SkillsTrain Courses

I started the A+ course in late July '07 and have just received the TMA 31a back from marking (100%). I'm not going to start the N+ course until after Christmas as I could do with a break.

It's been a struggle to find the time to do the course as my mother in law has been in hospital to have part of her right lung taken away due to Big 'C'. She's at home now but as that's only down the road the phone doesn't stop ringing.

I found the course comparitively easy and have had some 'stick' from work colleagues who try to tell me that I'll not get employment as I'm too old to make a career change.

My reply is that I'll take my chance with SkillsTrain to keep their word about assisting me to find employment, and anyway 59's not old and I'm just getting started. My scoring for the TMAs is in the high 90s and my aim is to follow the A+ with similar scores in N+ and after that CCNA and complete them all within 2 years.

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We all have come a long way (SkillsTrain college, myself and all students of the college). I started off on a SkillsTrain IT programme without thinking of the implications of doing so. Now, I have realised the impact of my actions which comes with huge responsibilities IT-wise. Having completed the first two parts of my programme with the college, I almost gave up on carrying on with the third part (CCNA) due to sickness, finance, etc. I didn't give up due to support from family and friends, now I am happy I continued.

I have just made my first professional money from repairing a work colleagues PC. Hopefully, I would be tarnsferred/promoted to the Applications Department by January.

I just succeeded in configuring a router (might be simple for other people, but never thought I could ever try it in my whole life).

Most of my work colleagues and friends now call on me once their PC encounters any type of hitch (they don't want to know if I could resolve the problem or not - all they know is that Donny has been trained by SkillsTrain college).

Thanks SkillsTrain for the career and personality boost.

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Within just four weeks I've managed to complete the entire Section 2 Part B of CompTIA A+ course, having a full time job, working on shift pattern (usually 10 hours per day) and looking after my family. I've been studying very hard, pushing myself to complete this section within a week and my aim was not to get below 90%. I've achieved that. Now I'm waiting to submit TMA30, do the revision suplement and pass the exam.

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I have just restarted the course after a 2 year break. in that 2 years I have been divorced, re-married and bought a new house. The last experience I have had with studying is 27 years ago while at school. It has taken me some time to get back in the flow and trying to allocate time to study. Since restarting the course I have managed to repair and rebuild an old computer for my kids to use for their school homework. I saw an old PC but it is a Dell P4 that was being skipped by my employer. I managed to purchase new Ram and Operating system. I formatted the origional hard disk (One of the proviso's for having the PC) and upgraded the RAM from 512Mb to 1GB and reinstalled Windows XP. I also connected a wireless router to the PC and connected it to the Internet for my kids. Thanks to SkillsTrain I can now do this for my kids, which means a great deal to both me and them.

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At 61 and still learning it is never to late to teach an old dog new tricks.
I have just built my grandchildren there first computer system.

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In all my career as hardware maintenance engineer I concentrate in maintenance and managing the local area network facilities, and evaluating system performance. However this SkillsTrain programme has opened my horizons especially in the area of system troubleshooting. I can now proudly carryout the basic troubleshooting of any system. I now have full knowledge and understanding of the four models (CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network, Novell, and ASID) used in troubleshooting. This knowledge has now further developed my skills in hardware maintenance, because troubleshooting is the backbone of hardware maintenance.

Additional information and knowledge was also acquired in the area of operating systems. I now have a deeper understanding of different types of operating system (Windows, Mac and Linux). This gives me more confidence to carry out maintenance of any type of system, as now I can differentiate types of modules based on their dependability features, application failure features, security features, management and development features, desktop management features, mobile computing features, and networking features.

Finally, I can clearly stated that SkillsTrain has enhanced my capabilities as a hardware maintenance engineer even though there is still more to be learned as the course goes by. I wish to recommend this training for any practitioning hardware maintenance engineer as well as intending persons.

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Ever since word got around the workplace that I am taking CIW course with skillstrain ( a warehouse of 250/shift), I have been into a lot of trouble lately with colleagues trying to consult with every computer issue they have at home. So far I have cleaned malwares from laptops and pc's, restored OS's to their pristine conditions,did remote assistance on some and gave useful advice on how to do system maintenance and simple troubleshooting - all pro bono of course except for an odd free cup of coffee at times. Although this might be quite unrelated to web design, once people know you're into computing, they expect you to know everything about computers and mind you, in this era of technology a lot of them still has computer know-how ranging from beginner to novice.

Another friend had me do a simple but presentable website for his business and I managed to have it online and properly working while another wanted me to set-up an online store for which I apologetically bowed out as I am still lacking in skills and understanding in that department. Another friend consulted me into creating an html page for his school presentation in architecture course, which we are doing at the moment.

All in all, Skillstrain has completely re-established my self-esteem and has given me something to look forward to in the near future - career wise; not to mention the warm smile of gratitude you get when you help people out of their computer miseries . I am proud to be taking this course despite the serious time and effort one has to put into it...as I am reaping the benefits (and the stress) of it this early. I'll update you of the progress in three months time. Thanks.

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My biggest achievement was being able to do this course. I have tried in the past but never been succesful in finding a course that I wanted to do but skillstrain has made it possible. I will now be able to provide for my two children properly as I am a lone parent without qualifications but when I've finished my course it will be possible for me to get a good job or start my own business. I'm really looking forward to working life, I can't wait.

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This month I feel like I have finally made the breakthrough with this course. At the beginning I struggled to understand the basics and felt the confidence I started out with slowly diminishing. But I put in the hours and really pushed myself to learn. My first couple of TMAs weren't great but this month I did two of them and got 90% on both. The tutors have been a great help and the live classes are starting to pay dividends, so to anyone currently struggling: hang in there, success is just round the corner.

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Having being made redundant after 19 years with the same company my future was looking bleak until I decided a complete career change and Skillstrain made that possible with their fantastic courses. Currently studying towards my CIW website manager, I feel that my life has a real direction towards my new career. Thanks Skillstrain

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I don't usually say things about my myself but it has been such a difficult year I thought why not? I am taking this course to give me a future I was always told would be out of my reach and for a long time I believed these people, I know now that they probably didn't want anymore competition out there!

Since March 2007 I became a full time carer for my elderly mother who has cancer and is very ill. I am so happy to be taking care of her and I am not complaining, however this meant that I have been studying in the middle of the night and averaging only a few hours sleep per night.

I try to study wherever I am, I take my folders with me, wherever I go so If I have an opportunity to study I do. I read my course work on trains and buses and when I do get home to see my partner I spend time with him and then when he goes to bed I stay up and carry on studying.

So I feel considering the year I have had and how sleep deprived I am, I feel I have at least kept my course as up to date as possible. There were nights when I was so tired that I would cry, but then I would think about my potential future and I would get back to my work.

I have read your terms and conditions and I don't mind my story being published as long as my full name isn't used, I hope you don't mind this.

Many thanks and onwards and upwards!

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I am very pleased with the level of my understanding of the Web design course. It has not really being easy. I believe the whole thing boils down to the untiring support from tutors, patience and hardwork on my part as well. Thanks to SkillsTrain for assisting me to this far.

The last ICT website competition has come and gone and I am very delighted I was able to make an entry based on the knowledge I have acquired from SkillsTrain.

Skilltrain, there is no adjective to qualify my thanks to you. I am proud of being a student of your college.

Thanks for being there for me.

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I am really enjoying my CIW course. Over the last couple of months I have managed to achieve quite a lot with my course. In fact I have managed to complete 3 TMAs in this month alone and two local primary schools and a church have asked me to design websites for them.

The course has also given me confidence, and I now try to go into my local primary school one afternoon a week to help the children to do the Kids Zone area of the website. I am left in charge of the children in their ICT suite. I never thought I'd have the confidence to do that. After a long illness (which I am still recovering from) all my confidence went. Doing the CIW course has not only given me more understanding of web design, but has fired me up and has given me confidence to talk to potential clients. It has also helped me to push myself forward. I can't wait to go on to the next section of my course as I am hungry to learn everything I can. Thanks.

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