IT Boot Camps Checklist

In this point in your IT career, are IT boot camps the best method of study to become certified? I believe there are two major questions to ask yourself before making a decision.

Will you be paying for it yourself?

Good companies pay for their employees to be trained. If you have been working in the IT industry for years and have sought after experience, (and unless you live in an area where you don't have much choice in employement), you can pick and choose your jobs.

I always pick and choose companies where paid training is part of the job description.

Judging by forum posts, most people share my opinion. I wouldn't pay for them out of pocket.

Are you already close to taking the certification exam?

You may be thinking that it's somewhat redudant to pay all those thousands of dollars for a bootcamp if you already know your subject well. Not really. A bootcamp course will go through all the material needed to pass the exam very quickly. And you need to decide what you need to focus more on. You will be focusing on material that you didn't know well - to fill in the gaps so to speak. And then sit the exam and pass it becoming certified in that subject.

A bootcamp is not for newbies. It's not for the inexperienced. You will not be taken by the hand and taught everything. You will need to already be equipted with knowledge in order to keep up with the fast pace of the course.