#ITeducation #Certifications #CareerCollege
Hey everyone! 👋 I’m contemplating whether I should enroll in a 9-month IT program at a career college to get my CompTIA certifications or just study on my own. What are your thoughts on this? Do you think IT schooling is necessary for getting certified?
Here are a few points to consider:
– Pros of enrolling in a career college program:
– Structured curriculum with hands-on experience
– Networking opportunities with instructors and peers
– Job placement assistance
– Pros of self-studying for certifications:
– Flexible schedule
– Cost-effective as you only pay for exam fees
– Ability to focus on specific areas that you need help with
As for me, I believe that both options have their benefits. It ultimately depends on your learning style, budget, and career goals.
What do you think? Have you gone through a similar dilemma before? Share your insights and let’s help each other make the best decision! 💡💬
My personal preference is classroom. You can learn things you wouldn’t normally learn from just brain dumping.
Little nuances of situations, different perspectives from classmates or teacher (most likely real world tech experiences), things like that.
> A career college nearby offers an IT program and it’s 9 months $15k USD and you get A+ Core 1&2, and Tech+.
Don’t do that.
Give that $15k to your local Community College and get an AAS in InfoTech or something
I don’t think it’s necessary but it’s certainly helpful. Taking a class in a subject is a great way of getting your foot in the door of a specialty, like I got tons of milage from taking CCNA and CCENT courses at a city college.
Also a small number, maybe <10% of jobs for DevOps (what I do) want at least a bachelor’s degree in CS. Honestly I doubt it’s necessary to be competent at the position, but it’s a supply of jobs with limited competition from other job sealers.
Not for 15K. You can buy a ton of second hand equipment on Craig’s List for far less money. Go onto Youtube and start experimenting. Buy a couple of study guides and you can get there at a fraction of the cost.
9 months is about how long it took me to take both core exams for A+, and I did it very slowly taking breaks from studying for several weeks at a time. I did this all while working full-time. I’ve never taken tech+ or ITF+ because the A+ supersedes it.
My story is far from irregular, if I were to guess I’d say over 90% of people that passed the A+ exams did so while working full-time, without paid education programs.
If you are dead-set on education rather than working at your own pace, I’d recommend getting a computer science degree or some sort of technology associates degree, because I doubt your 9 month program offers any accreditation like that. Also 15k USD is a lot of money for such a short period of time, I’m sure your normal community college will give you better value for your money.
You might as well get a BS from WGU for that. I wouldn’t pay 15k to even get a CCNP
That’s still a disgusting waste of money for something that everyone and their dog has and you could do yourself easily. Invest in some second hand equipment and build a homelab and virtualize some different operating systems, tear down and build your own PC and rackable server for a fraction of this and save that money.
7k and a waste of an 8k grant to get something that won’t even help you get a foot in any door???
Rip off. Just do the Trifecta (A+, Net+, Sec+), start your home lab and save yourself $15k.
No it is not, not for 9 months time frame. At least that is my opinion. Perhaps if it was fast tracking you like A+ in 30 days 8 hours a day.
You can get the A+ through self study using a quality CBT program quickly. School is great is you are not self motivated, but if you are serious and want to fast track and pass the exam I suggest [testout.com](http://testout.com) I swear by it and no I am not a paid shill LOL.
Be cautious of advice from “IT” people they often lack social skills and self awareness and will talk massive crap about everything. I think 15K for that is very steep, but I also understand why some would finance that for a career path. The free stuff out there is also pretty junky too, what you save in cost is wasted in time and lack of motivation to continue.
When I would interview the hiring managers seem less interested in the schooling more interested in the certifications. Once I had experience they seemed more interested in my ability. Be well spoken clean and presentable.
Goodluck.
[Testout.com](http://Testout.com) hands down.
Unless you have cash to burn and no motivation to self-study, it sounds like a terrible waste. Some people really can’t self study, but 15 grand for functionally 1 semi-valuable cert for helpdesk is wild. You could get pretty far into an associates or a cheap bachelor’s at that point.
Tech+, I was wondering why I’d never heard of it, I don’t think it has much recruiting clout at all right now.
15k USD is a fuckload more than free. And thats what the resources to learn the A+ and others are – free.
Take somebody elses advice and enrol into your local college