Good Sites for Gaining IT Qualifications at Home?

Associate
Joined
6 Feb 2010
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353
As a long time lover of IT I've finally decided I want to take IT as a career. Specifically programming and graphics.
I've spent a good few months learning and understanding the basics of Python and found I very much enjoy it.

I work full time and would like to learn from home while gaining a Qualification. Can anybody recommend some good sites that offer "Learn at Home" courses?
I don't have much expericence with programming and graphics but I am eager to learn.
I understand it will be very expensive but that is something I am willing to accept.

What do you think of this? Video Game Design & Development
 
Associate
Joined
27 Oct 2002
Posts
326
First off have you looked at what jobs our out there for you if you pass this? Are you willing to travel if there is nothing local to you?

I think you should ask these questions first before paying a large sum of money, another option might be to be a junior in the field you want to do.
 
Associate
Joined
15 Jun 2005
Posts
630
Games / graphics programming is specialised, and there aren't that many jobs out there. You won't be able to jump straight into it. You're better of aiming at writing simple business software applications first.

I wouldn't bother with courses. You're better off getting a good book and teaching yourself.
 
Associate
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2 Nov 2009
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1,132
Certs are not valued in the programming side of I.T. If you going to do a qualfication for software, really the only respected qualification is a academic degree in computer science.

If thats not an option, try to get in as junior somewhere. The problem is you might end being heavily specialised in say java.
 
Associate
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Peterborough
I don't think I have ever met anyone who managed to gain employment doing a home course. I did an evening one quite a few years ago now, BTEC in computers and small business systems, even then nobody wants to know afterwards and this was 15 years ago.
 
Soldato
Joined
17 Jul 2008
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7,367
I don't think I have ever met anyone who managed to gain employment doing a home course. I did an evening one quite a few years ago now, BTEC in computers and small business systems, even then nobody wants to know afterwards and this was 15 years ago.

Thats probably down to who you know rather than the fact it was a home course

However I have seen the contents of a BTEC course, it was so bad I would not consider it worth anything (son did a 2 year full time btec computer studies or what ever its called)

industry qualifications is the way forward not crappy academic
 
Soldato
Joined
17 Jul 2008
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7,367

for hte love of god dont go down that router unless

1) you are a VERY good artist
2) you are a very talented and creative person

also a lot of these courses will be treated as worse than usless by the games industry and your CV will be put straight in the bin.

there are only a few 1000 - maybe 10 to 20k jobs in the uk for this industry anyway..

if you insist on gouing down that route do some research and find out what the industry want and make sure you fall into cat 1 and 2 above...
 
Associate
Joined
2 Nov 2009
Posts
1,132
Thats probably down to who you know rather than the fact it was a home course

However I have seen the contents of a BTEC course, it was so bad I would not consider it worth anything (son did a 2 year full time btec computer studies or what ever its called)

industry qualifications is the way forward not crappy academic

Btec courses are not academic... they are vocational industry focused qualfications.

There will be only one type of course that teaches you data structures, Big Oh, machine learning, Discrete maths etc

Those would be degrees, or self taught.

There are no respected equivalents for MCSE, CISCO etc, for software development. Certifications like those tend to loved in I.T but hated in the software arena.
 
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