Desperate times call for desperate measures or so the saying goes.

Learning technical things with computers changes dramatically, but not that dramatically. Every nine years technology changes so much so that it would be beneficial to have some structured education. This could very well be by ones own gumption to learn by hands-on or to take a certified course.

This same type of thing happens in all places. If you work in a mine or for an oil company, you must get training in First Aid & CPR. For most oil companies in Canada, they require you to have a card which says you are certified for giving first aid and cpr. They each have an expiration date of 5 and 3 years respectively. There are courses as well that you must pass a course to gain a card that is presented before going to work for these companies or they send you home. It doesn't matter if your a rig pig or a truck driver.

If the job you have requires these certificates then it should be covered by your employer. If you work for yourself then it's got to come out of your own pocket. This may not be so bad if you have alot of work that can cover the cost and write it off as a work expense on your tax return. I'm not familiar with the documents you signed years ago but if it's anything like a bank, they have the right (or have a good chance of getting away with) altering the deed.

It seems like a big expense but if you need it bad enough, you'll probably just pay for it.

I'm sorry Jake, but you seem to be missing the point. Whether or not expiring certifications are good or bad, for cert holders is beside the point. Previous cert holders had an agreement with CompTIA, and it is not fair, and should not be legal, for CompTIA to arbitrarily break that agreements.

If CompTIA wants to change their agreement with subsequent exam takers, then that is a different matter. Comptia has no right to renege on agreements that they have already been made. A done deal is a done deal. If I pay to get a lifetime certification, then I expect to get a lifetime certification - period.

Recertification is another matter. But now the issue concerns integrity. You don't promised one thing and changed it at a later date. If they can do it now, what makes you think that they will not change it again from 3 years to 1 year?

Jake, you are in the minority here. Who are you to decide 9 years is the benchmark for major tech changes, it should be up to employers to determine if someones cert is still relevent or not, not you, and not CompTIA. As walterbyrd said the bottom line here is they made the recertification retroactive instead of grandfathering it in. Thats why people are so mad about this. Had they made new cert paths like A+ Gold or something there would be nowhere near this amount of backlash, and I would suspect there are a lot of certified folks that still dont know about this.

THEY HAVE RENEGED THIS POLICY

http://www.comptia.org/certifications/listed/renewal.aspx

YOU ALL HAVE UNTIL 12-31-10 FOR LIFETIME CERT'S in A+ N+ S+

BTW - FU CompTIA

CompTIA caved!

http://www.comptia.org/News/PressReleases/10-01-26/CompTIA_Certification_Renewal_Policy_Clarified.aspx

Guess I have to go get my Network+ and Security+ certifications before December rolls around.

New CEO and wants his new rules on everything!!!

Wow, I actually thought about getting a few CompTIA + certs for my business. Now this mess happens. So, say I go to Harvard. I graduate top of my class with a Masters in Business. Three years later, I get a letter in the mail saying that my cert...er... my diploma is or will be invalid along with all my ex-classmates. Not only would I be outraged; I'd be astounded at the audacity of the institution to pull such garbage. Harvard's credit, not only with it's previous students, but also those looking to hire Harvard grads, would tip over into the abyss never to return. CompTIA is full of crap. All of these Certs should be lifetime. If you use it continually great. No re-certification for you. If you leave the field for 10 years or more, only then should you have to go through the hassle again.

From what I've seen, none of my customers give a crap or even knows what a CompTIA Certificate means to them. In that case what the heck does it mean for me to have it? They won't pay me more to repair a system because I have it, so why take it every 3 years?

CompTIA needs to pull their heads out of their arses and figure out which direction they are going in. Do they want to make more money for themselves in the short term or do they want to help their certificate holders and earn more in the long? Right now...CompTIA + = losers. (oddly enough my reCaptcha words were scathing & welcome...haha)

its now 2011, go straight to CISCO! its cheaper!

One thing that pisses me off also is that, A+ is in 2 parts 220-701 and 220-702 effectivly doubling the fee's. Comptia is supposed not to be vendor specific but part 220-702 is deffo Microsoft specific. Comptia A+ was formed to verify a persons knowledge of hardware not their knowledge of the Microsoft operating system methods that shold be left to the Microsoft exams. That's why for me Comptia sucks and has now gone way beyond it's original remit. Screw Comptia.

For whatever they're worth, here are my thoughts on CompTia: http://westhillprinters.blogspot.com/p/pdi-certification.html