New Horizons Security Track or Network Track

psheehan5

Hi everyone,
There are two tracks at New Horizons that I'm very interested in. My first choice for employability is the Security Track. Here's the certs you get with that track: A+, Net+, Sec+, CASP, ICND1 & 2, Linux+, CEH, and then CISSP.
Five of these are CompTIA, is that a good or bad? Also, what do you think of this set of certs as a whole?

The other track is the Network Track. It has A+, Net+, MCSA 70-410, 70-411, 70-412, and ICND1&2.
Is this a good track?

I have IT Management experience (kind of dated though), but right now, it seems everyone wants the doers, and to be considered a "doer" you gotta have certs. (My opinion only, not a paid political announcement ) I do have a little networking training, but it is also pretty dated. So that's why I'm considering one of these tracks to help me be employable in the IT world again. Even if I have to start as an entry level somewhere. What are your thoughts on New Horizons and the two tracks I've outlined above?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and opinions!

Pat

ajs1976

How long is this program? How much does it cost?

psheehan5

They are both 6 months-ish. That's assuming you pass everything first time. Also, guaranteed pass on all certs and testing is included. Program cost is $19.5K

tkerber

REMOVED UNNECESSARY QUOTED REPLY FROM PREVIOUS POST

No surprise to me on that price. I've heard of New Horizons and they are expensive--as are any fast paced training centers. For $20K you could get a college degree that doesn't expire. But if you're truly motivated you could take 1/10th of that money and buy all the books / material and self study.

Beyond all of that--here is what I recommend. Get some entry level certifications but more importantly try to get some EXPERIENCE. In my opinion fast paced training classes like the ones at New Horizons are for seasoned professionals that want to put some credentials behind their name. Personally the only people I knew who went there were already subject matter experts and mid level engineers.

I think 6 months is a little unrealistic for you judging by your experience level. It takes most people about 6 months or more to just study for the CISSP alone. Cramming that much material down your throat with limited experience is going to be an outright blood bath if you ask me.

psheehan5

Tkerber,
Thank you for your thoughts. I do realize I'm taking a big bite and I also realize that experience is something that I won't get with either track or any certifications I happen to get. Your comments on New Horizons are interesting and something I'll have to dig into a little more.
I have been studying for Sec+ on my own with Professor Messor and Darril's online questions and audio files.
Thank you very much for the advice!
Pat

tkerber

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If you're thinking about New Horizon you must be in the Twin Cities area--as am I. To put it into perspective, I teach an A+ class every now and then. The class usually lasts around 2 months and even that is cutting it a little short if I wanted to dive into topics deeper. Now the class is a couple of hours a week usually ending up to be 50 hours total.

For a company to say that you can get ALL of those certs knocked out in 6 months is pretty bold. The 20K price tag is also astronomical. I paid less than half of that for a two year AAS degree from an accredited state technical college and the classes I took included a lot of the certs you listed minus the CEH, CISSP.

Also the people I knew that went to New Horizon only took one class and it was paid for by the company we worked at. If you want to talk some more feel free to PM me.

iBrokeIT

Well there are certainly worse ways to blow $20k but that isn't what I would consider a good way either. Don't get me wrong, those are absolutely great certs to get but I strongly believe the manner in which you obtain them matters.

How are you going to pay for this $20k program? I really hope you don't plan to take out some kind of loan for it. Even after getting all of those certs you are still looking at an entry level help desk/desktop support/field tech role.

I think you also run the danger of getting too overloaded on information and forgetting a lot of what you learn especially if you aren't using it on regular basis.

Have you tried to study for the A+ certification on your own? If not, why not try and then go own to the next cert ect.. which would save yourself a TON of money. After you have a few Comptia certifications start applying for jobs, get a job then study in the evenings to compliment your knowledge and direction you want to take your career.

The vast major of this community self studies for their certifications and builds their own home lab because its cheaper and you learn so much more. If you need help with material and equipment, just ask!

psheehan5

Hi again, the New Horizons classes are M-Th, 5.5 hours each of the days. Each cert is a section in and of itself and you get a cert before you move on to the next.
I'd really like to know your thoughts on the conglomeration of certs. Taking New Horizons and the cost out of the picture, do the groups of certs look like they are well thought out?
Thanks again for your thoughts!
Pat

tkerber

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They're solid certifications! Every last one of them and the certifications are not the problem at all. It's the expectation to actually get all those certifications in 6 months and spend 20K doing it. If you have 20K to burn on something you could do for a small percentage of that, then fantastic you're well off.

I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings here, but I will come out and say it. What you're not understanding is that CISSP, CEH, CCNA are HARD certifications and even someone with YEARS of experience will take several months just to study for ONE of those certifications.

So......For a company to come out and say that you can get all of this accomplished by putting in 22 hours a week for 6 months is, I'm sorry but--insane. Maybe I'm the only one here who's thinking this but most of those certs recommend several months of hands on experience and some even years.

psheehan5

Thank you for your input. I very much appreciate it. And my feelings are not hurt at all.

tkerber

REMOVED UNNECESSARY QUOTED REPLY FROM PREVIOUS POST

On a side note I'm curious.. How did you find this place??

New Horizons Computer Learning Center - Dishonest, fraudulent sales, Review 190566 | Complaints Board

Also have you heard of CBTNuggest or Pluralsight? They have fantastic training videos for the equivalent of $30 a month. Then the rest of the money you can use to have a nice shiny lab to play with and learn on.

Pluralsight Individual Plans

Online IT Training Videos & IT Certification Training | CBT Nuggets

cyberguypr

May duplicate what others have said but let me give it a shot. Without a doubt the mixture of certs is great. Having said that, I REALLY don't like this program. It would be extremely difficult for someone with experience to legitimately achieve all that in 6 months. You said you have limited experience so that's even worst. But let's assume yo do go through the program and complete it successfully. If you are looking for entry level positions and list all those certs, all kinds of alarms will go off on my end as the hiring manager. Where's the experience to back that up? How will you explain getting all that in 6 months? It just doesn't add up. On the flip side let's say you take a different approach and just list the low level stuff and leave the more advanced certs out, is it really worth going through all that intensive training for an entry level position? By the time you are in a position where you 'll need to leverage the advanced stuff you may have forgotten a lot. Which such an accelerated pace you could end up in a discombobulated state.

I'm gonna gamble here and think that you are using GI Bill for this. Correct? No matter how you look at it it's just strange and doesn't maximize the use of your (or whoever) money and time.

Repo Man

I'd self study this and just spend 2-3K on a beefy desktop and some network equipment.

psheehan5

Thanks to all for your input.

dsgm

I finished the Network track earlier this year, i didnt pay for it though, i got mine paid for by the government. Anyway if i didnt have experience in most of these tracks i would not be able to complete it, i already had my ccna so i just got my A+ and Net+ still havent completed the MSCA track, it is a lot of information to take in in such a small amount of time, 19K is a lot to blow on that with 19K you could build a lab easily and study all of those certs yourself, just my opinion.

psheehan5

Dsgm, I looked at your profile and your LinkedIn page. I really appreciate your feedback on the NH training. Tkerber, Repoman, and Cyberguypr, all of your feedback is also appreciated. You all are the reason I come here for advice. Pat