Is this a worthwhile course to take?

Question

I currently don't have any qualifications in any form of web development (except an A-Level in ICT). I started working for a web development company 4 years ago and have finally been given the chance to go on courses.

My manager doesn't have much of a technical knowledge, so has left it to me to decide whether the course he wants to put me on is worthwhile. From your experience, is the following course a worthwhile and credible course to take in helping improve my skills in ASP.NET/SQL?

http://www.cvision.co.uk/realcbt/mcpd-asp-dot-net-35-csharp.htm

Or, can you recommend similar alternatives?

Answer 1

I would strongly recommend against spending a lot of money on a course in ASP.NET 3.5.

Even if you're working with 3.5 now, it would be far better to study and get certified in 4.0 - it covers all the old material too, and doesn't leave you a version behind the times.

I can't recommend any particular training in the UK, though, sorry.

Answer 2

Most training courses are garbage and most certifications are worse than useless, at least here in the States.

Most people I know who are in positions where they interview and hire will actually see a number of certifications on a resume for a software engineer and put them on the bottom of the pile. Any idiot can memorize the answer, thats not what employers are looking for. They either want somebody who has worthwhile experience and can demonstrate and articulate knowledge and experience, or an entry-level who is really bright, open-minded and can quickly pick up on new things.

It has been my experience in interviewing as well that most (there were a few exceptions...) software engineers I have met that had a list of certifications were embarassingly bad.

Training at worst would be a waste of time and money but a certification might actually hurt your chances of finding a job. If I were you I would convince your boss to spend this money on books, reference manuals and give you a few extra hours a week to experiment and play with new technologies. You will be happier learning new skills and your boss will likely be happier spending considerably less.

Answer 3

I would also agree with maple_shaft's comments for the most part. I would not go as far as to agree that it can hurt your chances in the future ( you can simply leave that off your resume ) it also might not help it. The course is going to teach you a great deal if you don't already know or know how to find microsoft's "best way" approach to do something.

There are indeed books, language netural books even, that teach OOP concepts. If you want to take the course, be sure you take the current 4.0 course, as other mentioned the 3.5 course is less useful now.

My suggestion would also be to purchase your own training material. The certifications while they won't hurt your career, the knowlege you gain from taking the exam, can be learned from books.

This was to long for a comment.

Answer 4

For a fraction of that cost you can pick up some decent (probably better) books on ASP.NET and SQL. Check reviews on Amazon to see which books may suit your level.

For a training course, prefer general software development/architecture courses, the skills from which will always be relevant; rather than technology specific courses, the skills from which will become dated often before you get to use the technology for real.

Given your apparent lack of any formal training in software development, perhaps a course such as Enterprise Software Developer would be more useful and provide a solid base from which to learn specific technologies.