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If you are thinking of taking one of the above courses Scheidegger, Skills Train, Multimedia Computer Training Ltd., or IT Skills course you should really consider reading this before making your decision to sign up. This is not a review more of a warning as I have not actually taken the course yet but from careful searching on the internet here is what I have found out:

I have recently decided that it is time to look at gaining some IT qualifications. My recent job hasn’t worked out and I have recently resigned in the hopes of finding something better , when considering what I want to do with the rest of my life web design seemed to be something which I really fancied and so I put some thought into what sort of qualifications I could get. My girlfriend had given a company named Skills Train a call and arranged for them to call me back knowing my intentions and having heard about them. The rep from Skills Train called me about 4 days ago and asked me about my current IT Skills the conversation went something like this:

Rep: “So what IT skills do you currently Have?

Me: “erm none, I know my way around a PC I know a little about building websites and I have no qualifications”

Rep: “That’s fine, but you know how to use the internet and a Microsoft word right?”

Me: “yeah?”

Rep: “ok well I tell you what I’ll arrange for a representative to come around and have a chat with you and see if you what courses of ours would suit you”

I arranged to see a Rep a few days later which happens to be earlier today. The guy came round and was very professional with what seemed to be a nice laptop bag dressed in a suit and I thought yeah this guy might be the real deal lets see what he’s got to offer me. After a casual chat about my current employment and future hopes for work we turned ton the conversation of what the Skills Train had to offer. The CIW Certified Internet Webmaster a Course in web design was recommended by the Rep as the course for me. When I asked about the price I was told £3000 but there was a way that I could apply to have a grant from the government which would allow me to make payments at 0% interest of about £18 a month (I have recently discovered there was no such grant just a LOAN from the company themselves which may or may not be interest free I cannot yet confirm). If you remember I mentioned that I am currently working my notice at my current job and so the rep told me the best thing to do was to wait until I got into another job then contact him to get signed up on the course. After about 30 minutes of conversation about the wealth of fantastic web design jobs my rep had done previously in his 15 years experience in web design earning several large salaries over various positions and about the many job opportunities at the end of the course with a lot of attractive wages mentioned the Rep left leaving a business card and promising to send details by email and confirming again that I would call him once I secured a new job.

Then Came The Google Research on the Company Skills Train and various other names which they trade under.

From what I can gather the CIW Qualification is accredited by a company named Scheidegger and is sold currently through a company named Skills Train who sub contract their sale of the course through the name Multimedia Computer Training Ltd.

The Qualification and CIW course from what I have found appears to be a complete waste of time and not recognised by any reputable company or at least I am yet to find an employer who will accept this as any formal qualification and the companies which provide the course don’t seem to be able to provide a link to any companies either. Starting to have second thoughts? I was too.

Now Time for the things which don’t quite add up

1. The Skill Train Website is not exactly the most professional looking website and looks much like a cheap template you can probably get for free from resources on the web or perhaps purchase for a couple of pounds definitely not what you would expect from a company you are planning to buy a course from.
2. The Rep said he had been in several highly paid web design positions listing rather large wages and some fantastic descriptions of ideal jobs as well as the fact that he had been earning over £75,000 per ear at one point when self employed. So why was he now driving around on a Saturday afternoon with a laminated piece of card selling what seems to be looking more and more like a scam web design qualification?
3. There seems to be very little to be said in favour of the companies which sell this course and the ones which do appear to defend the course or promote it often seem to stem from either the representatives themselves or people who have been very fortunate to find a job with these bogus qualifications, one example of this is ciwcourse.com which seems to be one of the most positive review but which is still full of criticism about various aspects of the course in question, the materials, and the tutors.
4. There are a wealth of complaints and customers who are dissatisfied about the course CIW web design the people who oversee the qualification Scheidegger and the companies which sell the course Skills Train and Multimedia Computer Training Ltd. The site which seems to host most of the complaints and stories of bad experiences of the course and companies is a sub forum of a site called digital trends the forum features hundreds of dissatisfied customers who have written thousands of posts, and there’s even a few defensive comments from course tutors and sales representatives which never really seem to have any hard proof of anyone being successful after taking the course other than a few quotes from ’satisfied customers’ and they fail to ever provide a list of any companies which recognise the qualifications offered by them

I seriously suggest that anyone considering the courses offered by the Skills Train, or Multimedia Computer Training Ltd. especially the CIW Web Design Qualification give serious thought and put a lot of research into making their decision before signing up and handing over any money as their customer service once you have signed on the dotted line is supposed to be anything but helpful.

Some of the facts about the Skills Train according to site I have visited are:

1. The company will not let you cancel your course after a certain amount of time. I am not clear on exactly how long as they appear to be various stories of 5,14,28 and 31 day cancellation periods being quoted.
2. The CIW is not a recognised qualification.
3. The Courses are very basic in most parts and the course material is very poor
4. The support CD’s are useless
5. The appears to be no employers willing to support the qualification CIW or which will associate with the Skills Train.

From this I have decided not to part with any of my cash for the moment and do a bit more digging into both the qualifications and the companies and I would be very cautious as this appears to be a money making scam which encourages you to take out a loan to pay for a qualification that is not worth the paper it is printed on

Be Warned!

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