Be cautious of schools that advertise on TV

[Crazy Dave]

We have a difficult time finding qualified people in my trade (computer drafting) and if you know your stuff you can pretty much name your price as long as it is within a reasonable range. There are several schools in this area that advertise this type of training on television and they put on a real good show. One minute you see a guy working at a car wash, the next you see him in a Corvette or on a yacht all because he graduated from (fill-in-the-blank). These ads are very misleading and the schools are very expensive, about $32k for 18 months vs. the same type of course you can take at your local community college for about $3-$4k. Also the school's main concern is not teaching you the required skills, it's getting you to commit to signing a contract to pay the $32k. Kind of like a health club scam. Their job placement programs are usually nothing more than giving you the number to a staffing agency too. The majority of the graduates are never taught the basic, elementary skills to even get them in the door for an interview and most of the time they consider themselves lucky if they even make $8 an hour.

So if you have ever considered one of these type of schools please take my advice and try your local community college first before talking to the ones in the commercials. It will save you lots of money and sometimes the training is far superior. Sure, the recruiters/salespeople will make their story sound better than mine here but I'm telling you all the facts from my experience in this trade for over 11 years and I only paid $500 for my training.

I hope this information is helpful and I hope it is what this forum was intended for.
Good luck & Happy Holidays!

Dave "The Wave"

[MalachiConstant]

1. you beat me to it

Dave the Wave. I was hoping to post the inaugural thread, but you beat me to it. i'm glad the group is here, now just to get some traffic here...

[Whoa_Nelly]

2. Thanks for the message re: this new group!

Maybe you could post the link to this forum in the Lounge.

I know I will be coming back here while seeking employment in my new career of Interior Design.

Thanks and Kudos to all who made this new forum happen!
:applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:

[MalachiConstant]

3. good idea,

i should post in the lounge. heck, everybody should help promote it. the more traffic we get the better. thanks for helping get it started.

[KitchenWitch]

4. I see you got the group up and running

:applause:

[bliss_eternal]

5. About schools that advertise on tv--

I'm late to this thread, but just thought I would add my support to the original poster on this topic.

The OP offers excellent advice on this!

Dh and I used to frequent a local restaurant for breakfast once or twice a month. A young woman that worked there told us she went to one of the tv ad schools. There are more than one of these schools in or near my area (yes, with the same name). She said she had a huge loan to pay off and at the time (several years ago) she couldn't find a job in the field she completed the program in (I think it was medical assisting). She was caught in a catch-22, though she had an externship, she had little other experience in the field, so wasn't a desirable applicant.

While I knew of other young women that attended the local adult education program in the same field, and were able to find work.

Who knows? It could be the waitress just wasn't a great/interview applicant. Either way, she had HUGE school loans to worry about (why she took the waitress gig), while those that went to the adult ed program didn't. Just something to consider!

:hi: Good luck!

[Crazy Dave]

6. Thanks for your input bliss_eternal

As I stated above, I only paid around $500 for my training, about $535 to be even more specific. $35 for a 15 week adult continuing education course sponsored by our local community college and $500 for some generic software that I used to train myself. That versus the $32,000 for 18 months the local TV school commits people to.
What's even more disgusting is that I know people who prey on these individuals worse than the schools. It's some of the employers around here who know these people will work below the typical wage standards in civil drafting. They get all giddy when they talk about being able to get people for $8 an hour when they should be making about $14 - $16 at first starting out with the possibility of making $18 - $25 in about five years depending on the company.