Boot Camps

keenon · August 2004

i was wondering about thoughts on boot camps.

reason i ask is that i'm considering going to boot camp b/c i can't steal enough time to study for my cerification. i know i'm at least 50% ready to take the test but getting 1 solid week to do nothing but study/relearn up again i will be more than ready to pass it.

thx for opinions

Webmaster · August 2004

In general I have little respect for bootcamps, but there are probably some good ones out there. One of the advantages is that they often have an extensive practice lab with lots of equipment. However, you only get to touch it for a short time, and for the cost of a typical bootcamp you can often buy (used) equipment yourself.

There are also bootcamps where they hand out braindumps and teach you only the stuff required to pass the exam, just to keep there passing rate as high as possible. As probably many have seen on advertisements, they offer MCSE or CCNP in 10 days for example, but that never means you'll be a knowledgable MCSE, you'll 'just' be able to pass the exams.

Just my 2 cents...

ajs1976 · August 2004

Boot camps were originally intended for people with a lot of experience in a product, but without any certifications. the boot camp was meant to help fill in the gaps of knowledge required for a certification.

Webmaster · August 2004

Yeah, I can imagine a boot camp can be suitable in such a situation. I know a couple of people who went to a bootcamp to upgrade from MCSE NT4 to MCSE 2000, they did fairly well on the job and were surprised how much they learned in just 5 days... l was not surprised when I started noticing how fast they forgot.

2lazybutsmart · August 2004

You don't need to camp with your boots on-- or off, for that matter, to get certified. You need to learn learn learn.

And I'll give you a hint; ads like: pass in "bla bla" days; get "bla bla" certifications in "bla bla" weeks are the root cause of hypocrisy according to my fishbone diagram. Don't you buy into it!

2lbs.

keenon · August 2004

thx for responses .. its something to consider now

keenon · August 2004

after checking into my situation further i'm really considering going for the boot camp.. i'm doing 12 hours 5 days a week and no time on weekend that i can steal

gofer · August 2004

Boot Camps - Are they acceptable avenues to learning? It is really going to depend on who you end up in class with. I have been doing network administration in a windows NT environment since there were NT environments. I was lucky enough to attend some formal training classes in NT but being in the military they never cared whether I had any certs or not as long as the job got done. Earlier this year I decided that while I was able to do everything on the network, I wanted to upgrade my knowledge to include active directory. I was able to convince my employer to pay for the bootcamp to get my MCSE in Windows Server 2003. I was fortunate enough to be in a very small class (8 of us) - one who was upgrading their MCSE from NT, another who had been doing NT admin for several years, a few who had some experience, and one who had no Windows networking experience at all but was an AS400 admin. The camp was 12 days long, starting on Monday morning and continuing through the weekend through the following Sunday evening and it was a boot camp in every sense of the word. Classes met at 7 AM and we often didn't get out of there until 10 P.M. or later. We would then meet back at the hotel for review and study groups. Of the 8 of us in attendance, 4 of us were able to pass each test on the first attempt. It was by no means a brain-**** course, we had experience and we all as a group dedicated ourselves to hitting the books. Two others had to retake 1 or 2 tests but were able to get their certifications. One wanted more time to study on his own so he left with his exam vouchers to test later on. The final one barely attended any of the classes and never took any of the tests. I'll never understand why he flew all the way across country on his own $$ to completely blow off the course.

I was completely impressed by my instructor, he took his time to teach us not only testable material but what we needed to know in the real world environment. If you can find yourself a camp that offers the 2 week course I would go that route, I see no way a camp that is only 5 days long can prepare you for the certifications without it being a brain-**** facility (we spent the first 4 days covering only XP and using XP in a network environment). I would recommend the camp I attended but I'm unsure of the rules of this board. If you are interested in getting more info leave me a private message and I will respond.

skully93 · September 2004

One of my best friends took a 12 day boot camp to get his MSCE 2k, and 1 week afterward was hired as the administrator and sole technician for a 400 user environment. He's done a great job and thoroughly understands it.

However, you have to take these things into account:

1) He'd been working with computers at least on a semi-regular basis, if not professionally, for years.

2) He's naturally pretty damn sharp.

I myself could probably do a boot camp, pass readilly, and retain some of it, but I don't want to do that. I want to really know it, so that if I run accross a situation on the job I'll know what to do.

Ricka182 · September 2004

I feel bootcamps are more for the seasoned IT pro. Someone who mostly knows what they are learning already, but needs either a solidification of their skills, or they're employer wants them certified. I took a regular class for M$ stuff, and it moved fast enough for me, who at the time, was completely Win2000 stupid.

keenon · September 2004

i still may do it however i have taken a at home route.. i just have to do longer days and give up sleep. on the bright side i managed to get some can we say it keystone learning dvds on this subject and like them with the book 'todds book' it works well with the lab i managed to scrape together (cisco equipment isn't cheap for those that don't know) my training plan is to at least try to be ready in october for ccna test and i have already started locating my ccnp materials after i read over the summary of some of the skills it seemed a learned alot of them at my last contract (BCMSN) ain't that something

lol

Fu Loser · September 2004

Many employers have conplained to Cisco about people come out of bootcamps because bootcamps generally make good test takers, not good employees that really know how to get all things done it general.

If you have noticed most bootcamps in the past 2 years have raised their reccomened pre-reqs to a much higher standard. This is because of Cisco.

Boot Camps

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