Apprenta MCSD Training

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Hi all, just paid Apprenta £4000 for the MCSD.net training. Actually I'm not too worried about the job promises because I don't want to work for them or their associates. But, can anyone tell me what the quality of their IT training is? Are the training Microsoft Certified trainers (ie MCT's). I've been developing Windows apps for 16 years in C++ and VB.Net so I'm really hoping to get decent tuition and more experience in SQL Server.

Can anyone help??

 

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hi,

i m quite new to this forum actually joined today only.i am not an expert nor m i an IT geek.but in good faith would like to go through this page and then decide whether you have taken the right decision since you already have a lot of work experience.


http://www.certforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=7494

one more thing, i would like to add is a friend of mine tried to visit them at their edinburgh office but he was not guided properly by the 2 beautiful receptionists as who to contact and when he tried to contact using the phone nos provided on their web site no body has yet bothered to reply after taking his details and it has been more than a month.i m sure that you will take another look at this apprenta thing.good luck.

 

Hi there, welcome to CF!

I would suppose that the quality of the training would depend on how much effort you put into learning the material. If you already have a lot of experience with it then you may find it a lot easier than someone who is new to IT.

As for Apprenta themselves, well I can't say, as I've had no dealings with them. If you take a look around our forums though I'm sure that you will find reference to them.

When you've time why not pop over to the new members introduction forum and introduce yourself properly!

 

Apprenta have offered me a 3 week course to guide me towards a MSCD.net. This is followed by a SQL Server 2000 course lasting 2 weeks. At around that time I would be expected to take the course exams. I have been told that the trainers are not MCTs, but are working towards it via an employee who is an MCT.

From what I gather in this forum people are not so much concerned about the training, but rather the prospects of work after the course. I agree that what you get out is equal to the amount of work you put in.

As for the £4000? Is it worth it? I went on the 2310 course for 1 week via another company (MediaBlend), who are fully qualified MS trainers. This one course cost £1500. So multply £1500 by the number of course you would expect to go on to get the MCSD then £4000 is not bad.

 

Personaly I would say that £4000 is a lot of money to spend on something that you could buy a couple of books on, practice on a spare PC, and then sit the exams. But thats just me!

 

but then you get no benefit of working with other people, and being able to ask questions to a trainer face to face. The courses I've been on have produced a wealth of information about the course, but also about topics unconnected with the course, but which are nevertheless useful to know.

 

That's a good point, BlueKnight, but if you frequent websites like ours, or some of the other IT cert sites across the Net, you will find yourself "speaking" to some highly knowledgable, experienced, and in some cases, influential members of the IT community. Some of our Members here have astonishing industry knowledge and experience - right next to the newbies and learners. It's a thing about the Net - it is a great leveller at times, from which all can benefit. The purpose of my response is to help you see just what can be gained for free on the Net. I pass no judgement on the money you have laid out (I did similar myself in the past, and know what I would choose now in hindsight).

All I'm saying is hang around (here, or elsewhere) and take the time to meet and learn from some great minds. You may have the same influence on someone else down the line

 

I agree with this to a point. I actually met some really nice people on the courses I did. One became a real friend and we often get together for a beer and a chat. However, I found the courses moved along too fast for the information to sink in and hence asking questions was pointless as I didn't understand enough about the topics to formulate a proper question. I was not the only one, hardly a question was asked because nobody wanted to hold the class up or they were too embarrassed.

During the breaks the trainers would all huddle together and not make eye contact with the students. When they did talk to the students, it was usually jokes and bull$hit stories.

Then they closed the local branch and fired the trainers. Then they went bust.

The stuff I learnt on those courses was nowhere near in depth enough to pass the related exams. The courses just scratched the surface and people would walk away after four or five days in a state of bewilderment.

ISA for example was a five day course. The instructor was good, I have a lot of respect for the guy. But the sheer amount of material we had to cover made the course confusing to say the least. I was lost before the end of the first day.

After this five day appreciation course on ISA 2000, it took me nearly a year of self study before I felt ready to tackle the exam. I learnt an incredible amount in that year. Self study is what taught me ISA, not the five days of mental mayhem on that course.

Hence I am now a firm believer in the self study approach. You will end up self studying anyway, so why pay for the privilege?