FIve Questions To Ask Before Attending A Computer Tech School

Five Questions to Ask Before Attending Computer Technology School

Like any field, there are good technical training schools, and bad ones. By enrolling in one of these schools, you have made a significant investment of time and money. You deserve to know everything about school and your job prospects after you leave school before you drop your hard earned money. The problem is that sometimes it is difficult to know the right questions to ask.

The point of this article is not to bash technical education schools. That I started in IT eight years ago, and today I am CCIE and I am my Cisco training company and my own consulting firm.

However, before I ever cut the first dime, I asked some tough questions. So have you.

What are my true job prospects and legitimate salary levels after I graduate from your school?

We've all heard the commercials on the radio. Did you know that the average MCSE salary is $ 80,000? Are You Worth $ 65,000 A Year? If not, give us a call!

I'm optimistic, and I often tell people that no field rewards individual performance and drives like IT does. That said, none of us start from the top, and darn few of us start with that kind of salary.

I'm sure there are some people who came in for $ 80,000, but I did not meet many of them. Be very careful with the technical schools that use the famous / infamous MCSE Salary Survey as a marketing tool. They tend to represent those salaries as starting salaries.

Ask your technical school what the average starting salary of their graduates is. And keep in mind that salary is not the most important factor to consider when looking for your first IT job.

In short, beware of schools that boast starting salaries. Not where you start, where you end.

How current are the courses you offer?

Make sure the school you attend has tried to keep its courses relevant. Ask what changes have been made to their curriculum over the past three years. No field changes faster than IT. If the answer to that question is no, then look elsewhere.

I want to work in IT security. Have you been posting anyone in this area lately? If so, can I talk to her?

Technical schools are jumping on the security bandwagon, with a few schools posting ads about your training to work in Homeland Security. If that's your goal, that's great, but keep in mind that you need to get a safety permit for such work.

And how do you get a security clearance? You need to be sponsored.

And who will sponsor you? Your employer.

Can you get an employee in a Homeland Security job without getting approval in the first place?

Hmmm. Probably not.

Hello, Catch-22.

Again, I'm not saying you can not get an IT security job if that's where you want to go, you can finally get there. The keyword is finally there. Ask the school you intend to attend if they can actually place graduates in such jobs. Ask to talk to her. If the schools have succeeded, they will be happy to put you in touch with such graduates.

What books does your school use?

Some technical school chains only use books written by someone in their organization. I have heard some of their own teachers complain about the quality of these books. The technical school I attended used books on the board, and the quality was very good.

If you are looking to enter the field of IT, you probably know someone who is already into it. Use that resource for everything it costs. Ask that person what they think about the books, or for that matter, what the local reputation of the school is. IT is a small world, whether the school has a good or bad reputation, most IT staff in your city or town probably know about it.

The fifth question is a question that needs to be asked by HR representatives. Each technical school lists companies where they have placed their graduates on their promotional materials. Pick up the phone, call these companies and ask to speak to someone in HR. Ask that person about the school's reputation. Five to eight phone calls give you a good idea of ​​where the school is located with your local employer.

Making the decision to attend a technical school may be the best decision I have ever made, certainly for me. Make sure you ask the right questions before writing a check or taking out a loan to attend to the answers to these questions that will tell you if this school is really the school that can help you achieve your dreams.