get out of this country. Those are your two options.