Bootcamps

k9guy

I am new to this board. Does anyone have any experience with IT Bootcamps.
I am interested in attending one(MCSE) I had a previous cert in CCNA years ago (expired)
and have training and some hands on experince with MS. Most of them offer cert in less than two weeks. Is that realistic

Would appreciate any insights on good ones and not so good ones.

BTW Good Board.

Jon

njcowboy

are you just looking for the cert or are you looking for experience?
Bootcamps are nothing more than memorization of what is on the test. It will not make you a better technician.

Just my honest opinion from a guy that won't higher paper certs but I still require them

Schluep

You are going to get a variety of opinions on this subject. Many of them have been expressed previously. Here are some recent threads:

MCSE Bootcamp
Whats the deal with bootcamps?
Bootcamps

There are many more you can find with the search as well. If there are a few you are specifically looking at perhaps you could post their names and see if anyone has had positive or negative experiences with them?

jmcraw wrote:

Most of them offer cert in less than two weeks. Is that realistic

In my opinion there is a big difference between holding a certification and knowing the material associated with an exam. There are many bootcamps geared toward helping their students pass exams as opposed to really learning the material with that time frame. The goal however would be to truly learn the material which would best be done with self study prior to attending the bootcamp which you could use for a review. I would not expect to learn all of the information for any major IT certification in less than two weeks unless you are highly expeienced in that particular area and are just refreshing your mind.

blargoe

Boot camps are good if you want to pay exorbitant amounts of money for some letters on your resume that your real knowledge and abilities do not reflect.

The only way I see a boot camp being a good option if for people who are experienced and well-rounded in Windows, AD, networking, Exchange, etc. but have a couple of knowledge gaps that need to be filled. Even then, unless the employer is paying for it, it's a poor investment IMO, you could take a couple individual classes much cheaper.

k9guy

Thanks everyone for the valuable advice and insights, especially the similar threads leading me to further discussions on the topic.

I really appreciate it.

Great forum. Keep it up.

Jon