There are all sorts of ways to learn new IT skills, from on-the-job training and self-coaching to classroom instruction or online coursework. The one thing they all have in common is the time it takes to achieve mastery. Weeks or months of study, practice and test prep are required before a certification test proves that yes, you have indeed learned the skill set. Sure, you want to take that next step, but when will you be able to squeeze in all the required work?
One solution is to really squeeze in all the work: Clear your schedule for anywhere from a few days to two weeks (or sometimes more) to attend an intensive, immersive “boot camp,” where you’ll learn the new skills and take the related certification test. Walk in on Monday a novice, and walk out Friday with a diploma.
All the major training/certification schools offer some form of boot camp training for a wide variety of IT certifications. Despite their steep costs, they can actually be money-savers. “Our intensive boot camps are about 15 percent less expensive than, say, taking two separate courses that cover the same training,” says Eric Strause, Worldwide Product Director of Cisco Training at the training firm Global Knowledge, based in Cary, N.C. “Plus, you’re getting not only extended hours of training but you also get extra lab access or remote labs that go beyond the class itself.”
What Boot Camp Is Like
As the name implies, boot camps can be grueling, stressful, and not an ideal learning environment for everyone. Long days, long nights, lots of exercises, and timed tests. That’s what you can expect. Typically running for several days and costing a few thousand dollars, the camps often take place in seclusion at a hotel or resort where your room, most meals, and computer access are all part of the deal. While a day may stretch to 12 hours, another training firm, CBT XPress says its Cisco CCNA Boot Camp – which lasts five days and costs $3,395 – may run even longer each day as students get extra coaching or hang around to compare notes. Its boot camps take place at Florida’s Safety Harbor Resort and Spa, in what CBT calls “a special environment conducive to learning with the utmost convenience and comfort.” Another provider, Big Nerd Ranch, conducts its boot camps (five days/$3,500-$4,750) in a corporate retreat center in the woods outside of Atlanta. When exploring boot camps, it makes sense to focus on those that offer this self-contained experience as opposed to those that require bus rides between hotels and training centers.
It’s worth noting that in all cases, you can’t come in totally cold. “We offer online assessments and online skill checks to give you some sense as to where you may fit,” says Strause. “Certainly for our Cisco classes, participants have already had exposure to networking.” For its CCNA class, CBT says, “You should have a basic understanding of personal computing hardware configurations and networking business drivers; familiarity with Cisco’s Internetworking Technology Multimedia (ITM) or Cisco CCNA basics; subnetting; and a working knowledge of networking terminology and topologies, including network protocols, the roles of network devices, and the OSI reference model.”
Important Considerations
Before you send off your deposit to a boot camp, it’s vital to run through a checklist of considerations.
- Can you handle the stress? Ask yourself if you can, especially at a boot camp for something like the daunting CCIE (Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert) certification, which can go for two weeks or more and cost upwards of $9,000. As the days go by and everyone’s efforts are focused on the big certification test coming up, the tension can become high, especially if you grow weary of being away from family, friends, and your own bed. “It’s got to fit your style, your skills, and your schedule,” says Strause.
- Look for courses that do more than simply “teach to the test,” the way an SAT cram school course might. While the obvious goal of most boot camps is to get your certification, remember that employers also look for real-world experience and skills, not just a long list of certification acronyms beside the name of someone who has proven to be a good test taker. The debate over the ultimate value of certifications on resumes is ongoing, so keep that in mind as you set out to collect them.
- Ask where the certification course work comes from and whether it’s licensed from, or approved by, the vendor in question. The last thing you want is to pay your money, show up, and find out you’re using substandard course materials. “There is no value for the person or the company to end up with paper-certified people,” says Strause. “In the past few years, vendors have enhanced the difficulty of the testing by adding simulations inside the exams themselves. It’s not just multiple choice.”
- Find out if you can take the test later. It’s increasingly common for participants to get to the end of the course and opt out of the certification test, choosing instead to keep studying. In such cases, some boot camps offer vouchers that let you take the test later, at no extra cost.
- If you have a full-time job, don’t forget to ask your employers if they’ll subsidize or pay for your boot camp (assuming, of course, it’s somehow related to your current work).
If all goes well, you’ll walk out of a boot camp not only with the certification you were seeking and the skills it represents, but also with the same confidence a new Marine feels after emerging from weeks in the mud of Parris Island. You’ve made it through, and now you can face any new challenge without fear.
