Opinions wanted!

Jamroar

Hi, I have recently decided that a career in IT is the way forward for me to hopefully get away from being 'mr. average' to being someone with prospects! however, i am unsure which is the best way to go about it. I am set on studying Microsoft Networking after talking with friends but i am not sure wether to study for it myself or to sign up to one of these 'home study companies' earlier this week i had a sales guy, from a company called computeach, come to my house to explain things, he said that the company would provide all the materials required such as software, studybooks, exam sits, in centre days and free exam resits if required, they also provide 'expert' support over the phone and study forums, another thing they provide is a careers centre where by they will aim to get me into a job within the IT industry within 6 months, this was particurlaly appealing to me because i wanted quick returns for my study, the price.....£3250 this is to study for IC3, CompTIA A+ and MCDST.
Does anyone know how much it would cost me to study for these exams myself and what sort of support is available.
A friend of mine who is studying cisco networking also recommended studying A+

your views on this is invalueable!

many thanks guys!

dave0212

I did one of these and thought they were a waste of money, if you are self motivated then get a book get some kit and teach yourself. If you want expert support then look no further than this forum. They are numerous people here who are happy to answer your questions and help guid eyou through your study and the tech notes are great. It will definately work out cheaper added to that as you are new to the IT you may find that as your studies advance you may find different topics that interest you and you can swap and change as you please.

I would recommend starting with the A+ as I'm sure others will, it is a good entry level exam. Then possibly Network+ as this will give you a good grounding to advance on to the MS stuff if you decide to continue on that route or possibly move toward Cisco if you enjoy the networking.

Hope this helps

sprkymrk

That sounds like about $7,000 US.

I think that is high by a long shot. You can self study for A+ and MCDST for much less. These are entry level certs which you should be able to get on your own if you know how to use a computer. If he offered either the CCNA or MCSE in the deal I would say it might be worth it.

(you will want to use the UK version)
A+ Books less than $40.

MCDST 70-271 book about $38.

MCDST 70-272 book about $38.

A+ Video Training $399
MCDST Video Training $249

A+ Practice Exams $269
MCDST Practice Exams $269

Grand total the self study way (and this is a LOT of good material, you could do it with just the books alone) is about $1300, or maybe £650.

Either way you decide I wish you the best. Also, I apologize for not including IC3. That's not very popular here in the US and I don't know (w/o googling) what it is.

HeroPsycho

Yeah, way overpriced.

Technet subscriptions or an action pack subscription is around $350 or so a year, and that takes care of your software as far as Microsoft goes.

You can build a slamming quadcore machine for less than a grand to host a virtual lab if you don't have a machine beefy enough to do it already.

Even a good video instruction set from Train Signal that covers all of Microsoft's stuff is far less.

http://www.trainsignal.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=61

Add some test simulation software like Transcenders, and you're still far less than that company is asking, and I guarantee you that you'd be better off as far as learning it and being ready for the exams.

liven

Listen to all of these guys they know what they are saying.

Plus if you build your own lab/test environment you will learn things that the books will not teach you.


Use this forum and your personal drive and you will save lots of cash and learn more than those package deals will ever offer you.


I can't emphasize how important it is to build your own lab. This will hands down teach you so much.

If your willing to spend 1/3 of what that package deal is cost, you can have a KILLER lab, will all kinds of books and software.



This forum can not help you get a job, but if you going to allow that company 6 months to find you a job, you should most certainly be able to find one yourself in the same amount of time.