Self-Study is the Superior Method for Achieving Certificationsđ
Self-Study is the Superior Method for Achieving Certificationsđ
Autodidacticism is the future.
I was on a technical interview last week and the interviewer asked me how to troubleshoot a computer that was getting power but didnât have a display showing on the monitor.
Going through the troubleshooting methodology in a haphazard way, I narrowed it down to the graphics card/video card. Despite this, he probed some more to see how I was thinking about this problem.
Needless to say, I failed that portion of the interview.
He asked âDid you self-study for your CompTIA A+ certification or did you go to school?â
I said âSelf-study.â
He went in to say âI donât mean to pick at you but this is the problem with people who self-study as opposed to go to in person training.â
Mind you, the was that we were conducting this interview over the phone, not in front of an actual machine where I could get a hands on feel for the problem I was working on.
Maybe this is how itâs done in the tech world. I donât know. Iâm new to this field.
He went on to explain the importance of in person, classroom training where we could operate on actual machines. I agree, hands on skills are important.
But hands on skills arenât mutually exclusive from self-study.
You can very well self-study theory, hands on skills with a machine and then go on to earn the certification.
Since he made the notion, or at-least hinted, that classroom learning was better than self-study, it made me think of reasons why the contrary is true.
When you get a tech job, youâre responsible for your own learning
âThe problem with school environments is that teachers tell you how to think and what to think rather than you having to develop your own schema which constitutes creative and lateral thinking.â
Self-learning crystallizes self-discipline and structure which makes you valuable as an employee or consultant.
A classroom environment is like training wheels. It takes the hunt out of you.
Youâre given times and dates to show up. Youâre given homework. Youâre also given quizzes to test your âknowledgeâ at pre-defined points which may or may not work for you.
For example, while I was studying for the CCNA, for the first few months I was part of a school environment. I went to virtual classes(I didnât learn much in) and I had a separate exam instructor that gave me exams at predefined checkpoints.
I did horribly. The exam instructor suggested that my ETA to take the CCNA would be in 2026. That was five years from when I initially started studying.
I had some family obligations to tend to and had to quit the program. Having to quit the program meant I had to study on my own full-time. Having to quit the program, despite the circumstances, was the best thing that happened for my studying. I had to come up with my own schedule for studying. I had to get in tune with how I learned.
Thatâs when my learning and retention skyrocketed. I ended up earning my CCNA May 3rd, 2022 strictly through self-study.
The problem with school environments is that teachers tell you how to think and what to think rather than you having to develop your own schema which constitutes creative and lateral thinking.
On the job, no one is going to hold your hand. You have to learn new technologies as they come out. Your boss may or may not send you to a training program for new tech theyâre deploying.
But the bottom line is that youâre responsible for staying disciplined and keeping your knowledge base fresh. That makes you an asset to your employer and any clients you have in the future.
Self-study is inexpensive
âThe only price you have to pay is your time.â
Back in 2017 I received an email from a woman I was dating about the CCNA. It contained a course which stipulated the cost of the course and the exam.
The course costed $1700.
At the time I didnât have that kind of money so I put the whole idea of getting the CCNA out of my mind.
Now a-days, thereâs free courses online. I found two free YouTube courses online for the CCNA. I ended up buying both of them to support them.
These courses costed $60 a piece.
Thatâs a heck of a lot cheaper than $1700.
Not to mention, the textbook resources for the CCNA or any other certification for that matter is fairly cheap. You can purchase a used textbook, or ask to borrow them, sit down, read them and pass the exam.
Yes. Itâs that simple if you have discipline.
But thatâs the rub these days. Most people donât have discipline. And the future belongs to those who have discipline. Those who can focus will rise to the top because there are so many free and accessible resources on the internet.
The only price you have to pay is your time.
Final Thought
Self-study is not only superior to sitting in a classroom, itâs the way of the future. As a matter of fact, itâs already here.
Many people are taking the limited resources they have, i.e. an internet connection, and turning it into opportunities.
Long gone are the days when you had to register for a class or reach out to a teacher just for them to teach you something.
Now, a teacher can be everywhere all at once because of something called the World Wide Web.