Reply to: Do you pay for your own training?

[nomadd]

Though you do get certain Nationalities who think they are a way of getting their homework/work done for them.

I used to be a Moderator for three Discussion Groups that covered the Sun Java Certifications in 1999.

I found that besides myself, there were only 2-3 other active contributors. Looking at the site stats showed another 500+ leachers, who made zero contribution to the discussions and simply stole our hard work. I resigned the position pronto and contacted 2 of the other good posters; we finished off all our certifications privately, simply using email for discussion. As you say, "certain Nationalities" made up 99% of those 500+ leachers.

Mind you, those same leachers are probably all working in the UK for corporates these days - or at least they seem to be based on the surroundings in my last few roles.

[SueEllen]

Mailing lists??

I receive a training mailing list but that was 1998, pre-internet for me.

Email mailing lists like google groups.

Useful when you find a bug which is actually a bug not a mistake you've made.

Though you do get certain Nationalities who think they are a way of getting their homework/work done for them.

Edited to say: Yes they could use proper bug tracking software but not everyone does.

[cojak]

I was about to add that thanks to the internet and especially mailing lists the vast majority of training courses aren't worth it.

Though I do laugh at some of the "interesting" questions asked on some mailing lists.

Mailing lists??

I receive a training mailing list but that was 1998, pre-internet for me.

[SueEllen]

I really appreciate your comments. I think I'll go for plan B and turn my course into an on-line resource. That way I'll have more time for other things and my course materials will help more people.

Thanks, guys!

I was about to add that thanks to the internet and especially mailing lists the vast majority of training courses aren't worth it.

Though I do laugh at some of the "interesting" questions asked on some mailing lists.

[Mr.Whippy]

As NLUK says, has anyone ever been on a training course that they'd be happy to shell out of their own pocket (even minus tax). £2K is a lot of dosh which can buy a lot of manuals/books...

Yes, I've spent about £5k in the last 12 months on training courses. And plan to do at least another 2 courses in the next 12 months.

[squarepeg]

I really appreciate your comments. I think I'll go for plan B and turn my course into an on-line resource. That way I'll have more time for other things and my course materials will help more people.

Thanks, guys!

[Old Greg]

Prince2 is all I've done and I did self study on the train. Not paying café prices.

[redgiant]

I got my PRINCE2 practitioner and ITILv3 foundation (all when I was a permie) and since then there are no courses that would help me secure more roles ... experience > training.

Since becoming a contractor have been taking a few Microsoft technical exams over the past few years (which were free and you can schedule them to take place when you're on the bench). All of them so far have been basic multiple choice exams so pretty useless in gauging if someone is actually any good with the product.

[psychocandy]

No tulip sherlock. It costs us money to be away from billing to do it or we do it while we are on the bench and the cost of the course hits us personally hard be it through the company or not. A £2k course put against tax is still a hard hit to the contractors pocket. We have to be picky.

As NLUK says, has anyone ever been on a training course that they'd be happy to shell out of their own pocket (even minus tax). £2K is a lot of dosh which can buy a lot of manuals/books...

Would rather sit at home for the week, spend £100 on books, download trial software or whatever.

I always get bored on course as well and find them too easy and you always get some dull twat sat at the back who slows everyone else down. Usually female! ;-)

[NotAllThere]

Removed advice that was here, as its just a bloody sales pitch.... GAAH!

Borderline, so we let it through. Apart from that, there are contractors who sell training.

[Scoobos]

Removed advice that was here, as its just a bloody sales pitch.... GAAH!

[Sockpuppet]

The only training that I do generally is around legislation. For example I'm a DGSA (Dangerous Goods Safety Advisor) and a ADR Holder (Dangerous Goods By Road). Both expire after a number years so I have to retake them and you can't legally do some of my jobs without them.

Having said that it often amuses me when I drive down the road with these signs on it, you get some strange looks from the general public. What amuses me more is that its usually a load of smoke alarms (or similar) just when you put enough of them together they hit the limit that makes them a hazardous load But I'm not sure they're likley to cause a meltdown if enough people press the test button at the same time.

[squarepeg]

Oh yes, we do wish you well.

And I would suggest targeting the medium size tech companies dotted around places like Silicon Roundabout in London (literally a roundabout, the Old Street/City Road junction just off Shoreditch...).

And of course hitting the conference circuit where your potential punters hang out.

The startup circuit? Thanks for the suggestion!

[cojak]

Oh yes, we do wish you well.

And I would suggest targeting the medium size tech companies dotted around places like Silicon Roundabout in London (literally a roundabout, the Old Street/City Road junction just off Shoreditch...).

And of course hitting the conference circuit where your potential punters hang out.

[nomadd]

Well, we got a little sidetracked, but this thread confirms my suspicion that the IT contractors in the UK are quite picky when it comes to training, just like the IT contractors in other countries. And that's good to know, too :-)

Thanks!

(BTW. I wrote some of the OpenStack documentation. Nice to know that there are people out there using it.)

Well, I think we actually stayed pretty much on-track, TBH.

My honest advice is to keep attending conferences, giving presentations, etc. That way you tend to pick up a lot of contacts, both individuals and corporates. That's usually the best "way in" for providing training and consultancy services on niche products.

What you have to realise for contractors is that, generally, we aren't going to take time out and lose money over a training course - not unless we are pretty damned sure there is some income at the end of it. And even then, most of us still prefer to get a lot of hands-on experience by doing it ourselves on our own kit. And OpenStack is free, so the barriers to entry for a contractor to self-teach are pretty much nil.

And as regards "paying work", well a one week search of Jobserve for OpenStack contracts yields:
No matching jobs found

And that's always a tough sell to contractors.