Adult part time training

olb81

Hi I am looking to do an IT course in either cybersecurity or software.  A friend recommend a company called pitman who is apparently well respected for qualifications.
However I just wanted to check with you all here if you have heard of them and if there are any other options such as free courses I could do first to keep costs down?

lincroft1710

Pitman have been around since the mid 19th century.

DE_612183

yeah they are pretty good - expensive but good...

monkey-fingers

Yup. Pitman are very, very good.

Warning, as per the other thread on the subject: Cybersecurity is notoriously hard to get into. Most people we're hiring have degrees in it or are starting at the start of the chain - Service Desk - and working their way up.

The problem is, everyone needs experienced people.

Look to get your basic IT skills up and see if you can find an apprenticeship.

Be prepared to be in an office 5 days a week too - not many SOC jobs are hybrid, leave alone fully remote.

olb81

Well that's a good sign then it was recommended as well. 
Half of me doing it is just as a challenge and sense of achievement
 If I change job later its a bonus.
Just wondered if I should go straight into one of their courses or do anything first, possibly any government backed free courses if there are any?

monkey-fingers

olb81 said:

Well that's a good sign then it was recommended as well. 
Half of me doing it is just as a challenge and sense of achievement
 If I change job later its a bonus.
Just wondered if I should go straight into one of their courses or do anything first, possibly any government backed free courses if there are any?

I totally get the sense of challenge and achievement. I did the same earlier in the year when I was made redundant.

Would you be up for some "cheap" challenges to get you started?

I could suggest you some base qualifications around cloud, AI and security to get you started. They all discuss security and how software packages are installed.

These are relatively cheap and require a few hours (free) training. Each one you could typically do in a weekend.
AWS Practitioner - $120
Microsoft Azure Fundamentals - £27
Microsoft AI Fundamentals - £27
Microsoft Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals £32

Once you've done those, you can start getting onto the more expensive industry standard CompTIA ones, but it'll give you a base.

I can give you the direct links to these if you want.

olb81

Yes please to the links!

monkey-fingers

OK, here goes Hope it helps others too.

AWS Practitioner - Free training here
https://skillbuilder.aws/learn/94T2BEN85A/aws-cloud-practitioner-essentials/8D79F3AVR7
Exam here
https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-cloud-practitioner/

All the Microsoft ones (and there are 55) can all be found here, Make sure you sign up for them, because you get 50% off the exam, even if you just click on the links they send you to "catch up":
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/events/category/microsoft-virtual-training-days?filters=primary-language:english,product:azure&scenario=mvtd

As an aside, if you can't actually make them when they run, they give you the opportunity to "catch-up". Which means you can still get the 50% off.

For me, I didn't really enjoy the virtual training days, but signed up for the 50% off. You can then do the online courses here for free:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/training/azure/

Marcon

olb81 said:

Hi I am looking to do an IT course in either cybersecurity or software.  A friend recommend a company called pitman who is apparently well respected for qualifications.
However I just wanted to check with you all here if you have heard of them and if there are any other options such as free courses I could do first to keep costs down?

Yes. See https://www.skillsforcareers.education.gov.uk/pages/adults

Marcon

An oldie but still excellent: https://www.open.edu/openlearn/digital-computing/introduction-cyber-security-stay-safe-online/content-section-overview?active-tab=description-tab