| Many
people have a great deal to ask and research before committing themselves
to an intensive training course and we welcome those questions and
encourage anyone interested in studying with Training Point to contact
one of our Course Advisers (use
this link) and discuss your own personal set of circumstances
to decide whether our method of training is suitable for you.
However for those of you who do not have a lot of time on your hands here are a few questions that tend to crop up on a regular basis: How
much will my course cost?
How much will my course cost? Training Point course fees range from £250 up to £3000 but to obtain a more specific price for your chosen course you would need to discuss this with one of our Course Advisers to ensure you are being quoted for the right course for your needs and job search requirements. In
the main most students fund their course fees via the Career Development
Loan (CDL) programme and there is a great deal of information about
the CDL scheme on this site under the heading 'Funding'. Will I need a computer and printer to complete my course? Absolutely
yes. The courses we provide are directly linked to sought after
computer skills by employers around the UK. We will show you how
to use your new computer if you have not purchased one yet or how
to become much more efficient in the use of your existing personal
computer. Don't worry if you do not own a computer at this time
as we will explain how you can have this expense funded along with
your course fees. Is my computer up to date enough to do this course? There are minimum specifications that your personal computer must have to run the software we provide with your course and they are as follows: Personal Computer with Pentium 133 processor; 64 megabytes of Random Access Memory (RAM); 2 gigabyte hard disk; CDROM. Don't worry if this list does not mean much to you as we can help you to decide on the right purchase or whether your existing PC is up to the right specification when you discuss your circumstances with our Course Advisers (note: some courses require a slightly higher specification). Do I need to be connected to the Internet? This depends on which course you are studying and of course whether you are studying any elements of the Internet, as this will require you to have an Internet connection from home or from work. The vast majority of our students are connected to the Internet and enjoy a quick turn around of assessments and support, as much of this can be completed on-line in a fraction of the time that traditional posting using the land mail service requires. Our website has a locked facility for Students-Only which provides among many things a Chat-Room for students to meet and discuss their progress with each other, we have a recruitment section providing a job shop of many opportunities being offered around the UK as well interview techniques and CV design, a Forum to make friends and share experiences with fellow students on the same course as yourself and a wealth of examples and help files to get your course completed as soon as possible. Am I guaranteed of getting a job at the end of my course? We make no guarantees about employment and in our opinion you should be extremely wary of any training provider that makes such claims. We can tell you however that hundreds and hundreds of NITLC students have obtained good jobs in the IT industry on the strength of being enrolled on to a self-study programme of the type we offer, and that is well before they have actually finished their course. We have trained thousands of students in the past 10 years and many of those students are now happily working in a job they enjoy and are trained for, indeed our success in our style of training has been awarded by our being able to use the name 'National' in our name and was recommended by the Department for Education & Employment and finally approved by the Secretary of State. So you can be sure if there is a job out there suited to your skills you will have a very good chance of beating your contemporaries to the finishing post in the race for that job. What sort of job can I get? The IT industry has many varied positions from those that require a lot of experience to those that can be entered with minimal or no previous experience. The following list is by no means exhaustive but will give you an indication of where and what to look for: IT
Technician Can I get assistance in applying directly to companies for jobs? Our Recruitment Support includes CV sponsorship. We will contact companies on your behalf when you are at the correct stage to commence your employment search. What kind of salary can I expect to earn? Salaries can often depend on many different aspects, i.e. the location of the job and the size of the company you will be working for. We can provide you with advice on the national average salary for most job titles. It's years since I last did a CV, can you assist me with this? We assist every student with CV building, we have our unique CV samples that ensure that your CV will stand out from the crowd. We also assist with 'Letters of Application' and interview techniques. When can I start applying for jobs? Many of our students have been successful in gaining employment in the very early stages of their course, however our advisors will be able to advise you on the right time for you as an individual. In fact we recommend that students have reached certain levels within their course to ensure you get the best possible chance of gaining a foothold into the IT industry. Where do I study? The ideal location to study one of our courses is in your home, in a room set aside for your computer and telephone (for support or internet connection), with a door that you can close! Studying from home can be a very rewarding experience and enables you to study at a time appropriate to your lifestyle. Classroom training in a college can lead to missed study sessions due to work or personal commitments; sitting in with too many other students whose skills are far below your standard or perhaps too far in advance of your present level; having to book hard earned holidays to attend fixed classroom training that is compulsory to sit and take an exam or even worse prevent you from moving along with the next phase of your training. Support from your family is essential to where you do decide to study especially if you do not have a suitable room to lock yourself away for an hour or two. Of course many students are able to study from their place of work and are actively encouraged to do so by their employer to acquire new skills that will help the company that you work for. How much time do I need to devote to my studies? When you enrol with NITLC we will ask you to commit to a minimum of 6 hours per week. Most of our students study anywhere between 6 and 15 hours per week. This will largely depend on your personal circumstances and of course on how quickly you wish to complete your course. We recommend that when you do decide to sit down and study that you do this in periods of not less than one hour and not more than 2 hours in the same stretch. Regular breaks are needed to keep your brain active, receptive and able to absorb the many new skills and procedures you will learn throughout your course. How long does it take to finish my course? The maximum period you have to complete all your studies, with full support, is 2 years for any of our courses. Completion times of each course are very difficult to project as each individual works at a different pace, has very different personal and social commitments and the student may be working part time; full time; flexi-time; shift work; or unemployed. All of these factors will determine the speed of completion, but then that is one of the biggest advantages to 'Open Learning' i.e. you complete the course at a speed that suits you. We have also found many students face personal problems that require a complete break from their studies, some times as much as 6 months to attend to these personal matters. No problem, just keep us informed of events and we will consider an extension of your study contract at no extra cost. We can tell you that we have known some students to complete their course in as little as 6 months, but they tend to be unemployed and very focused on their course to provide them with employment opportunities. One thing is for certain, no matter how long it takes to complete your course we will be here to help and support you and when you need a bit of extra encouragement or to check on your progress we are just a phone call or email away. How difficult are the examinations? We need to look at this from two angles. NITLC are unique in that they provide two types of qualifications, those that are academic based and those that are considered professional industry qualifications. Why two types? Our students could probably answer this better but let's take the academic qualifications first. Oxford Cambridge & The Royal Society of Arts (OCR) provide project based assignments that lead to certification. These projects are designed and produced by you to provide a unique solution to many problems found in the workplace today. This is real work experience that can be presented to a prospective employer at a job interview. Our students tell us that these projects are invaluable when it comes to getting that 'job'. The projects are put together over a period of time in concert with your tutor who will monitor your progress and guide you on how to achieve a PASS. All projects are submitted to OCR for evaluation and certification so you can be confident of an un-biased grade of your work. NITLC are very experienced in helping students put together projects of the highest standard and we enjoy one of the highest pass marks with OCR for any external training organisation. To illustrate our success with the academic qualifications from OCR, 100% of the projects we have put forward to OCR in the last 2 years for certification have PASSED! So if you follow our guidelines and listen to the advice of your tutor you too will pass these examinations irrespective of your existing academic qualifications. Now we need to discuss the professional examinations such as the Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP), CompTIA (A+, Network+) and Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA). These qualifications are achieved by the traditional method of attending an examination centre and sitting in front of a PC and being timed. The examinations are sat in appropriate conditions ie with an exam supervisor without the benefit of books or study notes to refer to. When the examination ends you will be informed of your result there and then and will appear on your computer screen. These examinations are designed to assess your skill and ability to solve solutions in real-time and in a somewhat pressured environment. This is not something to fear, in fact quite the contrary, as with a successful pass you should be confident enough to attend any job interview and challenge the employer to allow you to demonstrate your skills there and then as proof of your ability to do the job. And you will be able to do this! NITLC will carefully prepare you to take and pass these exams by offering optional workshops and extra study material which will focus purely on how to pass these examinations. We ask our students to attend our headquarters to sit these examinations as we are a fully accredited testing centre for all of these professional qualifications. Here at NITLC HQ you will find a friendly, warm atmosphere with people around you that you have come to know personally from the support lines. This is why more NITLC students pass first time than with other training organisations who leave you to organise your own exam dates and locations. But don't worry if you cannot come to NITLC HQ, we will advise you on a suitable local testing centre in your area and you can take your exams at any of these testing centres in the UK. |
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