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CompTIA Certifications No Longer Permanent

By Stephen Bucaro

One of the nice things about CompTIA certifications was that they were permanent. Once certified you were certified for life. But all those who received CompTIA A+, Network+, and Security+ after January 1, 2010 are required to recertify every three years. many consumers reaction to this are that it's just a greedy grab for more money by CompTIA.

CompTIA released its first certification, A+ computer technician, in 1993. Now, let's be realistic, computer technology has changed since then and maybe those first certification holders have kept up with the changes, and maybe not. Back in 1993 the only things a computer technician needed to know about was Microsoft Windows running on desktop PC. Today mobile devices running Android and Apple iOS are the most common systems, Windows is just an also ran after the Blackberry OS.

One of the things holding back CompTIA certifications internationally was that they didn't comply with ISO (International Organization for Standardization) standards. CompTIA's policy change on lifetime certification is partially driven by ISO standards. Another point is that when people holding certification applied for jobs, potential employers always inquired about the certification date anyway, so a 1993 CompTIA A+ certification didn't buy you much.

You do not necessarily need to take an exam to stay certified. You can renew your CompTIA certification by earning CEUs (Continuing Education Units). You can earn CEU's by gaining related work experience, earning other related certifications, participating in certain IT industry activities, or publishing a relevant article. You'll need to use CompTIA's CEU assessment tool to determine if your CEU activity meets recertification requirements, and you'll need to provide documentation for the activities.

If you hold multiple CompTIA certifications, only the highest level certification has to be renewed. For example, if you have Security+ and CompTIA A+ certifications, you only have to renew your Security+ certification to keep your certification valid.

You can learn about CompTIA A+ certification here and learn about how to stay certified here.