CCNA £360 for a 5 day intensive course. Is it fishy?

Discussion in 'Training & Development' started by Bluester76, Jan 30, 2007.

  1. zimbo
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    zimbo Petabyte Poster

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    Do you know what self-study is?
     
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  2. Bluester76

    Bluester76 Bit Poster

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    I'm guessing its a case of buying the books and equipment and learning the modules yourself?
     
  3. BosonMichael
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    BosonMichael Yottabyte Poster

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    Yeah, the more they can get you on the hook for, the more money they make.

    A majority of us here promote self-study methods... study guides, practice exams, and either real Cisco devices or simulators. You'll save money in the long run, even if you decide to invest in a small Cisco lab!

    For study guides, I'd recommend either Cisco Press or Sybex. Watch out with practice exams - some of them are actually companies that sell braindumps! Stick with trusted names in the industry - Transcender, Self Test, Boson, Measure Up, and my own company, BrainBeacon (I developed practice exams for Transcender for many years - unfortunately, BrainBeacon won't have a CCNA product available for a few months yet).
     
    Certifications: CISSP, MCSE+I, MCSE: Security, MCSE: Messaging, MCDST, MCDBA, MCTS, OCP, CCNP, CCDP, CCNA Security, CCNA Voice, CNE, SCSA, Security+, Linux+, Server+, Network+, A+
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  4. BosonMichael
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    BosonMichael Yottabyte Poster

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    You got it! :)
     
    Certifications: CISSP, MCSE+I, MCSE: Security, MCSE: Messaging, MCDST, MCDBA, MCTS, OCP, CCNP, CCDP, CCNA Security, CCNA Voice, CNE, SCSA, Security+, Linux+, Server+, Network+, A+
    WIP: Just about everything!
  5. zimbo
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    zimbo Petabyte Poster

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    Exactly... The books from Amazon (CCNA Library 2nd Edition) cost less than £40... if you want to look at some equipment.. ciscokits and ebay are good places to start..
     
    Certifications: B.Sc, MCDST & MCSA
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  6. Bluester76

    Bluester76 Bit Poster

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    Excellent. Sounds like a much better idea. Cheers.



    :beers2
     
  7. Phoenix
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    Phoenix 53656e696f7220 4d6f64

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    Hmm
    I'm seing a lot of negativity here, personally, I did my CCNA with very little cisco experiance (albeit a fair bit of networking experiance) over two weekends (read, 4 days) and a bit of revision and hands on practice in my home lab after

    its perfectly feasable for technically literate people to manage it as long as they set there expectations and objectives
    for 360 you would still gain a sizable amount of exposure to exactly what you would need to go through and even if your not 100% ready for the test you can still learn alot

    i know its hard to find an honest training providor with an ounce of integrity these days, but the CCNA at a certified cisco training center is only a 5 day course so please bear this in mind, and for the money its not a major loss either way

    Self study is a great route but for CCNA the hands on will be very useful and the structured learning will help a hell of a lot imho
     
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  8. Bluerinse
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    Bluerinse Exabyte Poster

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    Yeah but you got your first MCSE when you were a 14 year old kid. That tells me something.

    Phoenix you are not your normal tech, you have more than your fair share of that intangible thing known as 'talent', and just because you could do it, doesn't mean that anyone even the most technically literate people could do it in that time scale.

    Or are you saying it's a piece of cake?
     
    Certifications: C&G Electronics - MCSA (W2K) MCSE (W2K)
  9. Phoenix
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    Phoenix 53656e696f7220 4d6f64

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    no the ccna is by no means a piece of cake, i think the point im making is we often forget the benfits of five days hard grafting to get our head round something, especially in the structured environment of a training course

    im not saying its for everyone but even if you were not ready for the exam at the end of it, its 5 days well worth the 300 quid if you ask me, you just have to manage your own expectations not let them do it, go in knowing you probably wont walk out ready for the exam, but that your cash will be well spent
    when i did my ccna it was over 900 quid and that was cheap at the time (still is depending on the training providor)

    my point was for that money you dont have much to lose, but plenty to gain
     
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  10. Bluerinse
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    Bluerinse Exabyte Poster

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    Ah I see, thanks for the clarification!
     
    Certifications: C&G Electronics - MCSA (W2K) MCSE (W2K)
  11. Bluester76

    Bluester76 Bit Poster

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    Have just been over to check out their facilities and i have to say that it all checks out and looks good. The tutor didn't seem to have any hidden agendas and said that if i don't pass in the week then i could come back and join other classes after its over. The facilities aren't great but they looked fairly comprehensive.

    I'll let you know how it goes.
     
  12. Phoenix
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    Phoenix 53656e696f7220 4d6f64

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    Just had a look over there website and this line caught my attention

    ...those looking to become Networking professionals. Jobs in this role with the above qualification usually start at £20,000 pa + benefits, this figure grows with appropriate experience.

    imho thats a far more reasonable estimate than most of those other training providers throw at you, in fact its only a little more than my starting salary in london many years ago, at least they are realistic

    good luck mate with whatever option you choose, i'd be interested in your feedback from the place if you attend, always nice to find a reasonably priced yet ethical training providor out there.
     
    Certifications: MCSE, MCITP, VCP
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  13. Boycie
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    Boycie Senior Beer Tester

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    I would also like to know how you find it.

    Is £360 a special price you paid? The site states CCNA is £720.
     
    Certifications: MCSA 2003, MCDST, A+, N+, CTT+, MCT
  14. Bluester76

    Bluester76 Bit Poster

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    It was a one off. Guess they needed to get bums on seats.
     
  15. wizard

    wizard Petabyte Poster

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    The OU (Open University) do a CCNA course it is roughly £550 for a 6 month course.

    I'm into the third semester now.
     
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  16. GW

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    Here in the States they have a lot of 5-7 day CCNA courses typically they call these CCNA Boot Camps or MCSE Boot Camps (Which is at a minimum of 7 days).

    What usually happens is that they send you the book a head of time for you to read and at the boot camp they throw facts at you and give you brain dump exams to study and practice with and at the end of the week or cramming the facts and brain dumps you take the actual exam through a traveling test center that is through Vue or Prometric.

    I signed up for a 14 day MCSE Boot Camp a couple of years ago but I cancelled when I learned more about it. But basically it was split up with one day of cramming brain dumps and practising for the simulators and the next day you take the exam and then you start for the next exam.

    But there are some legit boot camps that offer intense training but its more for a young person, being I'm 32 years old I think I could get to day 3 before I crash.

    But learning CCNA in 5 days is doable, but one suggestion that I might make to you is if the course doesn't come with a hotel room (if it's close to where you live); I would suggest that you get a hotel room close to where they are teaching so you don't have the usual distractions that you get while at your home.

    GW
     
    Certifications: MCP x4, CompTia x3
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  17. Boycie
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    Boycie Senior Beer Tester

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    True. £720 aint bad mind. Like to hear your feedback if you do go.
     
    Certifications: MCSA 2003, MCDST, A+, N+, CTT+, MCT
  18. Bluester76

    Bluester76 Bit Poster

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    Day 1:


    All seems well so far. Started at 10:00 and finished at 5:00. Have been asked to go over the chapters we covered today and the tutor has said he'll give us a test in the morning. It does seem to me though, that if you're going to do one of these bootcamps then you should probably be reasonably technically minded and at least have some experience in IT(of course, they don't tell you this) as most of the people in my group seem to be struggling with the concepts. Luckily its only a short train ride from my home so location isn't a problem. Anyway, must do some revision. Will give an update later in the week.
     
  19. Boycie
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    Boycie Senior Beer Tester

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    Great - thanks for the feedback. Trainer good?
     
    Certifications: MCSA 2003, MCDST, A+, N+, CTT+, MCT
  20. BosonMichael
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    BosonMichael Yottabyte Poster

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    Of course they don't tell you this... they want the money! :biggrin Any disclaimers or limitations would limit the amount of money they bring in.
     
    Certifications: CISSP, MCSE+I, MCSE: Security, MCSE: Messaging, MCDST, MCDBA, MCTS, OCP, CCNP, CCDP, CCNA Security, CCNA Voice, CNE, SCSA, Security+, Linux+, Server+, Network+, A+
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