Training in a Foreign Technology Boot Camp?

Martin Clarke asks: "I've recently been considering undertaking a technology boot camp to get some more certs under my belt to help with my employability. I've always taught myself, but I feel like I need to get it done. I've came across an interesting option, a very well priced tech boot camp in Dehli from Koenig. Has anyone ever considered something like this? What other unorthodox training options have Slashdot readers tried?"

Comments

Dehli?

[metlin]

Or perhaps you mean the Indian Capital of New Delhi?

Anyway, I would say just this -- get a degree. A degree is infinitely better than any certifications that you may take. While certifications are nice things to have, a degree speaks a whole lot more.

If you have one, work on a master's part time. Much better than wasting money on these things.

But that's just me. And personally, when I hire, I do not look for either of these -- degrees or certifications -- but rather technical skill and talent. Things like Opensource projects and other kinds of experience plays a bigger role than either of those.

But ofcourse, you may come across PHBs who think otherwise. At which point it becomes a call of judgement.

Over-glorified vacation...

[krymsin01]

I guess the question is if you want to go to New Delhi or not. And if you want to pay a lot more money than if you went on vacation...

Thinking about it, if I were a potential employer and you came to me and said: "I got my MSCE (or whatever) cert in New Delhi," the first thing I'd ask you is "Why?"

I can't see a defendable position for that question. 1) You'll be studying the same material that you would be studing in a program in your own country. 2) You could have studied on your own and saved money. 3) You just wasted a lot of money by taking a course in ANOTHER country.

I know one person who does this

[anticypher]

I met one SAP programmer at a client site who gets all his training in warm, sunny locations. If I didn't know everything already, I'd probably follow his example :-)

He loves to travel, earns enough from each SAP contract to take a few months off, and spends part of his travel learning "The Next Great Thing". I think he started as a DB2 expert, then went through the whole Oracle training series in places like Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur. He calculates the cost against things like local cost of living, exchange rates, and vacation possibilities. He double checks the course is offered in English, rather than the local language, often the courses have American or Kiwi instructors. He also talks to useless lumps of s^W^W^W^Wrecruiters about where the market is going and which skillset pays the best to decide what courses to take.

He had one example from when he was working in Colorado. To take the two or three necessary Oracle training courses local to Colorado, at US$3000-US$5000 per course, he could buy a ticket to Kuala Lumpur and take the courses at the equivalent of US$400, and still come out ahead. He spent a week in some tropical beach hut in the region to get over his jetlag, then 3 or 4 hectic weeks at the Oracle HQ in KL using the exact same materials and computers. Afterwards he had all the training on a specific product for his next contract, and a great tan.

If you do this, you don't have to mention where you got your certificate, but if it comes out, then put a positive spin on it. "Yes, I picked up that certificate on my most recent around the world trip, while scouting possible lucrative contracts downunda. But your company's project really caught my attention bla bla bullshit bla..." At the very least, some time spent in a foreign country learning new job skills will also open your mind quite a bit more than most 'merkins. Yeah, that's it, its a learning experience.

the AC