I opened up my school two years ago to combat exactly the type of experience that he's talking about. I was a technical trainer for a few years, and kept getting fired from all of the centers (you can't call them schools) I worked at, because I always added things to the curriculum, extended classes longer than they were supposed to, badmouthed the terrible equipment that was used at these centers, etc.
At my school, I still teach courses, and I have my instructors teach in the same way that I do. For example, in my MCSE classes, we teach the
students how to install several different flavors of *nix and 3 different versions of netware, then teach them how make them all play nice with each other. Our MS SQL classes teach MySQL and Oracle. Every student gets a server to play with, etc. Our courses are all taught in hands-on labs, where the instructors' lecture is immediately applied to the machine in front of the student. Our philosophy is to teach you how to do your job and to be prepared for any eventuality. The exams are an afterthought to the knowledge of how to make things run.
I realize that my school is in the minority. The majority of my local competitors are churn and burn certification factories. The difference is that I am a teacher and a geek, while the owners of other schools are either glorified sales people or businessmen with no understanding of the technology education process. I believe you when you say that the majority of schools you've seen are like that.
My advice is to attend a school where they use multiple resources in class, not just the vendor approved curriculum. Only take courses from instructors with broad experience. If possible, attend a school where geeks, trainers and technologists are in decision-making positions. New york should have at least ONE education-oriented technical school that's not an churn and burn. And above all, READ THE ENROLLMENT CONTRACT! That's where they'll screw you.
Good luck with finding an ethical and qualified technical training school. Lord knows I try to make mine as perfect (i.e. education and student friendly, not existing for the sole purpose of profit and churning) as possible.
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To really understand where are the money goes, you need to read The Problem With Music by Steve Albini, music producer extraordinaire.
An Excerpt: Recording Budget: $150,000 Producer's advance: $50,000 Studio fee: $52,500 Drum, Amp, Mic and Phase "Doctors": $3,000 Recording tape: $8,000 Equipment rental: $5,000 Cartage and Transportation: $5,000 Lodgings while in studio: $10,000 Catering: $3,000 Mastering: $10,000 Tape copies, reference CDs, shipping tapes, misc expenses: $2,000
I opened up my school two years ago to combat exactly the type of experience that he's talking about. I was a technical trainer for a few years, and kept getting fired from all of the centers (you can't call them schools) I worked at, because I always added things to the curriculum, extended classes longer than they were supposed to, badmouthed the terrible equipment that was used at these centers, etc.
At my school, I still teach courses, and I have my instructors teach in the same way that I do. For example, in my MCSE classes, we teach the students how to install several different flavors of *nix and 3 different versions of netware, then teach them how make them all play nice with each other. Our MS SQL classes teach MySQL and Oracle. Every student gets a server to play with, etc. Our courses are all taught in hands-on labs, where the instructors' lecture is immediately applied to the machine in front of the student. Our philosophy is to teach you how to do your job and to be prepared for any eventuality. The exams are an afterthought to the knowledge of how to make things run.
I realize that my school is in the minority. The majority of my local competitors are churn and burn certification factories. The difference is that I am a teacher and a geek, while the owners of other schools are either glorified sales people or businessmen with no understanding of the technology education process. I believe you when you say that the majority of schools you've seen are like that.
My advice is to attend a school where they use multiple resources in class, not just the vendor approved curriculum. Only take courses from instructors with broad experience. If possible, attend a school where geeks, trainers and technologists are in decision-making positions. New york should have at least ONE education-oriented technical school that's not an churn and burn. And above all, READ THE ENROLLMENT CONTRACT! That's where they'll screw you.
Good luck with finding an ethical and qualified technical training school. Lord knows I try to make mine as perfect (i.e. education and student friendly, not existing for the sole purpose of profit and churning) as possible.