Diploma courses and vendor certification will often fulfil employer requirements, and in the case of the latter it can also mean a higher salary than a university graduate might get.
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Diploma courses and vendor certification will often fulfil employer requirements, and in the case of the latter it can also mean a higher salary than a university graduate might get.
TAFE and other VET courses do not demand the same entry standards as universities, so while a student may not have the marks to get into the three- or four-year degree course they wanted, there is little to prevent them from doing a one-year diploma or even a shorter vendor certification to get the qualifications they require.
Vendor certification has grown in importance in recent years and several vendors are now working with universities to provide their certification course to final-year students. The major drawback to the courses is the cost, which can range from several hundred to several thousand dollars. However, the benefits often outweigh the cost, and increasingly more employers are looking for vendor certification, because it is current and has direct relevance to the work their employees are required to do.
The Australian Information Industries Association suggests that university students who complete a vendor certification course during the last year of their degree can expect a starting salary $7,000 higher (on average) than their counterparts.
A growing number of TAFE colleges and cooperative multimedia centres are forming partnerships with vendors to offer certification programs which until recently have been conducted by vendors themselves, or accredited private training organisations.
Director of IT&T Skills Hub, Brian Donovan, wants to see a closer relationship develop between public education and vendor training. The Skills Hub, which was set up by government and private industry to tackle Australia's growing IT skills shortage, provides would-be and current IT professionals with a raft of of information on available ICT training courses, including industry/public education partnerships. The information can be found online at www.itskillshub.com.au.
Donovan says vendor certification, which can take from a few days to a year, often provides a much broader and more portable qualification than some university courses.
'If you can say to a student that if they do vendor training their prospects are better for getting employment and they can get a starting salary of $50,000 versus a four-year degree course with no guarantee of a job and not as good starting salary prospects, you cannot blame them for taking the vendor qualifications.'
While public education institutions are relative newcomers to vendor certification, private training organisations are old hands at it. Organisations such as Spherion (formerly Computer Power), Inprise, the Learning Laboratory and dozens of others specialise in providing courses ranging from computer use for beginners to high-end application development. The better trainers have received accreditation from major vendors such as Microsoft, Oracle, Cisco and Novell, and are fully qualified to run vendor certification courses. Others offer one-year diploma programs or intensive skills training courses that are usually designed to provide basic to advanced skills in the use of particular programs. Private IT training companies are often used by employers to 'top up' the skills of their employees and school leavers may find that a short course with one of these organisations can tip the scales in their favour when applying for a job.
Private organisations have a variety of advantages: they usually offer a wide range of very specialised courses; you can do the courses in your own time and often online; and there are plenty of them in every state. Their major disadvantages are cost (courses can cost from several hundred to several thousand dollars) and the widely varying standards from institution to institution.
However, by asking around and sticking with organisations that have vendor accreditation - meaning they have had to undergo strict quality assurance procedures - you can usually be confident that you will get what you pay for.
The IT Skills Hub works closely with many private trainers and provides links to them through its Web site.