CompTIA Recertification Policies

Discussion in 'News' started by tripwire45, Jan 14, 2009.

  1. tripwire45
    Honorary Member

    tripwire45 Zettabyte Poster

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    CompTIA Recertification Policies



    I earned my CompTIA A+ credential in early 1997. At that time, once you received your A+ certification, you were A+ certified for life. However, times change, and many IT certification vendors have begun attaching "lifetimes" to their titles. What's the deal with CompTIA as of January 2009?

    Well, as it turns out, truth is stranger than fiction in this regard. For instance, check out this forum post by veteran A+ instructor and author Mike Meyers:

    Hi All-

    My name is Mike Meyers - I write a number of books for the CompTIA exams for McGraw-Hill...


    The rest is at InformIT.
     
    Certifications: A+ and Network+
porta2_tags:

Comments

    1. greenbrucelee
      greenbrucelee
      I will contact compTIA over this.

      I can see the need for certain MS exam taker to renew their certs every once in a while but not for people who have the A+ and N+ as most other people once they have those certs will be going onto bigger and harder level certs.
    2. hbroomhall
      hbroomhall
      Actually - that article is a bit naughty. It *doesn't* state that the posting by Mike Meyers was back last summer - the tone of the article suggests it is recent.

      The point here seems to be that it is the *exam* that has a defined life - not the cert.

      Harry.
    3. soundian
      soundian
      Somebody does say
      "Well I called Comptia and asked them about the "Fine Print" on the certificate and they assured me that the Certs are Life time and that the finer print is for the objectives that we were tested on."
    4. Kitkatninja
      Kitkatninja
      I'm not too bothered about it, I've got a little statement at the bottom of my Sec+ cert that states:

      It doesn't say that the cert will expire, just how current it is :)

      -Ken
    5. BosonMichael
      BosonMichael
      Ken's right. The exact wording is:

      (bolding added for emphasis)

      Your certification is good for life. But that particular EXAM that you took will be current through December 2008. Whoever takes the exam AFTER that date will potentially test using a different set of questions and objectives.

      Move along... nothing to see here but a bunch of FUD.
    6. michael78
      michael78
      I agree the wording is very misleading. If CompTIA exams did have a retake policy then they would go bankrupt as nobody would take them. The A+ and Network+ for example are excellent certs to start with as they give you a good insight into generalised knowledge but has it helped my career? Not really to be honest. I think that employers are more interested in MS and Cisco certs. If there was a retake policy I wouldn't of studied the exams in the first place as they simply don't hold a lot of career value (IMHO).
    7. BosonMichael
      BosonMichael
      I think they each have their place. CompTIA certifications, for the most part, are more useful near the beginning of an IT career, and MS and Cisco certifications, for the most part, are more useful later in an IT career.

      In truth, I would have to say that the CompTIA certifications can often be MORE helpful than Microsoft and Cisco certifications. Before you've gotten your first IT job, you don't have any experience - you've got NOTHING to set yourself ahead of your competition. And certifications can absolutely do that when you're just starting out. But after you've built experience, it is far easier to use THAT as a way to make yourself look more attractive to employers. Certifications are still useful, but they're not nearly as important as experience is.
    8. Jakamoko
      Jakamoko
      Wise words for all, Mike - rep ! :D
    9. BosonMichael
      BosonMichael
      'Preciate that, Gav. :biggrin

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