IT SKILLS

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Hi guys, anyone know anything about this training firm? Ive got a salesman from this firm coming round my house 2moro to talk to me about the MCSD course they run in VB.NET. I want a career in programming. I seen the advert in my local paper and they have a college down my road where students can drop in. Also been researching computeach, and another firm itlearneasy. Not sure which to go with yet, shall see after this meeting with the itskills salesman. I will let you know the outcome and what I decide either way.

 

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I studied my CIW with them a while back. I got everything that I needed, and it was a pretty much 'no fuss' deal. I never had any problems, so I guess that's a good thing.
You need to make up your own mind what suits your circumstances (and your wallet) the best.

 

Hes been lol, and All sounds very good - full career support, free exams, your own personal tutor who you can visit or phone whenever you want, all the required software eg Visual Studio and sql server provided. Would appreciate it if they would give me more than 3 days to make a decision though. It is alot to consider. He told me that 100% of students gets jobs either before or after they finish their course and should expect a first job to pay around £15k.

 

Hi,

Can you speak or e-mail any of their past or present students?
100% for job placement is a big promise.

 

Well, at least the starting salary seems realistic. The fact that 100% of students get jobs 'during or after' suggests an open ended clause - how far after?
Why have you only got three days to make a decision? What's going to happen? Do I need to build a shelter?

What's your gut feeling?
Feel free to PM me.

 

Hi,

I've just been faced with the same situation. An IT skills salesman came round to talk to me today.

I was looking at going down the A+, MCP, etc to MCSE certification route. Probably just studying on my own to help keep the costs down. The salesman tried to convince me that only 1% of people who did this ever achieved certification and that doing A+ was a waste of time. He then tried to sell me on a full MCSE course (all £4000 of it). His timeline for achieving this was 2 years at 10 hours a week.

Again he stated that I would need to give him an answer within a couple of days if I wanted to take up the course as places are being filled up quickly (this is a distance learning course, so I don't exactly get the point here). He also happened to have the CDL forms to hand, should I not be able to stump up the 4k straight away.

He did say that IT skills are backed by the open distance learning quality council, which I was able to verify, and that they are a Microsoft Gold certified partner, which I haven't been able to verify (not on MS web site anyway). Which has left me a little dubious.

He didn't seem to impressed that I would want time to be able to think about it, however, he didn't press the point too hard.

Overall, I was left more confused about which direction would be best for a newcomer to the IT business. With no experience to back up an MCSE certification I feel it will be just as difficult to gain a job at the end of the course, regardless of their "100%" success record.

Anyway, I've got an info pack coming from NITLC who offer a course covering A+, N+ working through to MSCE and CCNA at the very end. Just hope they include some info on pricing.

 

Just because a company is a MS certified partner doesn't mean squat. I studied with one that pushed lots of braindumps and their instructors had little to no real world experience. All of their instructors and the head of their program have since left that company. Know why? So they could get real world experience.

I would be very cautious about placing much weight to the MS certified partner bit. There are some very unscrupulous companies out there that are MS certified.

 

Hi there, I am also in a confused state of mind. I have had visits from most of the training organisations.
Was going to go with Computeach, put off by another training organisation, something about lack of support. was going to go with NITLC, until ITskills mentioned that it was working from Microsoft Books which I find hard. They also told me to ask if anyone had ever completed there TSE course,they never got back to me. Was going with ITSkills but got refused a place.
So my search still goes on, its alot of money, tread carefully. Might become a plumber now I think!

 

bobhardcastle- i enquired to nitlc for almost exactly the same course as you but with security + and was quoted about £4500.

frontier- i was also told i had a limited time to apply as prices were going up by about £600 so that may be the reason for the 3 day thing... to try to get you to make a snap decision.

good luck to both of you though!

 

In 36 years on this Earth there's one thing I've learned:

SALESPEOPLE WILL TELL YOU WHATEVER YOU NEED TO HEAR IN ORDER FOR THEM TO MAKE THE SALE!!!!!

Do some background research. Are these schools bonded and insured (do they have a license to operate at each location) ? That way if you sign papers and for some reason they close down, you should be able to get your money back, or if you signed a loan and that happens you won't be liable for the repayment.

Also check with some current and former students. DON'T use the list the sales rep gives you. Drop by the school unannounced and poke around. If they have a problem with you doing that, then there's a red flag. Get a general feeling for the place. If you talk to 5 people and one of them tells you the place sucks, maybe he's having a bad day. Go with what your gut tells you.

Three days to make a decision? BUZZZZZ!!!! Wrong answer!!!!

 

Thats funny, the salesman told me I had 3 days to make a decision as if I waited any longer I wouldnt get a place as they only take on people who are interested. Strange dont you think? how does taking longer than 3 days to decide mean your not interested? its a very big decision to make. Oh he also told me they only take on students they think are capable and you ahve to pass a special test. This isnt what ive been told by other people on this forum. He also slagged off Advent, NITLC and computeach saying they are rubbish, which makes me even more confused. I really dont know what to do now. Everytime ive had a salesman round from one of these firms they spend alot of time putting you off other providers.

 

My gut feeling is not to go with these, but another firm I have spoken to and mentioned in this forum on a number of occasions, even though noone seems to have heard of them. From the questions ive fired at them, the answers ive been given and speaking to them to find out more they seem the most genuine I have come across.

 

See if they will discount the course to what you want to pay for it.

Also paid courses are only good if you are in a hurry - they do not map that well to real world skills in many cases.

The ideal situation is to do a couple of quick and cheap courses via a college, set up self based study systems, and get a job where the employer pays for your training.

You would get better value for your $$ by investing in a home study lab and use eval software for operating systems and testing.

A pair of PIV's with eval OS will be a good starting point, also an Academic copy of VB. Net is available at a reasoneable price via most IT colleges in most countries.

Basically then it is just a case of focus on one thing at a time - do it well and build you skills and certs by that method.

These IT sale types are all the same - IMHO dont let them rush you into anything.

HTH