Ive been hearing radio spots for this IT training school. Their claim is that they can take someone with no IT experience and train and Microsoft certify them in 4 months. From what I have been able to gather, they offer tracks in network admin and application development. They also tout their job placement rate after graduation (but then, so do most schools).
It seems a bit fantastical to me. However, I haven’t been able to find any bad press or reviews about the place.
Of course, this ties in with my current bid to branch out and make myself more marketable and/or jump industries. I know that one thing I must do is learn more skill and broaden my experience, so something like this seems like it would be something to consider if it’s not a rip-off.
So you can get a Microsoft certification in 4 months. Then what?
Most hiring managers don’t care about certifications. They’re looking for either a degree or experience, neither one of which this outfit is providing.
There are jobs out there that list the only requirement as Microsoft certified. There aren’t many though, and they’re sometimes pretty low level when nothing else is required. It’s kind of the ‘you have to have a certification to change printer paper’ thing.
ETA: And even at that they aren’t likely to hire someone who has nothing else on their resume.
For the most part, consider certifications to actually be a negative when I’m hiring people. Most certifications are quite possible to get without actually being able to do the job. Answering the questions on a test is a totally different thing. My experience is that the people who tout their certifications are not only covering up a lack of experience, but also don’t really have the right mindset to fit into a technical career (meaning it’s not just a matter of getting them the experience - if their attitude is that a piece of paper is what they need to do the job, there are larger issues).
There’s no shortage of certificate mills out there whose sole purpose is to take the sap’s money and get them some kind of certificate - but is it for using Microsoft Word, or is it an MCSM, which is a master-level program?
Most likely, you’d come out of their basic program with the skills to learn how to work a help desk.
Yeah, and you’d have to field all the phone calls from people saying,
“My internet don’t work! The little light on the thing’s out, but the light on the CPU is fine, but I don’t have any internet. I clicked on the internet, but nothing happens.”
You’ll then spend an hour delicately explaining what a “cursor,” “ethernet cord,” and “browser” are, only to find out that the problem was he had unplugged the cable modem, and yet did not bother to actually double-check that it was plugged in when you asked him to double-check that it is, in fact, plugged in.
IT career is pretty loosely defined. But if all you’re looking for is a foot in the door, and realize you will need more training later, then the school is probably not really lying. If you think you will get a certificate and then get a high paying job and be turned loose on your on, then no not really possible.
I’ve hired people with little more than a cert and used them as low level testers that can follow a script and write down what happened.
I essentially do this at one of my part-time jobs now. That and answer the aforementioned phone questions/tickets where people don’t often know very basic things. It isn’t the most fulfilling thing ever, but it has taught me that I’m not certain I’d want to do this specific IT help desk for the rest of my life. For the record, I don’t have any certs (thought about getting some, unlikely because I’m still wrapped up in getting my college degree that reflects more of what I really do want to do in IT).
What sort of stuff are you attracted to within IT?
I have a dearly missed friend who was one of the first generation of freelance “computer techs” and he built a sizable business at it before his ticker gave out. He used to call me and rant for a solid hour about having to clean up the mess left by some graduate of the “Western Truck Driving School of Computer Repair - ‘Yestiddy I coun’t spell teknishun and today I are one!’”