SkillsTrain Reviews from Students

I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO GET A 2 MONTH IT CONTRACT WITH AN IT COMPANY AS A JUNIOR DESK SUPPORT PERSONNEL. I HAVE STEADILY PROGRESSED WITH MY COURSE WITH SKILLS TRAIN. THROUGH MY IT COMPANY I HAVE BEEN EXPOSED TO MORE EXPERIENCED PERSONNEL SOME OF WHOM HAVE INSPIRED ME TO FOCUS ON MY IT CAREER.

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I have finished the first part of A+ and I can say that I am very happy with the way it all went. I feel like I have learned a lot of new things and it was fairly easy. I am looking forword to the next part of the course and the other courses as well.

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Where ( all around me ) things in life were not going as planned - I can now see a spec of daylight at the end of the tunnel , and for that I can thank Skills Train . This course has helped me start the cycle that will eventually change my life , and remove me from a job that hasn't produced any form of work satisfaction ( over the last few years ) , and little financial reward for the long hours that I continually put in . The happiest working days of my life will be when I set off - for a Networking career change .
The Recent Exam sucess - in passing the Comptia A+ was a significant milestone for me , and this has given me the confidence to start the next part of my course with Positive results in the first 3 TMA's . I am thoroughly enjoying this Networking course , and I have invested in a few Networking tools ( bought on e-bay ) , and have started to set up a Home Network lab - using my companies old network Hub & a couple of (permanently borrowed , and unused ) ISA NIC's . The network course notes have helped me , as one of the NIC's had a fault , and after referring to the correct section - I managed to change its IRQ , and away it went .

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After giving up my regular job as a postman due to an injury I have taken up a CCNA course to assist me in understanding, within my curent job in the mobile industry, the systems we use and why and how problems arise relating to software /hardware and general IT issues that occur on a regular basis.

Not only have I been able to solve a lot of these issues myself without the need for them to be raised to our IT department, I have also developed a skill that seems to be sought after and deemed very useful within my workplace.

I have since been offered a role within our IT department that consists of diagnosing and resolving issues raised on a daily basis, reducing the workload within my department.

I feel the course has had a definate impact in me achieving this position as I mentioned my current studies and what it consists of. I was selected from a shortlist of employees within my company and am now progressing closer to reaching my goal to become a fully active member of the IT team within one of the biggest network providers in the world!

All good, and thanks to me taking the initiative to partake in a skills train online learning course.

Many thanks skills train, I only wish I had done this years ago!

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I am what you would call old school when it comes to computers, and when I first started my course I had a hard time turning one on. I am glad to say that all that is in the past after finishing the first part of my course I know can use and repair one. I am now doing the final part of my course which is cisco certification which I am sure I Will get as my marks are in the high eighties.I put this down to the great course material that the college puts out.I look forward to getting my first job in IT

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Before I made that phone call to join Skillstrain, I had been like a qualified professional wilth lots of skills and qualifications but with no job satisfaction and enjoyment, I am an MBA with marketing, Bsc with Physics with lots of experience in marketing and Sales but was lacking that edge that which would give me enjoyment and direction towards achieving something... I always liked IT and loved working with computers but that was it .. absolutely no idea on what should I do and what career path I should take, Skillstrain has given me new lease of life by guiding me to pursue CCNA, A+, and N+ which I hope to finish soon,the course structure has been excellent and the material supplied is just great.. if you are dedicated, one rarely needs any tutor support but if and when one needs it they are always there to help you out. although I dont have any experiance, I am fairly confidant that with my new found skills I will be able to get in to my chosen field thanks to skills train.

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I am a Cisco student and a mother of two aged 20 and 6 months.
Before joining Skills Train, life seemed to be very dull and boring. I adopted a routine with my 2 children that wasn't particularly exciting, and almost everyday of my life looked like the one before. I didn't feel that I was achieving much.
I then joined Skills Train. At first I hadn't a single idea about dealing with computers. I wasn't really fond of them. Actually I thought using PCs was a complicated thing to do. After I started to study my course materials, I realized that studing I.T was an easy and exciting thing to do.
Joining Skills Train really changed my life to the better. Now I am enjoying my course to the full especially when I started the CCNA part of the course.
I recently sat for the A+ 2003 objectives exams, CompTIA A+ core hardware exam and CompTIA A+ OS technology exam. Because the 2003 objectives exams were about to end, I had only three weeks to study each of them. That was a very difficult task to do, and I wasn't sure that I will pass the exams, especially that I have my house and children to take care of. But fortunately I passed both of them, and now I am looking forward to take the rest of my course exams.
I encourage each student in Skills Train to take his or her exams because I know it is not a difficult thing to do, and you will have a qualified certificate added to your CV.
Last but not least, I would like to thank my tutor team for their endless efforts and for being very helpful and supportive.

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After a worlwind six months I have managed to get promoted at work to Venue Partnership site manager at a museum & conference center as Technical Manager being able to use wireless internet systems and putting my college work into practice!!

I have cuerrently been studding under the stress of successfully giving up smoking for the ban and my health as my father recently had to have a triple bypass due to smoking so I swore for him that I would do this!!! and have been 3 and a half weeks without one!

The course I find is getting tougher now and with a busy schedule I am still finding time to fit it all in! I can't wait to complete the A+ and know I am sucessfully on my way to getting were I want to be.

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I was a serving soldier for 24.5 years up until Mar 2004 when I was medically discharged with (PTSD) Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Major Depression Re occurring, a common psychiatric injury of war.

The symptoms I had were insomnia, aggressiveness, depression, dissociation, emotional detachment, nightmares and potential memory loss, with all that suicidal attempts.

February this year I decided to do something with my life I discovered skills-train and arranged a meeting with one of their representative in Feb2007. After spending some time with the representative, I was convinced that this company can give a boost to my knowledge of the PC and will help me to get into a well paid job. I have joined the course of PC Hardware and Maintenance (A+) and (N+) and since I started my course, it has given me a lot of self confidence.

I have managed to help out a few friends with various problems on their computers, so that has spurred me on even further. All in all I am really pleased with myself and it just proves that if you want to learn something anything is possible.

I intend completing both A+ and N+ and looking forward to taking the A+ professional exam later on in this year. Keep it up Skills-Train you have gave me my life back.

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I am a serving police officer in England and I have just recently passed my 2 year probationary period successfully. During this time I have worked towards an NVQ levels 3 and 4 in Policing skills whilst enrolling and starting on my CIW website design managers course. This has been a struggle with all of the studies and long shift hours that I have had to work but I have enjoyed every part of this challenging process.

I have recently completed my 5th TMA and I am proud to have finished my first section file in my chosen subject. All of my results have been above 90% and I feel that this is due to putting in a lot of effort and the great way in which this course is structured. Although I have only been in my current role for 2 years I love the challenge of bettering myself and intend to start my own web-design business once I have completed my course.

I would recommend starting out on a course with Skills Train no matter what your current role is as there is so much to learn and the courses are structured to suit each individual.

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In the last month, my medical condition (total renal failure, requiring haemodialysis) has been giving me a lot more trouble than usual, leaving me feeling drained and nauseous after my treatments three times a week. I have also recently got a part-time job to try to make ends meet, which is also taking my a fair amout of my time and effort, but I'm still finding time to study and my TMA results haven't suffered for it.

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Last year I moved to china with my girlfriend. China was an amazing place, and I married my girlfriend there, but things did not work out, so we came back to the uk. We had no choice but to move into my mum and dads house, where we stayed in the front room. I was not working and my wife was really finding it hard. Things were getting me down because when I thought about the future, I really did not see me going anywhere. I saw the skills train advert and decided to give it a go. I must admit that I am finding it hard because I am studying, working, and trying to find a place to live with my wife. But things are looking bright now, and I know that if I put in the effort, and stay positive, then I can turn my life around and have a good life and a career. All I can say to people is don't give up, and always stay positive. If you do, then things will always come together in the end.

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This has been a great month for me. I've managed to finish off the coursework for Section 1 of my course, and have been flying through Section 2 (Javascript). At the same time, I have been asked to design a website for a friend, and have been invited to quote for a paying job for a national charity. I was very pleased with the quote I submitted. I know I wouldn't have had the information or the confidence to put together a quote like that before I started training with Skillstrain. I won't know if I've got the contract until after the 4th August, but I'm confident I've given a good account of myself. If I do get the contract, I'll have earned two thirds of my course fees back on one job! If I don't, I'll have gained good experience of quoting to a customer's brief and planning a project. I'm liking July!

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THE NEW SKILLS I HAVE PICKED UP FROM STUDYING WITH SKILLSTRAIN HAVE BEEN NOTICED AT WORK AND I HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE DUTY OF TRAINING NEW STARTERS ON THE COMPANYS COMPUTERS. I WILL BE RECIEVING AN EXTRA PAY AWARD WHEN I COMPLETE MY COURSE, AND THE IT BOSS HAS BEEN SHOWING ME THE COMPANYS SERVER TO HELP ME WITH MY COURSE. I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO FINISHING THE FIRST PART OF MY COURSE AND GAINING SOME QUALIFICATIONS.

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I recentley signed up to study the A+ and N+/MCSE course aged 52. I am an electrician by trade but come on lets be honest, it was years since I studied and attened college. Yes once I started I thought ....... whoops what have I taken on here. But wow, what a clever way of working and studying.
I've now completed 3 assignments, two I have had responces to and one is pending. Touch wood, results are good so far.
My life is not exactly hectic socialy but I travel most weeks on average 700 to 1000 miles comissioning fire alarm systems in comms rooms throughout the uk and europe, so my study time is limited to aircraft seats or motorway service areas.
Now as a mature student, and having to keep abreast of technology within my employment, I found it hard at first to make the time to follow the syllabus, and to be honest I did consider calling it off, but hey, as it says on the tin, I learn at my own pace and I really think Im doing well.
I'm a one parent family, although my youngest are twin girls (21) now, so holidays etc have come into play. But yes Im finding a routine and, dare I say it, Im proud of what Im doing and hopefully ( fingers crossed ) two years from now I will be changing employment into the world of I.T.

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I have been on the skills train since June of last year. I was excited to give the new change of direction a go as I have been an Art teacher in secondary schools for 27 years and was keen to either change professions or enhance my quality of Art teaching, especially through ICT.

Through circumstances I was between jobs in East Yorkshire and the course was a motivation. Anyhow for some inexplicable reason I decided to apply for a teaching job on the small Channel Island of Alderney - 2,400 population - the school is unique and as you can imagine going from class sizes of 30 to a max of around 12 was fantastic. It is also a whole school education from reception class aged 4 up to GCSE aged 16. We are the only school on the island I really feel part of the community. Also as well as Art I have to teach ICT (a subject I have never taught before) but am gaining confidence in through your course.

From January 07 to May07 I was totally enveloped in my job, and as you can imagine the course took a back seat. I was by myself on the island in a rented property but was looking forward to June when my wife would join me, also the thrill of buying and moving into our new house.

Then WHAM!!!! out of the blue in May I was diagnosed with bowel cancer!!!! Total shock, never had any idea. What a time to find out- new job, new life, new house, by myself on the island.

Anyhow things swung into motion quickly and through numerous flights to Guernsey ( we are in the Bailliwick of Guernsey) and scans in London, Jersey and Southampton I am now on full treatment.

Of course they do not have the facilities on our small lovely island so I am now in Southampton undergoing Chemo and radiotherapy for 6 weeks prior to an operation on Guernsey ( I hope).

Here is the irony - I had to be in England July 29th for 1st treatment - my wife had to be in Alderney July 30th to set up our new home and see to move etc -- so more months apart.

OK so finally why am I telling you this?
Well I am now totally studying the web site manager course again - it motivated me when I was unemployed and now it is motivating me again as I go through this treatment. I find it hard going but the discipline it brings to my life and the skills I am gaining make me all the more positive about my future. Hopefully I will do well in any exams but the act of studying and taking what I need from the course is more important. It would be so easy to give up, but then whoever achieved anything by stopping when the going gets tough. Thanks again for providing a structured focus to my days.

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I found the session very helpful it helped to clear up a few points I was unsure of and see how some processers were implemented.

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Another very enjoyable lesson :)

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I FOUND THE LIVE INTERNET TRAINING VERY HELPFULL, THANK YOU

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Another interesting LIT session. Well done team :)

Although related to the A+ course, this sessions contained information that maybe some would not consider. As daft as this sounds, when I did my apprenticeship in dental technology for the University of Liverpool, my colleagues and I would often amuse our more boring moments by watching the academic geniuses with little common sense trying to cross a busy road. Yes I know, this sounds mean, but it was funny and never failed to give us a chuckle. So therefore, adding common sense for safety into a "learnable application" has to be a master stroke. Good stuff :)

That isn't to say I am full of common sense (I wish), and I did learn a few things at this session.

Once again a huge thank you to the tutors for providing this opportunity, and for being at the office long after the cleaners have emptied the bins and had a few pints at the local. Respect guys.

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Having started the course in the last half of July I have just sent in tma 04 and intend to complete at least one unit per week. My aim is to complete Comptia A+, Comptia N+and Cisco PC Master in 18months, not a bad ambition for anyone except I'm at the older end of studying as I am 59 in September. The biggest drive for me is that I've been told "your too old", "you'll never do it as it's too hard for you ", don't believe what others say because the way that Skillstrain sets the modules out I find it easy so if I can do it anyone can do it. My scores for the first three modules were 01 100%, 02 87%, and 03 90% and I do not intend to drop below 85% in any of my work.

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Its been a very strange month in many ways, I started the month very commited to the course (July), I embarked on reducing my time in my job to concentrate more on studies and believed at the time it would play dividens, however strangely thru July with time on my hands I had a few wobbles, accompanied to restless nites and even questioning "why" I had chosen to go down the route of re-training myself at 41..particulary as my schooling had never been so great..I even sent an email questioning the eventualities of the course.....

but then other things albeit very minor happened, my step-brother asked for help with his printer, the PC was not recognising the print job amongst other things and after simple review, look and surmise, I got him up and running, in the scales of things this May not mean a great deal however to me at the time it made me sit back and actually appreciate what the last 7 months have been... on the same day my next door neighbour came knocking I had help her before setting up however she had bigger issues in trying to establish a back-up procedure for her personal and work things, what pleased me quite simply was without opening the books and I actually felt confident in giving direction and to point her in the right the direction....

I have today place a very simple advert locally offering simple assistance, more so for others within the village, I've done this because in the last 72hrs my confidence and more importantly "why" is coming back..

I am currently nearing the end of my first section on N+, ironically I have started to re-read the manual and the penny is now dropping were as three weeks back it was merely a "need to must do read" for the course....

this has been a strange month, I started this course with huge expectations, I hold my hands up to wobbling mid way, buts is amazes me that something simple has help re-coup direction..

in closing I am also thankful for the email from the team..every little bits helps as my friend at T says..

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