Why is it

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I think someone should put together a 'pinned' new starter thread thread thats goes threw the Pro's and Con's of each study option and perhaps as well a brief guide on the certification route on the main study pathways e.g. CCNA, MCDST, MCSA etc.

Unless there is one already?

 

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That was me, I never knew that it was possible to study for something then take the exams and there was no middle man. Also self study put the owness on you to get the material needed and study.

 

Please do not confuse a dose of reality with not wanting to hear good news.

 

As long as someone updates those "pathways" - they change regularly.

And... having it pinned is great. Getting someone to read it is another.

 

£35k for a first job I've been told that you'd be lucky to get £15k until you get a certain level of experience.

I looked at all the certs out there and I decided on the A+ because that was classed as an entry level (although thinking about maybe I should have gone for the ECDL)

 

The 35k crap is from adverts from the likes of Advent and Skillstrain.

 

I have to say that £15k would mean a drop in wages to me but I'm willing to do that for a period of time, personally for me money is not the main issue but doing something that I can enjoy (and more importantly not getting rained on, snowed on, being bitten by all sorts of dogs etc.)

 

yeah the wage will be a biiiiiiiig drop for me 14k maybe 15k would be atleast 5k for me and I may be get an 8k payrise which might make things worse.

 

Can I tie up a few things as I see it.

Most newbies are lacking information on IT, whether their own fault or not. I suppose we could carp on about how they should know that experience is necessary, but at the end of the day, they are only as knowledgable as the amount of research they put in. Ok, some come on here looking for answers and thats great, it shows keeness if a little green behind the ears.

we can put them right. Ok, like i said before, some expect jobs and certs to fall into their laps, its difficult to know if they're delusional, or just lacking a brain-cell or two, or maybe they've just not been told the full picture about IT. I suppose the safest thing is to hold our tongue and give out honest advice, and if necessary repeat until blue in face (so yeah, maybe general introduction into IT could be pinned - and yeah, getting people to read them is another matter).

TP's as dicussed above - hmmmm, say we agree there are both good and bad. It's just unfortunate the the bad ones get more publicity then the good. (As an aside, I didn't think GBL was slating them, just pointing out out the option of self study).

So - that brings us to self study. Financially it makes sense. BUT people are human (well, mostly they are) and that means each one of us is diffirent. Self study isn't for all. Some require tutor based and some need support when they find difficulties on some aspects. This is where this site becomes extremely handy for the self-studiers. and yes, even TP's provide a sevice, some good, and some not so good. For me personally, I'm not against TP's - I might still end up going with one, BUT i want to make absolutely 100% certain that they will be of use to me and I haven't found one yet to supply that (plus I dont have money to burn).

I could go on (too late I hear you cry - lol) but will stop there. Hope I made sense. . . . and if I didn't.....tough, lol.

Davidus

 

Hmmm - Slow......tricky. the period of time from 9 in the morning to 5 in the afternoon (usually week days me thinks)

 

That's what my wife tells me.

Oh dear

 

If you don't increase your standard of living, then the pay drop won't affect you any worse than had you not gotten the raise... and if you stash that extra money away for the time that you're getting it, the extra cash you've saved up will help cushion the blow when you do experience that salary drop. It's a GOOD thing!!

 

I agree that people are human, and that everyone learns differently. I agree. Some people truly do learn better from a teacher than on their own.

But consider this scenario: let's say that you go with a training provider. After you finish your classes, you finally get your first IT job. Congrats!

Now what?

Oh, wait, you didn't think the learning and certifying was done, did you? I hope not... because the learning and certifying NEVER ends. If it does, you start becoming as obsolete as the technologies you know how to support.

So, okay, let's say you understand that the learning and certifying never truly ends. How will you study? Most employers will buy you books, and many will even pay for your exams. But very few will pay for you to take expensive training classes... OR give you the time off to take them! Are you prepared to spend your hard-earned money AND your vacation time to take classes?!?

Ah, but self study IS an option... you can study whenever it's convenient: at work, at lunch, at night, on the weekends... whenever you get a chance. You simply have to be disciplined and DO it.

So the truth of the matter is... you might truly learn better by taking a training class. You might be more disciplined if you take a training class. You might get more hands-on experience by taking a training class. And you might have access to more equipment taking a training class. But at some point, you're probably going to HAVE to learn how to study on your own. Might as well start now, while the content material is, to be honest, much easier.

 

Wise words!