Training Provider Vs Self Study

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I used AMRAF back in 2001 and they went bust just after we finished the network+ course

 

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I use Advent and at the moment I have nothing bad to say about them *touches wood*.

 

I researched my course thoroughly but because at the time people were going into IT and were being paid very well mainly in the .com sector I believed this to be the case for everyone and that everyone would get a good job. I must admit I was very naive at the time. However some tutors did say to us that we should expect a good wage and job from uni, but at no time did anyone say when I was looking at courses do this and you'll get xxx for your first job.

 

I hope you are not saying I didn't do the work at uni as I did. Infact I worked my balls off at uni. Let me give you a little background on me.

I was put into care at 16 months old, social services told my foster parents not to put me in mainstream schooling and that I should be put into a special school. This because my biological father kicked me in the head at 14 months old and because of the cracked skull I received they expected me to develop slowly both physically and mentally as there was swelling to the right side of my brain.

The right side of the brain controls the lefts side of the body which I have always has a weakness on that side, because of this social services determined I would not do well academically.

This is why I had to prove them wrong, and my foster mother disagreed with them and put me through mainstream schooling. I didn't get the best GCSEs but I got 9 of them, I then went to a YTS scheme were I discovered my passion for computers. I did courses there such as NVQs which enabled me to go to college were I did a GNVQ which inturn enable me to go to uni.

Now because of people thinking I was going to be slow and not be able to function in the real world, I had to prove them all wrong. So please do not think I haven't put the work in because I have.

 

Q) what motivates you to do Self Study

Q) What motivates you to work in IT?

 

It's cheaper

I enjoy it.

 

No! I wasn't having ago at you mate, just stating a general observation.

I appologise GBL if I caused offence, it was not my intention to do that!

I'm sorry you had a rough start to life and to feel you needed to explain yourself. As I said it was a general observation. There are some people out their in the world who will always do minimum and then find themselves repeating the course because they failed!! Maybe it is the same with people who use Braindumps??

When I wrote that statement I was thinking about when I was at Uni and shared a house with one guy who did International business studies and despite only having 6 hours a week and 2 assignments throughout the year - failed twice and had to repeat the first and second year! He didn't put much into his course and didn't get much out of it except a fantastic social life and huge hole in Daddy's pocket!

 

So if a tp offered free training to get a cert would that motivate you to do it?


First of all (before anyone gets the wrong idea) I'm not having a go at GBL just curious why people go one way and other people go another way!

It's too easy to do self study without thinking about the big picture first, sure it's cheaper, but shouldn't some of the motivation be that your learning something new and exciting? After all are you not likely to be more successful in the job if you like it as to just doing it for the money?

It's like Arroryn said a TP nags youto get on with it, who nags you with self study? what's stopping you from putting off study or the exam for another day, week, month, year?

 

Well because I was in care, I had no such thing as parents to give me loads of cash allthough my foster mother helped where she could. THis is how I got into loads of debt as I was classed as a self supporting student and I took out more than the usual student load to help me.

Looking back I wish I has known of entry level certs like compTIA A+ and I would have done them first and went to uni later if no job had come up.

I had a good social life at uni too but I also worked hard to pass.

My original point was that just because someone gets a degree or does a course at uni does not em they will get a job or a good one. I thought once I had gotten into uni and passed that I would get a good job but I was wrong, it doesn't work out for everyone.

 

It might do, but I would also choose a college over a TP. I say this because I would be more inclined to think that a college lecturer is actually qualified in what they are teaching rather than some dude who says he is.

 

That's true - I couldn't agree with you more there - My mate has a 2:1 in BSC Environmental Science and works in a bike shop fixing bikes and selling them! I had to work factories after my degree in Chemistry long before I got a job as an analytical chemist.

 

:hhhmmm fair point

 

Primarily because the exams CAN be done without paying the cost of a TP. I don't think that all TPs are bad... but they're not necessary. If you require motivation to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars, you need to pay me a tenth of that and I'll motivate you... or you need to re-analyze whether IT is really right for you. Self-motivated people typically thrive; unmotivated people usually get left behind.

 

I wouldn't, for two primary reasons:

1) I typically learn faster than teachers teach. I can't skim a classroom training course; I can skim a book. Same reason I don't dig video-based training.
2) I don't want to study on someone else's schedule - usually, scheduled at times I should be working or spending with my wife and kids. But I have plenty of time at 11pm when the wife and kids are in bed, or at lunch, or on the weekends.

It should be. If it's not, like I said, you ought to re-evaluate whether IT is right for you.

Self-motivation.

Hey, if anyone wants me to give them some scheduled "gentle reminders" () , I'm a LOT cheaper than a TP.

 

Sure: ask someone to help you get organized. If you were studying the A+, and you had "motivation issues", I'd ask you to set aside certain times every day or week to study, and commit to them - no different than committing to a TP course. Then, on your first study day, I'd tell you to start with Chapter 1 (or Chapter 2 if Chapter 1 is an introduction) of the AIO 6th and answer the chapter questions. If you have any questions, ask them on the forum - there are PLENTY of qualified teachers here. I'd also recommend taking some study time and actually DOING stuff with real gear - this can be worked into the study schedule you have chosen.

If you don't study it, you get nagged. Then comes the belittling and ridiculing, something I like to refer to as B&R... but we don't need to get into that, do we?

People might say (whine), "But if I don't pay for a course, I know I can give up at any time because there's no financial risk. Fine - pay me, if you need that motivation. But that's not required, because I offer my assistance freely (for now, anyway... provided I'm not flooded with a hundred people asking for "free motivation"!).

For the record, if I give it up freely, I'm not a whore, I'm a slut.

 

Seems I’m straying from the pack, but:
A) I have used both self-study and TP’s
B) I had good experience from the TP I paid for myself (but was cheaper than competition)
C) I had good experience from the TP that company pays for (very expensive – in my books)
D) I have never used a TP w/o self-study

I understand many people don’t use TP’s and I will always advocate self-study before TP myself. Saying that, there are good TP’s out there so it is an option. The reason I like professional training is because the instructors (that I’ve used) are from the industry (i.e. Cisco engineers; ISP consultants; etc…). These folks can help explain a topic from a different angle than a book can. Even using different scenarios to explain a topic can help in the understanding of material.

Saying that, I still promote self-study, and you can get many of the same benefits of good TP training by using more than 1 resource. Example: Books + CBT

 

Thanks for your imput sunn

That's interesting point about instructors providing another angle to an explanation than if someone was to learn from a book!

 

I've used self study and training providers.

With regards to value, I do feel TP's are overpriced. The courses I've been sent on have been priced at around £1595 for 5 days but my company usually pays only £700 and we don't take that many courses so it's not even a bulk discount.

I've enquired about a course that my company weren't willing to fund and there was no way they were willing to drop the price. If they were around the £700 there'd be many more people willing to pay for their own private tuition