Why am I paying for professional certs that barely increase my pay?
Employers often push staff to earn expensive professional certifications while only covering a fraction of the testing costs and offering minimal raises. This leaves employees paying nearly out-of-pocket for exams that cost almost as much as the promised pay bump, turning valuable career credentials into a poor financial trade-off.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- This comes up 21.4× more often in r/sysadmin than across the site as a whole.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1studying for the exams independently while looking for a new jobDid this help you?
- 2ignoring the certification demands or pushing back with alternative suggestionsDid this help you?
- 3refusing to pay out of pocket for employer-mandated credentialsDid this help you?
- 4battling the administration to say noDid this help you?
- 5relying on general work experience and performance to move upDid this help you?
- 6pursuing alternative designations like the US CMADid this help you?
- 7transitioning to government roles or industry positionsDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“So after kind of shrugging his shoulders for a year he is now bent on getting me to do more certs.”source ↗
“Since they are only paying for half the certs… there has to be a carrot at the end of the stick. He very excitedly said a $2,000 pay increase.”source ↗
“Like I’m pretty sure the exams are almost as Much as the pay increase?”source ↗
“Certs are usually a complete waste of time and a giant money grab.”source ↗
“You are being taken for all you can be taken for, and given as little as possible.”source ↗
“I know in the age of degree inflation in Canada our CPA is practically a bachelors and a bachelors is moreso viewed as an associates degree unfortunately. Wondering anyone pave a career for themselves?”source ↗
“I've wondered about this too because the pressure to get the CPA feels huge in Canada. Would be nice to hear from people who skipped it and still built a solid career”source ↗
“Was just told that I need to get the ESL cert by a certain date this schooo year. Out of my pocket too.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 6Why are continuing education webinars just sales pitches?
- 17Do I need a master's degree to teach high school English?
- 3How to pass work certifications fast with no experience
- 2Paying for IT certifications without company sponsorship
- 5Should I switch to the new CPA program or rush the old one?
- 2How to pay for school and startup costs without debt