Trios college for network engineer?

[pokergod]

my brother is considering going there for network engineer. The cost is 20k for 1 year. Anybody have any experiences with this program or college? Is it worth going into IT now? There is a course similar to this at at a real college for a shorter period of time but u only get a certificate for 15k

 

[pimpin_civic]

my brother is considering going there for network engineer. The cost is 20k for 1 year. Anybody have any experiences with this program or college? Is it worth going into IT now? There is a course similar to this at at a real college for a shorter period of time but u only get a certificate for 15k

It is actually worth going into IT. There are only so many things you can outsource.

If you have some knowledge about Networking you would know that there are a ton of elements to it.
There's so much more to networking than just the Microsoft Network Engineering or Cisco CCNA.
CCNP is more advanced topics and contains knowledge that a typical network engineer would barely know about. Plenty of people have a CCNA, so employers seek people with CCNA combined with Microsoft technologies (someone well rounded) much like a system admin.

The next level up is CCNP (those are rare) and difficult to obtain but it proves very useful if one wants to go into a life of networking. then there is the CCIE (something even more rare)

If your brother is considering becoming a network engineer I suggest he doesn't stop with Trios, he should further his learning because he will be limited to max 55K a year

 

[C Dick]

Trios are very good, they offer a variety of programs, but the guys who run it started as IT people, then offering IT programs, so IT is a strength of theirs. If I wanted IT training, Trios is where I would go.

 

[svtcobra]

It is actually worth going into IT. There are only so many things you can outsource.

If you have some knowledge about Networking you would know that there are a ton of elements to it.
There's so much more to networking than just the Microsoft Network Engineering or Cisco CCNA.
CCNP is more advanced topics and contains knowledge that a typical network engineer would barely know about. Plenty of people have a CCNA, so employers seek people with CCNA combined with Microsoft technologies (someone well rounded) much like a system admin.

The next level up is CCNP (those are rare) and difficult to obtain but it proves very useful if one wants to go into a life of networking. then there is the CCIE (something even more rare)

If your brother is considering becoming a network engineer I suggest he doesn't stop with Trios, he should further his learning because he will be limited to max 55K a year

My first question to the Original Poster. Is your brother new to the IT industry ?

I have my all three Cisco certs including CCNP, and it was not easy to get. There is allot to know about the in dept internals of networks routers, switches etc etc I can go on... I was actually flew out of Canada with my other employees to to the U.S. Cisco for training centers to achieve this designation.

Trios I've heard good things about and some bad things I was thinking of taking their Windows 2008 Active Directory course and the three Blackberry courses since I'm back in the GTA for the summer.
To my knowledge they are the only private college which has sole rights to teach and offer this course through Blackberry. I wanted to brush up on my skills. Unfortunately I believe they don't allow you to take one specific course. There is something like a Network Specialist (OS) course which is only Operating systems which you can take. Keep in mind the cost of the course also includes the certification cost towards writing your cert.

I'm read that others are recommendation not to go to this college. I don't know why people are saying stay away from this college? Personally I will go to it as it reputation speaks for itself. They are allot of "Private" colleges in Ontario and some are bad and some are good, and Trios is a accredited college and is licensed through the government. Also with this recession through EI you can go through a "Second Career Change" and the government (HRDC) will pay for it.

If your brother has the time on his hands it is up to him to choose the route of Sheridan College 2-3yrs course, though keep in mind it is all theory your learning and you will have to do other courses other than Network Engineer. I believe the course through TriOS college is great but with a 1 yr program and if you are new to this you have to take a serious approach to it and study allot if not you still have to take it seriously. With a course load like that I'm assuming it is actually a 2-3yr course if you took it in a regular university or college but within 1yr I believe the different courses you will be learning will not give you time to mess around which in turn you really have to hit to books to learn.

 

[svtcobra]

Trios is expensive for that program, he is better off to look around for other colleges and avoid private colleges as much as possible.

Yes they are expensive, but the course they have does not match any other colleges out there. Although in a college like Sheridan, you will be learning all theory and taking other classes like English, Math etc etc..

May I ask why you suggested to "avoid private colleges" ?

Is it reading articles like this?
http://www.thestar.com/article/666397
http://www.thestar.com/article/665856

I do agree there are bad ones out there, but it is up to the person to properly do their research on going to a college, just don't pick one which is close to you. Do your research about the college..

 

[pimpin_civic]

My first question to the Original Poster. Is your brother new to the IT industry ?

I have my all three Cisco certs including CCNP, and it was not easy to get. There is allot to know about the in dept internals of networks routers, switches etc etc I can go on... I was actually flew out of Canada with my other employees to to the U.S. Cisco for training centers to achieve this designation.

Trios I've heard good things about and some bad things I was thinking of taking their Windows 2008 Active Directory course and the three Blackberry courses since I'm back in the GTA for the summer.
To my knowledge they are the only private college which has sole rights to teach and offer this course through Blackberry. I wanted to brush up on my skills. Unfortunately I believe they don't allow you to take one specific course. There is something like a Network Specialist (OS) course which is only Operating systems which you can take. Keep in mind the cost of the course also includes the certification cost towards writing your cert.

I'm read that others are recommendation not to go to this college. I don't know why people are saying stay away from this college? Personally I will go to it as it reputation speaks for itself. They are allot of "Private" colleges in Ontario and some are bad and some are good, and Trios is a accredited college and is licensed through the government. Also with this recession through EI you can go through a "Second Career Change" and the government (HRDC) will pay for it.

If your brother has the time on his hands it is up to him to choose the route of Sheridan College 2-3yrs course, though keep in mind it is all theory your learning and you will have to do other courses other than Network Engineer. I believe the course through TriOS college is great but with a 1 yr program and if you are new to this you have to take a serious approach to it and study allot if not you still have to take it seriously. With a course load like that I'm assuming it is actually a 2-3yr course if you took it in a regular university or college but within 1yr I believe the different courses you will be learning will not give you time to mess around which in turn you really have to hit to books to learn.

Which three Cisco certs do you have?

I have the knowledge of CCNA but I never went to write the exam. I'm going to be doing all 4 CCNP courses in 8 months through Net acad. And then I'll do one or two CCIE courses, either R&S and Voice, or R&S and Security.

I've gone through alot of vista/xp training, and some server 2003 courses. I'm sick of microsoft administration, so I'm thinking of going full blown cisco and maybe a bit of juniper. I've worked with some HP procurves and they're very similar to cisco equipment (switches), the commands are a bit tricky though.

 

[svtcobra]

Which three Cisco certs do you have?

I have the knowledge of CCNA but I never went to write the exam. I'm going to be doing all 4 CCNP courses in 8 months through Net acad. And then I'll do one or two CCIE courses, either R&S and Voice, or R&S and Security.

I've gone through allot of vista/xp training, and some server 2003 courses. I'm sick of Microsoft administration, so I'm thinking of going full blown cisco and maybe a bit of juniper. I've worked with some HP procurves and they're very similar to cisco equipment (switches), the commands are a bit tricky though.

There is a new one I'm looking at it is called CCIE, but that requires a huge amount of brain bleeding studying and hands on knowledge.

Just to clairfy that to get these designations it took a few exams to get. If my memory is correct.. Here goes.


ICND1, ICND2 = CCNA

BSCI, ISCW, ONT, BCMSN = CCNP (For this one I had the chance to skip on to write but I decided to do it all)

IINA = CCNA Security

The unfortunate things with some of the exams or all of them I should say they are only valid for 3yrs. I have to check my status but I know I'm due to re certify to keep myself up to date and valid.

If you ever have the opportunity with in the company to get to cisco to get this training. Go for it, I'm telling you it is a mind opener and to be working with the elite Cisco guys who live and breath this stuff is amazing. I had the opportunity and within my company I do allot of business within Cisco product, I was offered to do training for myself and some of my other employees I have and i took the chance. The money was not cheap but in the end the experience I had was great.

P.S. Oh. I would like to add that Cisco is not a joke certification. If you fail an exam don't worry because they are not easy to pass. It is one of the most intense exams I've done and yes I failed a few but in the end I worked harder and achieved what I wanted to do.

 

[pimpin_civic]

There is a new one I'm looking at it is called CCIE, but that requires a huge amount of brain bleeding studying and hands on knowledge.

Just to clairfy that to get these designations it took a few exams to get. If my memory is correct.. Here goes.


ICND1, ICND2 = CCNA

BSCI, ISCW, ONT, BCMSN = CCNP (For this one I had the chance to skip on to write but I decided to do it all)

IINA = CCNA Security

The unfortunate things with some of the exams or all of them I should say they are only valid for 3yrs. I have to check my status but I know I'm due to re certify to keep myself up to date and valid.

If you ever have the opportunity with in the company to get to cisco to get this training. Go for it, I'm telling you it is a mind opener and to be working with the elite Cisco guys who live and breath this stuff is amazing. I had the opportunity and within my company I do allot of business within Cisco product, I was offered to do training for myself and some of my other employees I have and i took the chance. The money was not cheap but in the end the experience I had was great.

P.S. Oh. I would like to add that Cisco is not a joke certification. If you fail an exam don't worry because they are not easy to pass. It is one of the most intense exams I've done and yes I failed a few but in the end I worked harder and achieved what I wanted to do.

CCIE has been around for a LONG time now. It's just the most difficult certification to obtain. CCNP certification is even difficult. I don't get the opportunity for training so I do it myself. You need an immense amount of hands-on training with theoretical knowledge. You need to know things inside and out. Cisco makes it hard.

Despite a bunch of companies heading towards Cisco, and cisco dominating the market, its good practice to understand other vendors as well.

 

[svtcobra]

Yes you are correct. It took me just over a 1.5 yrs to get my certification completed, I just took my time and didn't rush things.
Cisco networks are great and you have to keep the knowledge in your head but after numerous of times programming a switches and so on, it sticks inside your head for a real long time.

I believe there is another private college which is also been in the business for a long time is called Herzing College and that is in the Eaton Center in downtown Toronto.

 

[spraggamuffin]

When you go to some of these private colleges it's not as hands on as they promise it to be.

Lots of the teachers are not as knowledgeable as they should be as many are part timers just looking to earn some extra cash and still green in the field.

When I went to Xintra, one of my teachers who was actually pretty experienced at teaching at private colleges knocked TRIOS for not having too much hands on opportunity and teacher to student time while he knocked Devry for being too expensive. He taught at both these places.

What I found from Xintra was that the student advising was weak and for most private colleges it's all about the money.

One of my teachers who taught UNIX seemed to have studied here which to me seems the place to go for networking hands on and the prices are reasonable.

http://www.cntlc.com/

Mind you, private colleges just give you the knowledge to write the industry exams and their diplomas are not worth as much as that from Ontario accredited colleges like Sheridan or University Degrees from anywhere if you are green in the field or inexpereinced.

I soon found out my diploma from Sheridan College in Computer Programming was not even worth the paper it was printed on and well my Sun Microsystems and MCSE which i wrote externally after tutoring at Xintra was worth even less if you do not have a degree from one of the Ontario Universities or at least 2 years work experience in the field already.

My brother is an SAP Basis Consultant and while these jobs pay 6 figures, are very hard to come by unless you have a degree in Computer Science as the job takes you all over North America and now because of much protest from undereducated Americans chasing and wanting the high paying jobs they are obviously unqualified for, you simply need a degree in the field you specialize in just to apply for a TN1 visa.

Industry certifications do teach you a lot as you may do a lot of hands on to prepare for them, but unless you are already working in the field and have at least some years experience or have a Computer Science or IT degree to complement it, it seems like money down the drain to me.

Mind you some people are luckier than others, have the right connections to help them get jobs easier and faster and may be more vigilant than myself in going after jobs in the field both while they are studying and immediately after their study period when they are fresh out of school so its not a dead cause, but requires proper research before committing to one of these exorbitantly priced private schools which may not deliver as much as it promises for the money.