Has anyone had any experience with web-based IT schools?

[MindPilot]

I'm considering Microsoft or Cisco certifications. There are the private brick & mortar schools like Vortex or ITT but every one of those I've attended seem to be kind of limited in scope and the demos oftentimes don't work and you're basically just following step-by-step instructions without gaining a clear understanding of what is happening.

There are also the "boot camps" which are quite expensive but offer a total immersion environment with a guaranteed test pass.

And then the online schools like quick cert a less expensive and proceed at your own pace environment.

Of course then there is always the local community college, but the path is long and oftentimes it's tough to get a spot in the popular classes.

Anyone have any experience or insights they can offer?

[cliffordu]

1. Study Unix/Linux.

It will rule the innernets forever.

Unless your idea of IT is patching anti-virus programs twenty times a year.

[MindPilot]

7. Good advice!

But where do you patch anti-virus programs only 20 times a year?

[cliffordu]

12. My bad - but I dint want to sound hyperbolic.....

[Gman2]

2. Unless you learn flawlessly, by sight, online is junk.

Do you read a repair, or tech manual and say duh? Otherwise, go to school.

[LeftHander]

3. IT school

Lesson one: Connect PC to internet using TCP/IP protocol
Lesson two: Try and avoid porn for 30 minutes.
Lesson Three: Remove viruses from PC
Lesson Four: Practice using the following phrases when technical discussions goes beyond your knowledge.
"That is a bunch of crap. The histogram analysis' are improperly configured."
Lesson Five: Look like you always know what is going on. People like confidence. Nod frequently, write things down and lean forward. Say nothing except "Cool beans, shoot me recap e-mail and we will put this baby to bed."


There.

You are ready for a exciting career in IT.

[MindPilot]

8. Ha! Back when I was teaching A+ cert many moons ago

I gave my students very similar advice. When you get stuck, open a log--any log--and stare at it intently while making "thinking" noises. But that was long before anybody could appear to always know the answer simply by being able to spell "google".

[Romulox]

4. Does an IT cert. guarantee a stable career? nt

[Joanie Baloney]

11. Nothing guarantees a stable career

but certs make the job hunt a little easier; HR recruiters like to see 'em on the resume.

[Statistical]

5. Specifically which microsoft certifications?

[MindPilot]

10. MSCE Server 2008

[Statistical]

13. Ok here is the thing....

online courses
traditional weekend/night courses
books (microsoft "training kits")
bootcamp

they all cover the same material. There isn't anything special about one method or another.

You can get EVERY cert from the books and maybe a practice exam from transcender however simply reading the book isn't enough, you need to do the work, and do it again, and experiment, and make mistakes. You need to go beyond the book and create similar situations/problems and resolve them. Doing all that helps you pick up the knowledge.

So the online courses and bootcamps attempt to put it all together for you.

If money is no object I recommend bootcamps. Make sure the company running it is a microsoft partner. Microsoft screens partners and they must use approved training material. Bootcamps are not a joke though. I finished up my MCPD (software development) cert by going to a bootcamp. Days started at 7am, you had an hour for breakfast but most people got to classroom early and discussed material from day before. Classes began at 8am. They ran for about 10 hours with a 1 hour catered lunch. Then there was time for dinner and most students met for study group for about 2-3 hours in the evening each night.

Bootcamps aren't special but they removed the daily distractions and allow you to focus on the material. Now my cert was in development not administration but it generally worked like this. 20 minutes of lecture + 10 minute excercise. There were 2-4 groups of those depending on the topic/chapter. Then about 30 minutes of lab work and finally a recap where they added some common "trick questions" and key points for the cert. Did that for 3 days then took a test, did it for 3 more took second cert, did it for 4 more took the final cert. 10 days straight got 3 certs all togther that is MCPD in asp.net development.

For veterans the GI-bill does cover bootcamps. They are considered "non degree course". The company needs to be approved by the VA and VA will pay 60% lump sum payment of the course and deduct monthly benefits equal to the amount.

For online courses they work but you will need other material like microsoft press books. I glanced at "quickcert" listed in the OP and they are insanely expensive for online courrse. $1000 to $3000 for a set of courses. For that you might as well spend a little more and go to a bootcamp. Microsoft offers online courses for much less (learning.microsoft.com) and they include lab work however IMHO you will need some reference books to complement them.

[frylock]

6. vortex is gone..

QuickStart took over the facility in Mission Valley. I'll be there in Nov for a Security+ class. They used to have some great MS cert courses at SDCC, but I no longer see them in the catalog.

[MindPilot]

9. I took several classes at Vortex, but they were always freebies

And I always came away with the feeling that we were there more to iron out mistakes in the materials than to walk away with a head full of new knowledge.