About To Take The Plunge! .........

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Hi, i havent been around for a while, ive actually been trying to find out what and where i want to go within the IT field. Plus ive been working all the hours God sends to get money.

Im on the verge of signing up for the A+, N+ etc with Scheidegger, however im having last minute second thoughts.

I do realise that everyone has their own experiences with training providors and home study, and i dont want to follow anyones opinion to much.

Skillstrain seem ideal for what i need but around £3000 (£75 per month) is alot of money and i dont want to waste my time and money.

When they visited me the gave me all the usuall sales pitch (garenteed job after 1 year, access to live labs near to my house, online access etc etc etc)
The guy did seem to no what he was talking about, i questioned him about everything i could think of, and he seemed to give me all the right answers (as he would)

So im at the point of 'do i go ahead with this course, or, buy the Mike Myers A+ and N+ and get on with it myself' ive read every single post in this forum regarding Scheidegger and there is a very mixed set of opinions.

Can anyone share their experiences with both self study and skillstrain? as any advice and opinions would be apprieceited.

Thanks People!

 

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I haven't used any of the providers mentioned here, but I'd ask you this: Why do you think you need a training provider? What is it that makes you see value in what they have to offer? What will you get from them that you can't get elsewhere for free, or for far less money?

 

Good question, well i feel if i done it myself i might not have the access and contacts to get a job within the IT field, and also i dont want to be in 'above my head' shall we say. Being with a provider seems to be a security blanket for me, even though im not 100% that they are going to give me what i need.

Thats why im here for advise and opinions, hopefully i can narrow down the pros and cons of both and make my decision.

Thanks for any input.

 

Ah, do you have contacts here? Or, a better question would be, will you have contacts through forums such as this one into the IT world?

If you get in "over your head" so to speak, don't you think sources like this with people who work in the real world will be able to help you just as much, or probably more, than some instructor who more likely than not will have little or no IT experience? To tell the truth every one of us who have self-studied have felt we were in "over our heads" at one point or another, but we got past it. We all have varying levels of self doubt.

The other side of this question is how much money is that "security blanket" worth after reading all the opinions and experiences you've read on this site? Can you without a doubt say it's very valuable? If not, well, that's a pretty important factor in making your decision.

Sure some of the people who have written negative things about these trainers have done so in anger, but when you figure you've just been ripped off you get angry. What reason would all the people here who have written that the training providers aren't worth the money they charge have for writing this stuff? Just to confuse people? Now you know what you hear from a training provider rep is one sided. You know they have a dog in the fight, so to speak. Just what is the "dog in the fight" for all the other people?

I've seen some pretty level-headed posts here about the training providers and their ethics. I'd be more than hesitant to ignore that information because it isn't written by anyone with any financial incentive. They aren't trying to sell you something from which they will profit.

 

Thanks for input ffreeloader i appreciate it.

 

Hi - have just joined the forum so I apologise in advance if these points have been covered.I've not really looked in much detail at what Skillstrain offer but I had a similar choice to make a few years back so I hope some of this may be useful.

In my opinion the most important factor in choosing self study or training provider is your study style/habits. I discovered early on along my self-study route that I could become distracted by all sorts especially early on when the goal seems so far away. So I took the provider route. I went for a package that offered me several 5 day modules.(I was studying for my MCSE) I didn't bother with any of the add-ons such as cv writing skills or job guarantees because you seem to pay a premium for vague or dubious promises. Doing it this way I found that by booking the next module for 6-8 weeks time gave me the incetive to get on with the extra study in between or risk not being able to complete all the courses and effectively lose the money.
Another thing is to be certain its what you want to do - its a lot of money to risk especially if its all you have. Is it possible to only commit to doing the first part of your intended study by any other means. There were people who signed up to the year long course I did who we never saw again after the first 2 week module - in fact by the end there were only 2 of us from the original group.

In the end only you can decide whats best for you and how much you're willing to risk financially. I'm sure I could have certified much more cheaply than I did but I don't regret what I spent as I got my certification and with that my current job.

Good luck in your studies whichever route you go.