CIW WITH SKILLTRAIN

Oh man! Ad-blocking software has been detected! :'(

This website is run by the community, for the community... and it needs advertisements in order to keep running. Blocking our ads means your killing our stats!
Please disable your ad-block, or become a premium member to hide all advertisements and this notice.

Hello,
I am new to this forum, I am looking for information on the ciw course with skilltrain.
I signed up last week with skilltrain, If anyone one has good or bad views on this company (skilltrain) i would like to hear
I have been in retail management for twelve year and i have decied to move over in to webdesign.

I look forward to reading your views.

Bye for now Tecx.

 

Oh man! Ad-blocking software has been detected! :'(

This website is run by the community, for the community... and it needs advertisements in order to keep running. Blocking our ads means your killing our stats!
Please disable your ad-block, or become a premium member to hide all advertisements and this notice.

Hang on.
There's quite a few people here studying with them.
Nailbomb will along in a minute. He likes them a lot.

 

Hello jonnyMX,
Thank you for your reply, I noticed you have done your ciw web design course. Just one question how long did it take you to do it?
thanks
Tecx

 

Funnily enough I was in retail management too for about 10 years before getting into IT.
The best thing about IT is that people shout at you over the phone rather than coming into your shop and shouting in your face!

Which CIW course are you doing? There's a couple, I did Master CIW Site Designer which is 3 modules. It took me about 3-4 months. I did it back when CompTia iNET+ was accepted in place of the CIW foundation. I've since gone back and done the new foundation exam though.
It's a good course, I really enjoyed it.

 

Thanks for that Jonny, I can't help but feel, you might be being somewhat sarcastic or insulting, but you're right I really like them.

From my not greatly experienced point of view I think skills train are pretty cool. I 'm doing the ciw website design manager course myself. So far I have found very informative and full of foundation level information that believe it or not, a lot of 'experts' don't actually know. So it gives you some good stuff from the off, now they only do this because the course is designed to cater anyone from people who know their stuff but need a cert, to beginners.

They gave me a lone to complete the course and they garuntee a job with one of their agency links for at least 25k a year, which is a great way to start, all of that and in just a year if not sooner(I plan to complete the course very quickly!)

To top it all off , they give you £700 worth of software, that's macromedia studio mx, which is the top package available.

So the way I see it, is it's win win with these guys, but the you never know. I may get screwed around, I hope not though. At the end of the day, there's no point working towards a qualification you don't even trust is there?

 

I enjoy having a little poke every now and then, but I hope I don't overstep the mark.
There's nothing wrong with being pleased with the service that your training provider offers. It's a nice change from all the horror stories out there...

 

Hi nailbomb,
I have just signed up for the course you are doing with skilltrain.
How long have you been doing it?
I have to wait two weeks before the course starts but i have got the first section to read through, and the bag with the disks,pen etc.
I am looking forward to doing this course I just hope it works out for both of us.
I asked for a copy of the signed sheet with the guarantee that they get you a job of no less than 25k.
Well all the best with your course and keep in touch.

 

I'm still a bit concerned about this. The going rate for a Web designer is nowhere near 25K, despite what you see in statistics (usually quoted by training providers).
I'm an MCAD and Master CIW (with a good portfolio) working as a developer with 10 years management exoerience and I'm not on 25K yet.
I'm just grateful to have a job.
When we take on new guys, even with certs, they would have to be really good to start on 15K.
It depends on what part of the country you're in I suppose.
The good thing is that once you've started, your salary can go up pretty quickly so you may be on 25K within 3 years or so.

It's been much debated on these forums in the past, and no one has been able to say that it's happened to them. Not even the salesmen-pretending-to-be-students have tried that one.

There is one obvious get-out clause in the 'when you certify we will guarantee you a starting salary of 25K'. That's replacing the 'when' with 'if'. I really hope that's not the case.

Whatever happens guys, get certified because you want to be certified. Get into IT because you want to get into IT. Don't do it because of the promise of 25K p.a.

I hope it all goes well, and I really want one of you to be here in 6 month time saying 'I got it'.

Then you'll be earning more than me...

 

£25K!!!! Sign Me Up!!!
(Sorry I'm taking the mick)

Seriously though, as Johnny says be very wary of that offer.
I've been in this industry for 8 years now, and I'm still not quite touching the magical £25K (I do the job for love not money). Although to be fair when I started in the industry in the late 1990's I started on around £17K but that was just before the bubble burst.

 

Dear all,

I too am considering doing either CIW (Application Developer/Enterprise Developer) or MCSD with SkillsTrain (as long as they do the C# pathway rather than the VB one). They charge just over £2000 for CIW Application Developer including Foundations and Web Languages exams.

As far as I'm aware each traing company charges different rates and the sales person tries to upsell the starting salaries. For the majority of starting Web Design jobs anything over £16K (20K in London) is unlikely unless you are very lucky. I would agree that jobs in any area of IT will only pay £25K after 3 years of relevent and recent experience.

It is best to have your own showcase site and a couple of commercial sites done (these may be unpaid) for a portfolio before getting your first paid job as the majority of companies will not interview anyone unless they can see samples of work first.

Also, can someone confirm whether the Macromedia suite of software is included with the Application Developer option (or the Enterprise Developer options). Maybe I should ring them up tomorrow and get fixed prices, inclusions (books, software) and exam policy before signing up.

- Tim.

 

Sorry man I have no idea, because I was already teaching myself html, javascript, css and a bit of c++ they said from the off, we think you should do the design manager course. I agreed, that's what I wanted to do anyway. I just wish I had all the knowledge now!

Confounded time, perhaps I should self-teach myself some magic, perhaps that would help.

 

Hi,
Well i have started my course today and lesson 1 what the hell is this about ?
I though the first section was boring and not very helpful there is only one part on how to load a jpg on to someone elses website.
I don't know wheather this course is for me i want more hands on than theroy.
I want to be able to design a website.
Please let me know if i am thinking the wrong way and weather it get's better as i go on.
Also i cannot go any further because my tutor has not got intouch and will not for another week ! :hhhmmm

 

How you get on will depend on what kind of training material you are given.
I've mentioned it before, CIW will not teach you how to design a website. It will teach you about the technology, the considerations, the politics, the law, the best practices etc.

If you want to build a website, you need to do it yourself using what you have learned. Your training provider may give you a hands-on project in order to try things out, you'll need to ask them about that.

I saw CIW as a two part course, it teaches you some important facts etc, but you also need to practice in order to gain experience.

Don't worry. It will start making sense soon.

 

Hi, Thanks jonnyMX

 

hi guys i've just started my CIW also, my tutor is now in touch and i have to say tho i am still going to stick at it , it is not like the rep nloke who came round my house painted. he said a one to one tutor. i have 1 tutor plus 6 others and none of their personal email addresses. i have to email them as a team. also i agree with whats been said the first part is a bit tedious, as before this i did a ND IN ICT AND COMPUTING and i found the begining all very easy. tho i'm stickin at it cos i knw it will get better and i can't wait tog et my hands on flash for the first time.

Also people who have been saying that the price is very high...just remember you only reep what yuo sew. so 2500 pounds now is gonna make alot of difference when your qualified. i have read alot of mixed opinions on the course however i feel that its all legite and if you want soemthing bad enough you go for it.its the working from anywhere that really catches me. as also has been said unless your new to the whole computer scene, put what your learning into practice. i can already programme some very basic javascript and html and i've made 1 or 2 sites for people and to me its about taking what i've already got and taking it to a whole new level.

anywayz kinda late now, so i'll hope to keep in contact with ya'll soon

 

Hi all,

It's been a while since i last replied, so just wondering how you are all finding the course/s that you're taking?

I have just reached the end of the foundations having just finished the network technology foundation. Found all the foundations to be quite easy my favorite being the second folder(getting to work XHTML and CSS, with that habitat site was good.

Can't wait for my next folder.

 

Hello All
I'm new here (posted to another intro thread). I'm way past 20-something and as well as work full time also teach stuff like photoshop and dreamweaver in adult ed in the evenings. I am just about to sign up to SkillsTrain for CIW Website Design manager. I took their aptitude test - told that having passed that well that I could pass the CIW. Some of it looks a bit daunting - I have only dabbled in creating websites and don't do it for a living, although I see that as a distinct possibility when qualified.

I gather you seem positive about SkillsTrain. They want to charge £2,500 for the course on an interest free basis. Does that seem reasonable, and what do you think of their assertion that they assume all students start from base? What I really want to know is, how do-able is it? That's a loaded question!

I look forward to getting to know you all.

Best wishes
Hannya

 

hey,

i'm doing the same course and have just finished the foundations section, as previously posted.

I know there are a few members on this forum who have taken and passed C.I.W. courses. As with any home study type course, you can achieve as long as you can put the time into it.

Also, actually being interested in what you are learning really helps. I am paying the £2500 in interest free installments and find it a reasonable amount, due to the fact you recieve a copy of marcomedia studio Mx!

I hope this helps in some way, and I strongly encourage you to take that next step. I for one cannot wait to be certified!

 

Hello Nailbomb

The chap from SkillsTrain rang last night, but I told him I'd decided to put the thing on hold. I'm going to look a bit more into this before I shell out that amount of dosh! I'd be grateful for your feedback on the course, though, as you progress.

How much time did you need for the Foundation - how many hours study? Do you need extra resources - or does SkillsTrain provide you with everything you need?

What slightly bothers me is that catch-22 - even with the qualification you can't get a job without experience. So how do you get the job in the first place to get the experience?

Good luck with the course.
Sounds like you're enjoying it.

Hannya

 

well,

id say that the foundations has taken me about, anywhere from two and a half to four weeks pers folder, for the first three.

the most difficult section for me was the network fundamentals folder(no:3) To be fair though, i was already familiar with html and css, so that helps.

As for feedback on the course, i have so far found it really helpful and consice. the one problem is there is a lot of jargon acronyms etc to learn so it can get confusing, but each folder contains a glossary of terms.