Microsoft Training in .NET

Question

Hey guys,

A quick question about training.

My company are offering to put me through a 5 day course in .NET programming with C#, on the proviso that I work for them for a minimum 12 month period immediately after the training has been completed. IF I don't work for them for 12months I will be expected to pay them back teh cost of the training, minus the amount of months which I have stayed at the company (e.g. stay 6 months and only pay back half).

The course will be $3,300 AUD - and will have no qualifications.

I have been programming in C# for about 6 months, and in PHP for about 10 years - so I am getting the hang of .NET slowly but surely.

Is it worth doing this? Or would I be best advised to learn from reading the MS books from Amazon for $40 and then sitting the 2 exams to get MS certified off my own back?

The company are not willing to pay for my certification as well as 'they are not training me to get certified' and hence more employable...

Thoughts?

How do other companies deal with training? And stop people from taking off after becoming certified?

Answer 1

I can't imagine how useful a 5 day crash course in C# would be... or at the very least how they can justify charging $3,300 for it. At this point I'd recommend just creating a little console app and trying to mimic some functionality of your PHP apps. Obviously one is a console app and one is a web app but I'm just talking about various functions, algorithms and the like. Plenty of people on here would be able to help you with "What is the C# equivalent of ?"

Answer 2

My first reaction would be, don't ever turn down free training.

BUT

Do you have more details on the course provider and the subject matter covered? Without that It's hard to tell if the course is worth it in relation to:

• Do you want to work for this company for the next 12 months?
• Will this make it easier when the time comes to get certified?

Because if you answer yes and yes to those two questions, go for it.

Answer 3

The question is do you think you want to work for this employer for a year; and if not, would you be happy to spend that kind of money on training from your own pocket? IF the answer to both is yes, I'd say go for it!

Intensive training can be boring or great, it really depends on the course and how interested you are in the subject. Find out if the course they're offering to pay for is considered good (see if you can find some other people who've done it).

Note: It's highly improbable that you will pass the MS certification exams just by reading a book if you only have 6 months .Net experience. They're not considered easy.

Answer 4

I bought the MS certification study books and read the foundation one and it definitely helped a lot. A classroom course might have been a little faster but in the end you can't really learn whole .Net/C# in a week. I would go for the books and if you can get the certificate, that would be a bonus.

Answer 5

If it were me I'd get the company to give me the five days and then hole up with a book and compiler. You'll gain a ton more experience reading and writing code at your pace than listening to an instructor going at a much slower pace. If you get stuck there's always forums like SO!