Advent Training advice

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.

I've been a games developer for the past four years working for a low-mid range company based in North Scotland (salary of around 16k). I have minimal qualifications in IT and I acquired my current job through presentation of my self-taught skills and experience.

Recently I have decided it was time to gain certain key qualifications, and expand my skill base by applying to do a training course. Advent Training was recommended by a friend of mine, however I've become deeply concerned after reading many of the threads on this forum and I feel I have made a bad choice in selecting a reputable IT Training company.

Any advice you fellas/ladies can offer?

 

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.

self study and don't pay somone thousands of pounds that you could do yourself for a couple of hundred or so.

 

In terms of cost it is not the most viable option self study can be around 80% cheaper Ive learn't from this forum recentley.

I'm with advent, Ive taken the MCSE course, which Ive been told Ive been misold due to my lack of experience but given there is no time limit when you take the course with Advent, I will take the certs one at a time wait till I get my first entry level job, completely stop inbetween certs if I'm unable to find employment and continue the relevant cert to the kind of job I would look to progress on from that position for instance I have taken my Comptia A+, MCP, MCDST and have stopped studying for a year maybe 2 due to not being able to find work get my entry level role in a Desktop Support role, then I can continue on with my certs making a start on the MCSA.

The mentors at Advent are really helpful and I find them to be a great support, I find that the mentor service is what you pay for at the end of the day, its a free phone number and you can request call backs as all mobiles will be charged for free phone numbers. I personally find it could be a bit slow asking questions on forums then waiting for a reply maybe waiting 2 days then it might of passed your mind by then that you even asked the question on the forum if your hammering on with your study material.

1.Theres classroom studying the most direct way of teaching Physical, Verbal and Visual teaching
2.Then there's a mentor you can speak to over the phone for help, Verbal
3.Then you could use a forum to ask any questions you have, errrrm Visually verbal...

I personally think that number 3 would fully grant me hermit status studying 10-20 hours a week and perhaps 2-4 hours a week asking questions on the forum or searching for answers to the question before I start a thread, time is valuable and asking mentors on the phone is the fastest way from my point of view to answer any questions you may have and saves you a great deal of time.

I don't need a kick up the back side to get the studying done, I feel confident studying knowing I have a freephone number to ring and someone to speak to and ask questions (god I sound like a girl...) it is indeed a hefty price tag but one that I'm willing to pay for that mentor service.

God! I am going to get so much stick for supporting the TP but Ive come to decide that I would have not gone the self study route if I had a time machine its right for me its just my opinion that I thought I would share, you might think its too much, given the fact that youve been a game developer for 4 years will give you a distinct advantage over me, so perhaps self study for you if your confident would be the best route.

 

Actually, you probably won't. Some people choose to use a TP - fair enough. We simply recommend self study as a viable option just to let people know that they don't have to go broke or into debt to get certified. If you choose to do so, hey, it's your money. There's no sense in berating you for making that choice, is there?

That said, we're not gonna sit idly by and allow others to make a decision that might be financially unsound for them. It's NEVER a good idea to go into debt. I've been 50K in debt, and I'll never, ever, ever choose to be there again. And I've seen person after person take these courses, not get into IT quickly enough, and the bills bury them. I'd be irresponsible if I said nothing, bro. So please, don't take my advice as a personal attack on your decision - it's anything but.

 

Depends on what you want to study.

Where (some) TPs come in handy is when you haven't got a clue about the certification industry, and possibly not much idea about IT in general (cue seperate debate about such a person doing a cert in the first place).

But given your experience in the field, I don't see how you'd benefit from that.

What skills would you need to move ahead in the industry?
What have your teamleaders got that you haven't?
What language/technology is being used most at the moment?

Ask your boss if you have to.
Turn it into a personal development thing.
Maybe you can even get work to give you a bit of time off to study or pay for a couple of exams.

And don't forget, you don't have to do an exam to learn valuable skills.
Don't be put off learning something obscure just because there is no cert exam at the end of it.

 

You've already got your job through self-taught skills so I'm guessing you're comfortable with self-study already.
I would always recommend trying self-study first anyway, but in your case I think it's definitely the best course of action.

 

Don't worry, Advent will do you proud. And they have recommended to you, which is good.