IT Job Guaranteed Courses

hawkwinddotcom

My eldest wants to go back to college and take an IT course for 2 years but I dont want him to do what he did last time and drop out plus I dont want to have to carry him money wise for those 2 years. :money:

A few years ago an aquaintence completed one of those job guaranteed courses and it worked out for him, in that during the course a company came in and hired the whole class.

I know they are quite expensive (I guess around maybe 5k) as they don't give out the prices until you are contacted by a salesperson.

Does anyone have experience of them?

JBC
Computeach
Cerco

saubryn

I don't have experience of the other two, but I can say with computeach that if you complete the course then you have a very, very good chance of getting a job, BUT you need a strong aptitude for the subject to be able to complete the course. I had a friend take one of their courses when he already knew networks inside out (just wanted a piece of paper). He breezed through it and now has a good job.

Another friend felt encouraged by his success, took the course, got overwhelmed by the first book they sent out, bumbled around for a few months, tried to cancel, got told he couldn't, and then had to pay for the entire course even though he knew he was going to fail.

Their support for students is rubbish - the stuff they teach is all needed in the industry, but their version of teaching is sending you bumph and telling you to read it.

bookgirl_2

My advice would be to avoid these courses.

OHs brother started one after being made redundant, and already with a computing degree. He paid about 6k i think, plus was tied into there exam centre which was more expensive than anywhere else.

He got through 4 exams fairly quickly but then got stuck on one which took about 3 months and several resits. No help was available from the so called 'tutors' other then directing him back to the coursebook (which you can buy on amazon). Once the 12 month period had passed, no more materials are available and the 'guaranteed' job disappears.

He is now completing the qualification on his own and has got a job with an excellent company.

If you son really wants to get into computing the best way is to do a basic course at a local college, and apply for entry level/trainee jobs. You can then gain the experience which supports the qualifications these courses teach which you can work towards at your own pace at much lower cost.

Moon~Shadow

My husband went on the JBC course for a month and had very little IT knowledge. He was taught how to write a proper CV, made to register with IT companies, agencies etc as part of the course.

He got a job working for Mastercare after the 1st interview as he wanted to gain experience and then was fortunate to obtain a job with the MOD as a Computer Engineer and he's in his forties.

HTH

neenaw_4

bookgirl wrote:

My advice would be to avoid these courses.

OHs brother started one after being made redundant, and already with a computing degree. He paid about 6k i think, plus was tied into there exam centre which was more expensive than anywhere else.

He got through 4 exams fairly quickly but then got stuck on one which took about 3 months and several resits. No help was available from the so called 'tutors' other then directing him back to the coursebook (which you can buy on amazon). Once the 12 month period had passed, no more materials are available and the 'guaranteed' job disappears.

He is now completing the qualification on his own and has got a job with an excellent company.

If you son really wants to get into computing the best way is to do a basic course at a local college, and apply for entry level/trainee jobs. You can then gain the experience which supports the qualifications these courses teach which you can work towards at your own pace at much lower cost.

Hi, what was the 'coursebook' that you can get on amazon and is it possible to sit the exams elsewhere without being part of a course?

thanks

C_Ronaldo

i thought about going for computeach, skills train or nitlc but the cost put me off, i decided to go to college where it wont cost as much but theres tutors there for any questions i have

ArsenalFC

If your son have some good knowledge of the subject then he stands a chance of passing the course and better opportunity of getting a job in the area. If he is a beginner then I would advise against it.

I used to be a computer technician and only do it as a hobbie now. I was involved in the area for 5 years, from learning to working. During that time I never got a worthwhile salary, possibly maybe it was IT tech area not so sought after than networking. There are so many people learning IT now and some are lure by the adverts that say you could earn upto £30k a year.

IT salaries are not what they were from 5+years ago, many people are going for the same job and also many jobs are going to people aboard i.e india etc which push the salary down. Having said that if your're good in your area, networking or programming etc then you still can earn a decent salary.

If your son is a beginner then I would advise for him to think again real hard as it's very costly and job prospect in the current IT area is not good.

Skills in the housing market are great prospect right now. Gas, electric engineers, plumbers, brick layer, carpenter, plasterer and decorators and doing well at the moment.

thereaper101

It really gets to me when I see adverts like the 'computeach' giving alot of people the wrong idea when it come to their courses. I look at these courses as an opportunity for people of retirement age to try something different as a hobby when they retire, I don`t see these as stepping stones to a perfect IT job.

I work in IT support and the money is NOT there. Only know after 3 years in the business can I bring home an acceptable, but not good wage, I have a degree and various IT qualifications.

As, ArsenalFC said, they are looking for network/programmers, if he has the aptitude for this then go for it.

hawkwinddotcom

I was looking at the residential courses.