Cheap training/cert. alternatives?

I've noticed that some of the Technical Conferences are offering certification testing for free or at a reduced course. I was able to take(and pass) 2 IBM certification tests last summer.
I agree that training and testing can get expensive.

Here's a very cheap alternative- don't get certified! Before you say anything, think about it. You've probably spent 4 years of studying in college, possibly another 2-3 years of post-graduate. Then you work for a few years. Now they want another certificate? Common, the industry is reaping you off by glorifying the fact that certificate pays. Do you remember back in the '80 when so much was talk about how good it would be to get a CDP (Certified Data Processing) certificate? It's DEAD now... I'd hire anyone with a couple of years of experience anytime, anywhere, anyday over the certificate. Beside, if you think that it's too expensive to get certified, what does that tell you???

I guess it depends on what you wish to save. I relied on on-the-job experience, a few books and practice testing to get ready for certification. So I spent less than the expensive week long classes - but it took me over a year to prepare and pass all the exams.

Certification is well worth it, even with higher college degrees. I have a Masters, and a PhD in engineering discipline. Due to age I have had difficulty obtaining employment. I therefore went for computing certification. I studied A+ and am on the verge of finishing N+ certification. I then intend to go further.
I HAVE NOT PAID A SINGLE PENNY for my studies, only for the exams. All the material is available in books and on line. The best site that I found for help and advice including all kinds of FREE course material was www.brainbuzz.com. It is a brilliant site for the aspiring and well worth the visit.
You can guarantee your certification by browsing and following links to course materials.
Another good site is www.freeskills.com. Unfortunately, it is in PDF format and the printing facility has been disabled, but, you can save the material and read it off line.
Good luck

Let me start off by saying that I too prefer experienced people. Hand's on experience has no equal in the IT industry. All of the MLE's (Multi-Letter Acronyms) in the world don't mean jack without the experience to back it up. What many of these MLE's do represent however is continued training. We work in a world that becomes obsolete every 18 months or so, which means that our people will also become obsolete without training. My company spends a lot of money on their people to keep them "on the step" of today's IT world.

I'll grant you that there are many people who will "boot camp" themselves into MCSE, CCNA, CNE, and many other certs. BUT when the water hits the wheel and they can't perform in a pinch, those people will fizzle out. The other argument to this logic is that these certs indicate a certain level of achieved knowledge that allows us (the managers) to benchmark new talent. I can tell you from experience that the Cisco and Microsoft training and certifications I've received were by no means a cakewalk. I worked hard to get these, and what they've given me is a boost in my field. It's all a balancing act knowing whom to hire when trying to make a case of training vs. experience. There are no clear-cutanswers, and we must pull from our own experiences to get this done.

One last thing; as a corporate body, how does our company resume look? Without training and certifications, our customers and potential customers have no way to judge us. Which brings us back to the original issue of corporate training being too expensive. Can we really afford not to train our people? I think not. Training and certifications are the energy that propel today's IT departments and IT based companies. Ifyou hire experienced people, you keep them by training them. They want the bragging rights to certifications just as badly as anyone else.

All over ther world the it fever caught evryone by surprise like how there was a car revelution back in the 50's so has it been in the 90's but go to this sites and u can have absolute free online IT certification couses free of charges www.hackology.com and www.freeskills.com and u will see that people are willing human in feelings and sentiments

Discipline is the key!
Without getting into the whole Experience vs. Certified argument?

You mentioned Basic Vendor Certification;

To me, basic would mean entry level. While it would definitely be a good starting point for someone with littleexperience, you need to determine how basic you want to go before it becomes worthless. Even if it?s free, time is money ? and - in the eyes of the potential employer, is it something they could benefit from?

Start something you could build upon after you get established. Such as MSCE or CNE...

If you?re disciplined, you could lean the same thing they do in boot camps for a fraction of the cost. Microsoft doesn?t require formal training for their certifications. They require product knowledge ? competence!

One relatively inexpensive route to consider is buy a book on Windows 2000 Professional, pay $100.00 to take the Microsoft test and, providing you pass, you?ll have your MCP? a basic ?recognized? certification. Also something you could build upon down the road.

If you want to show a potential employer that you?re committed to the IT field (still for under $1000) buy a few more books, spend a few months studying, spend around $800 in tests and become an MCSE. A far cry from what a boot camp costs, PLUS you?ll gain a piece of paper that looks just like theirs. One hint, though, LEARN what you read, don?t do it just to pass a test in order to gain that all-important piece of paper.

Good Luck!

By the way ? I have an NT4 MCSE certification that I?ll sell you for under $1000.00?

Although I have not had time to fully read through all of the replies, I figured that I would add my two cents in anyway. There is a site (www.skilldrill.com) that offers free certs. It is a little limited, but does offer some programing tests. Before I went for my A+ and Net+ exams, I went on and took their test. If you pass with a certain grade, they even send you a certificate. I have even got a cert from them for c.

I hear the arguements often for certifications or no certifications. Seems to me we want to be the only professional field (IT) that doesnt want to be bothered with continuing education.

I for one enjoy certifications and have found them to be very productive in my 20 plus years of IT experience. I agree that a certification is not the end all or even great proof of ability. I do believe if two candidates applying for a position had equal experience, knowledge, and professionalism, I would always hire the certified professioanl.

Sure continuing education is high, so is the salary I obtain.

See this discussion thread, https://www.techrepublic.com/forumdiscuss/thread_detail.jhtml?thread_id=36524, for a good explanation of why employers' OVER-pickiness in hiring is causing many people and employers many problems in hiring good staff, withor without certs.
:) Tom

I'm pretty much preaching to the choir on this one, but taking preparation classes for certification is a total rip-off. As a newcomer to the field of IT, I was looking for a way to get on track and learn what it takes to get into IT. My first go was at one of those rinky-dink "money shops," where they offer free retakes, etc. The place offers teachers who they claim have mega credetials, only to be lying through their teeth. For example, one lady that taught our class was actually studying to take her A+ exam, the same time we were taking the same class. Sure she had some study knowledge on the other students and I, but it was like the blind leading the blind. That experience cost me more than $800. For all you out there who are considering any sort of class, do your research thoroughly. Or, by all means, study on your own terms. You will be in good, if not better shape than I was.

That was a very insightful and helpful reply. Thanks!

While you are gaining this experience, document it. Document your programs well; get screen shots of your forms, reports and web pages; diagram your networks to include infrastructure, number of users supported, and software used. Annotate every single piece of software that you have experience with. Get reviews and letters of recommendation from your customers. Package your experience in a nice portfolio. When you go to an employer for an interview, you will have "product" to show them vice chronological job experience on your resume. Your portfolio will say what your resume may not - "Here's what I can do for you." Who knows? Once you start working on your own, you might not even need to worry about working for someone else.

The workwill pay off! You can advance so fast that those months of toiling won't seem so bad at all. Good luck!

Tonya

There are some sites which are conducting online exams on different languages. Why cant you go there and write exams after you finish your exam, you can download your certificate and is recognised by many employers also. I know one site : www.eCertifications.com.

Hope this info helps you.

Thanks.

It is a great fallacy to believe that the more expensive certification studies are, the more prepared you are for taking and passing the final certification exam.

I am both Novell & MS certifed. I download their curriculum, set up a study schedule, buy study materials that suited me best (which means not everything that is recommended). Between libraries, the Net and text book studying, certification has yet to cost me $200. Try it - you will like it.

That is precisely my point.

Try the QUE books on line. Many of their books are on line and chapters can be downloaded or printed off.

The following sites has some of my favorite likes to free or inexpensive training:
http://www.savanjoy.com/TechEvents.html

For training ackages I have used HandTech: http://www.handtech.com/faulcon

I belive this user is correct in the way to aquire real life experience. I am doing this by being a volunteer at The World Impact Center in St.Louis,MO. I am getting alot of knowledge and at the same time helping that organization.
I don't belive that this will help get certified, but it will lead you down the road as to what your strenghs are, as well as your weaknesses.
Good luck. OH, by doing this it has opened up the door for some job opportunities that I don't believe would have come if I was sitting at home wishing I has the money to get certified.

Before we all meltdown, let's be clear: certification (the MS variety) may be counter productive. I have been trying to get my NT skills upgraded and am apalled at the MS classes. The materials were written in 1993 (they spec a '386 for a network server). Worse yet, many students just want to know what is 'on the test.' More than once, the instructor said "on the test, X is the right answer, but in the real world, never do X." what is that? Eager for the paper, the students/instructor collude to get to that paper, no matter if the parroted information is outdated,wrong, or dangerous. For those of us trying to actually learn something, the MS model is a killer. 5 days of 1000 transparencies, cookbook exercises, and superficial information. The hardest thing for the computer professional is to find a training model that actually teaches something. At this point, being certified is a negative to me. (PS,I have 20 year in PCs and an MBA)

Most of the responses I've read so far, seem to be saying, yes stay up on your training and education. Keeping abreast of your job responsibilites is important. The question is why isn't that enough to get you a decent job or salary? Why certification at such high cost.

Sophie

1,000 US Dollars is equivalent to 78,000 Kenya Shillings. It is very hard to raise this amount in most third world countries. It is also pretty difficult for most to carry out online transactions since they don't have international credit cards.
The only cheaper alternatives I know of include free online Techrepublic tips, online certifications like brainbuzz and, at one time brainbench.
Got any more sites?

There are lots of good opinions listed in this thread. Here are mine:
1. As stated before, two equally qualified applicants go for same job, and only difference is one has certification and other does not - probably will hire certified applicant.
2. For about 80% of employers, the certificate will not mean much (except as in case 1 above). But if you are pursuing the cert. 'for yourself', your own gratification, it will always be worth the expense in time, effort & money.
3. Then there's thefinal point - we should all (my opinion) always continue trying to improve ourselves and our knowledge base. Continuous improvement is the key to everything. And - that includes certification, which is one reason why all OEMs continually put out newreleases, versions, etc. We all want bigger and better. And employers will always need people who have the skills in the newest, biggest, best things going - no matter what field you are in. So, naturally Bill Gates & Co. will continue putting out new releases, and requiring new certifications for those new products. This is not earth-shattering news to any of us !