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Anyone have experience with computertraining.edu ?[UPDATE: Should I learn IT stuff?]
CangoFett
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Registered User regular
So yeah. Heard about it on the radio. They say they're a member of the Microsoft IT Academy program, but I dont know how legit/meaningful that is.
According to the site, in 6 months i can get an MCTS and MCITP.
How bad an idea is this/will this work out as well as I'd like it too? Anyone have any experience with them? Do they overcharge and have horrible teachers? Are they actually a good thing to apply to?
edit: People answered for me, $24,000 is ridiculous, however.
According to the site, in 6 months i can get an MCTS and MCITP.
How bad an idea is this/will this work out as well as I'd like it too? Anyone have any experience with them? Do they overcharge and have horrible teachers? Are they actually a good thing to apply to?
edit: People answered for me, $24,000 is ridiculous, however.
So, I was talking to another person at work, and they were mentioning they do a bit of side work with low level programming gigs, and it got me interested.
Ive started studying a tiny bit of C++, and know a tiny bit of HTML but I was curious if anyone had any insight/opinions/experience if something like java or python or php would be more worth while.
Ideally I'd like something that could get me into an entry level IT position. With things like getting an MCSE and other certs, is it realistic to expect to be able to buy a study book, and just go take the test? Would the certs actually be helpful?
CangoFett on
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I was going to PM this to you, but I'll just post it because I feel like people should hear this side of things.
I signed up for the courses at ComputerTraining.com. You'll get out of the program what you put into it. Even then, having gone through the courses, I would say the cost is entirely too much. I'm now paying off a $24000 loan that I started to pay for the courses, when you could get the same experience taking courses at a college for far less. Also, the tests to certify you cost $$$ as well. They'll give you 7 "free" vouchers for test taking, but it's already factored into what you're already paying them, so it's not actually free. They'll also provide you the books (I still have mine, I do find them useful), but again, that cost is factored into what you're already paying.
All of the answers to the tests you'll take can be found online in some form or another, either for purchase or other methods. With good memorization, you can simply study those test answers, pay the $125 (or whatever) test fee yourself. Ultimately, I'm left with the feeling that what you'll get out of their course is the same as what you could get out of a college degree with your own self-study ... it may take a few more years, but you'll have learned more along the way and cost less over time. Also, a 2-year or 4-year Computer Networking degree is going to look better on your resume and with the knowledge you get, you'll be able to wrap up those certifications anyway.
They were able to place me with a bank's IT support group as a contractor. I started at $14/hr with no benefits and was never hired on. I was eventually released from the job and after 6 months of unemployment, I was lucky enough to find a Data Security job in a company that was willing to train me to learn it.
Right now I am an MCP (which is the lowest level there is) and have my A+ Certification as well as a degree in Visual Communications. I was having issues at the time I took the courses, so I didn't get nearly as far in the course as I should have (ie, never became MCSA or MCSE). How I was able to parlay what I have into a Data Security position is a combination of blind luck and knowing the right people who were willing to train who they feel is the right person.
Ultimately, I think you'll get more out of college and a few years of hard work than you would out of this course. If I could do it again or had knowledge of how things worked, I would go that route. Look for as much information as you can on the certifications and what books to study for them (things may have changed since I took the course a few years ago). Ask your friends in IT how they feel about the important of certifications. The general feeling I've gotten is that they indicate you can memorize facts and that you can set a goal and accomplish it.
Seeing a college degree on your resume will do the same.
If you have any other questions, feel free to PM me and if I can answer, I will.
TL;DR - College is a better use of your money.
For comparison Global knowledge* (a big, top-ranked IT training firm) will get you a MCITP boot camp for $3k.
http://www.globalknowledge.com/training/course.asp?pageid=9&courseid=10227&catid=184&country=United+States. Ive taken a number of courses at several locations and always been impressed with the teachers and staffers. Plus they've always have a good breakfast spread and tasty afternoon snacks.
FWIW - I just saw on their site a sale notice about 4 months of unlimited classroom training for $4500.
http://www.globalknowledge.com/training/generic.asp?pageid=2490&country=United+States
(* Not a salesbot - I have no ties to them other than the courses I've taken)
Very true. Certs are only useful to secure job interviews. I've never hired someone or been hired by someone solely on them.
Try looking into your local library for books that can help you study for things like the A+ and stuff if you're really gung ho on taking them.
You cannot become a competent admin with 6 months of rushed training. You might be certified, but there's a big difference between being able to pass those tests and actually do the work. You'll be qualified to do level 1 and level 2 support type stuff. Much of the stuff taught in these classes is stuff that doesn't even really make sense to most people until they've actually done it several times. They may memorize the words, but they don't actually understand what they mean and how it affects things (I see this ALL the time in community college courses).
I would find a degree, even from a community college, more respectable than going to one of these places if the person had no other real experience to go with it if I were looking to hire someone. Someone who ran through 6 month program with promises of doubling their pay with no other experience says "some lazy jerkoff looking to get rich quick who probably doesn't know what they are doing" to me. Keep in mind that if you have real experience, even just with personal projects where you set up and run servers, that changes things significantly in my eyes.
Go to community college and set up servers on your own for your own personal projects. If you're not where you want to be career-wise after that, then look into going to a proper college/university for your 4 year degree. It'll look better on paper all around, it shows more initiative to learn what you need, and will give you far better experience and knowledge.
Yep. College if you want a degree. The random certifications you can straight up get on your own.
PSN/XBL: Zampanov -- Steam: Zampanov
Ive started studying a tiny bit of C++, and know a tiny bit of HTML but I was curious if anyone had any insight/opinions/experience if something like java or python or php would be more worth while.
Ideally I'd like something that could get me into an entry level IT position. With things like getting an MCSE and other certs, is it realistic to expect to be able to buy a study book, and just go take the test? Would the certs actually be helpful?
Not really, if IT support / server admin is your goal. scripting is good, and any programming language will help you learn that, but PHP won't be as relevant as powershell to an MS shop.
Certs will get you interviews. they are a quest piece, not a final goal.
Can you buy a book and study to pass a test? lots of people do. Its easier if it's you day to day job (like my ccna) but you can do it from scratch. And MS has tons of free on-line resources.
I'd suggest starting out easy to get into it with the A+ test.
Yeah, you can pretty much just find out what the best study book for any particular certification test is and use that and pass. Especially if you're a halfway decent test taker and have a good aptitude for computers, whether it's Microsoft certification or A+ or whatever.
As for the programming languages, from what I understand, java, python, php, C, C++, etc. are all in demand. Not to say everyone's hiring all the time, but it would make you useful. I'm actually in a similar situation where I want to start learning some decent languages, and that might not be something that's as easy to teach yourself. I'm going to be making the attempt because I'm fuckawful in a classroom environment. I don't turn in assignments, I lose interest in the lesson plan, I'd be paying for pretty much nothing if I tried to take more than one at a time. So I'm going to be trying to teach myself some of the simpler stuff like python, etc. but I dunno if I'd necessarily recommend going that route if you haven't had a lot of background in programming yet. Maybe if there are some decent classes at your local community college, you could give one or two of em a shot.
That's just my two cents, like I said, I'm in a similar situation. Maybe we can get someone further along in this stuff to chime in.
PSN/XBL: Zampanov -- Steam: Zampanov
Not looking necessarily at server admin. If I can get a crappy coding job, or anything anything that isnt 8/hr stocking retail, I'd be ecstatic. Just looking for a way to get my foot in the door, basically.
Self trained programmer (with no portfolio of OSS awesomeness)? Probably not getting an interview.
So, I'll be putting down this C++ book for now then.
What kind of scripting skills would you reccomend?
You mentioned getting A+, but this link mentions 500+ hours in the lab/field. Am I missing something here, or is this just poorly worded?
Any other certs I should look at studying for?
I'm not sure what the Windows scripting languages of choice are since I'm a Unix/Linux guy.
As to the Programmer/Developer vs Sys Admin thing, as Pirate Jon said, the programming stuff is definitely harder to break into without the degree. It's doable, but it won't happen overnight. it took years of work and some luck towork my way into software development while being purely self taught. I now have several years of experience and I still don't look forward to needing to look for another job without a degree (and am back in school because of that). I almost always have multiple projects that I am working on in various states of development, different programming languages, and for different environments - graphical games in C#, web apps in Perl and Java, some console text and ascii games in C, etc. which I make the source for available to prospective employers.
In the end, though, I say work towards what you will truly enjoy. It'll be worth the work in the long run.