Advent training

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Hi guys,

i am a 19 year old personal trainer, i learnt all my skills at college and through an apprenticeship.

i am now looking to move onto IT industry with Advent training, they sound all well and good promise me a job promise me this and that a salary of 30k in 3 years ETC.

I just wanted to know as im looking to pay nearly £6,000 for the course if any one has done the courses through Advent and how they found there services, and also where they are now and how they moved on upwards in there life after this?

any comments would be hugely greatful as i have to decide in two weeks, bear in mind i am a IT beginner only studying IT at GCSE level.

many thanks

 

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Hi

I would personally avoid Advent.

You best option is to self study starting off with A+ certification.

If you feel you can not self-study the look around your local colleges which may offer courses which are a fraction of a price compared to Advent.

 

£6000 is quite a lot

I did my A+ via self study and a few old P.C's.

Try that first before you give away 6 large

As for the Job promise, how do they know you are good enough for a job in IT?

 

Whatever you do do not pay a training provider.

Search this forum for self study advice that has been posted. Ask here if you have any questions. Just don't line any tw*ts pockets with £6k whatever you do.

 

as has been said searching the forums will reveal a whole host of results.

welcome to cf btw.

 

I would pay 6k just for my CompTIA A+.

 

^ are you having another go at humour?

 

Leave him be, he needs the practice...

 

Hahahaha made me chuckle

Ive gone with Advent and I don't regret it as I really do enjoy the support from mentors you get whether or not you think thats worth that kind of money is up to you really, majority of people say its a big con.

I agree it is expensive, if your on a tight budget then I suggest you take self study.

Well you must have to be stinking rich for 6k not to be much of an issue and I'm not stinking rich I just feel more confident getting that support from the mentors and knowing the support is there if I need it, that is what makes up the bulk of the price tag of 6k I would assume.

I assume for the price tag of 6k its for the same certs as what I have paid for which would be;

Comptia A+
MCP
MCDST
MCSA
MCSE

I I remember rightly (correct me If im wrong) the price for doing all of those self study would be just over 1k.
You get unlimited resits on each test with Advent but thats only to your advantage if you do fail and retake your tests multiple times.

I only took the course as they originally offered a really scary payment option which was a deferred loan in which I would have 12 months on the loan of 5k (Thats what I payed for mine so maybe try and bargain with them) in which I don't incur any interest what so ever (0% apr) for the first year, how ever after first year the interest jumped to 25% . So that put the final nail in the coffin for me, I said to the preachy sales guy NO! I can't afford that.

I was then offered a better payment option the next day with Barclays after turning it down, a fixed monthly payment of £82.50 for 5 years totalling just shy of 5k and 0% interest on the entire duration of 60 monthly payments, I then accepted as I found that completey fair in terms of the loan aggreement.

That is my story with Advent and my opinion of them

I would suggest that if your very confident with computers and very computer literate then take the cheap self study route (If you do want to go into the IT Industry then this should always be the case)

Sorry its a bit of a long post

 

I did my A+ self study, a couple of old machines and some books, hard work but worth the pain

Save your money!

 

http://www.certforums.co.uk/forums/thread35857.html

http://www.certforums.co.uk/forums/thread20315.html

http://www.certforums.co.uk/forums/thread22334.html

http://www.certforums.co.uk/forums/thread34963.html

Here are a few threads about TPs and Advent have a read and also do a search and read other threads so you can get a lot of opinions before you make a decision.

My opinion for what its worth, i dont know how they can justify asking these kind of figures to provide you with material which you can readily buy yourself for a tiny fraction of the cost!

 

A few things to consider.

1) I'd take the promise of the job and that salary with a very large pinch, in fact a sack, of salt. I've never heard of anyone (other than the odd shill post) getting a legit job from a TP. Some of them do give you jobs, either s****y jobs that have nothing to do with IT located 50 miles away or, even worse, they employ you to sell courses to even more unsuspecting customers.

2) If you're on the A+, MCDST, MCSA, MCSE route you need to be aware that the MCSA and MCSE are pretty much useless without proper experience to back them up. We're talking years here normally.

3) Have you considered what would happen if you decided IT wasn't for you after a few months? That would be 6K down the drain. Don't for one second think you'll get out of the contract a few months down the line, unless you can prove their service has been very different form what's promised in the contract.

My advice would be to try self-study first. It is, after all, pretty much what you'll be doing with a TP anyway but with none of the debt and long-term commitment.
If you do go with a TP, go through the contract with a fine-tooth comb and ask questions until you understand exactly how everything works. I've seen some of these and they are full of loopholes, ambiguities and general legal skullduggery.

 

also add on the rest + all the transcenders + online mocks + workshops which must add up to a good few weeks + support

6K is a lot, i know people that did advent (A+ to MCSE) for a lot less than that and one guy did manage to get a job through them (i know its not guaranteed or can never be, but it is a success story none the less).

 

Just to add a touch of balance without actually disagreeing with any of the points that have been made here.

There is a place in some people's lives for TPs, with a couple of warnings:

1. Not all TPs are equal, both in terms of the promises they make and the service they deliver. Do your homework first and choose the TP you like the sound of. It's tougher that it should be unfortunately. If you were going to buy a new car, it's pretty easy to search around and find some quality reviews. Unfortunately with TPs you've got the salesmen and shills on the one hand and the disgruntled students who just couldn't be bothered to do any work on the other. The truth is in the middle somewhere.

2. Decide on your own path into IT. If you fancy web design, do web design. If you fancy A+ on its own, find somewhere to do A+ on its own. Do not be railroaded by a salesman who tries to flog you a course that isn't really what you want to do. They'll smooth talk you 'you're obviously a really clever bloke, I reckon you could handle our MCSE course. Have you seen what an MCSE can earn? Wooo... Big companies are crying out for MCSEs.' The sad fact is, that with few exceptions, these salesmen have absolutely no knowledge of the IT industry and not much more about the content of their courses beyond what they've read in their own brochures.

So TP, not necessarily bad - but do your homework and make sure you have all the information you need to have the conversation on your terms and not theirs. And when you are studying you will have to study if you are with a TP or not. And it will be your responsibility to make sure you get and take advantage of all the things that you were offered. They won't be handed to you on a plate.

 

I agree with what jonnyMX says there.

The reason I left Advent was because I was I was not happy with their job promise. I knew it was a blatant lie but we were made to say it as part of the sales strategy.

This tatic was used to gain an advantage over the competitors and it worked well.

I left Advent for another TP who were more up front and honest about what they were offering. The fact is their sales strategy was to tell the prospects this course is bloody hard and dont go in blind folded. Make them aware what they were getting into.

Now isn't that a better method??

There is a place for TP's (well the good ones) Advent are a very good TP, but do use tatics I was not comfortable with, but that's just me.

FA

 

are you sure it wasn't a naughty sales person?

Because Advent have never promised a job when i have spoken to them, rather they promised to help find a job and help with CVs etc. No guarantees.

That's my experience with them anyway

I generally agree theres the good, bad and the ugly.