If you want to join an institute which trains you on software skills why not join NIIT. Yes I recommend that you join NIIT. But go for short courses, fast track is the best. What happens generally is that people tend to do a course which runs for months and sometimes years.
So how can the quality of training be same. Answer is - it is not possible. I studied in NIIT in 1997-1998. I had not come across this site till now and now that I have I feel that I have to share my experience with you. To me NIIT was a success story.
I am a BSc(BZC) graduate who did not know anything about computers. I went to the NIIT institute in Malleshwaram, Bangalore and returned back home convinced that this course was not for me. Reason- The cost.
The course cost was 36, 000. For a person who comes from middle class family this is unaffordable. I gave up the idea and started preparing for PG. One day, many days after my visit to NIIT, a person visited my place and asked me if I was still interested.
I told him that the course was too costly for me and I would not take it. He told me they had some scheme and all I had to do was write a test. If I did not like the discount they were offering I was free not to join NIIT. I wrote the test and I was offered the Total Freedom Scholarship. What this meant was I would be completing the 2 year part of GNIIT in 9 months, spending 4 hours a day between 11 AM - 3 PM. Then they would place me in a company and I all I had to pay for joining was 300 Rs. registration fee!
The course fee was 42, 000 if I were to pay it by instalments and 36, 000 if it were paid as a lump sum. The best part was- I would pay 300 Rs. join the course. At the end of 9 months they would place me in some company and my earnings during the first year would be diverted to NIIT. The proposal was paying 300 Rs and studying for 9 months and working for one year for free I would be a GNIITian. I simply took the offer. The catch was, I had to get someone to guarantee that if I were to drop out of the course mid-way they would pay NIIT 42, 000 Though there was some controversy at home about this bond, finally my brother(who had faith in me) signed the bond for me.
The next 9 months were for hard work. NIIT took proper care of our batch. We were called the TFS97(total freedom scholarship) batch or SFT(Super Fast Track). We would get preference while allotting extra hours on the systems and finally we got the preference over other in placement also. This does not mean that the faculty spoon fed us. We were a batch of people who were all graduates from all disciplines(There were post graduates too).
My understanding is that all of us were with good academic background and had got more than 90% in their tests. What this meant was that there was competition of the toughest type. The faculty was good too. Please note that many of us were totally new to computers, we had a commerce graduate also amongst us.
I did not do any additional certification, but some of my batchmates went on to become Microsoft certified. The faculty changed with every semester but all of them were equally good. I think NIIT invested its best on us. At the end of 9 months I had become a jack of all the software prevalent in the market on that day. Then started the interviews and people started getting selected.
Thanks to my family I was bold enough to reject 2 offers, one from a company named IIIT and another from NIIT itself as a faculty. I was given a warning that I had to take the third offer when it comes my way. I got placed in Churchill software. Now I would like to add few words of advice for the people who need it.
No institute can make a champion out of you if you are not good enough
They can only try to teach, but you have to learn
They can arrange for interviews, but you have to get through.
They can provide you good reading material, library, extra working hours in the centre or in the computer-drome but you have to make use of it.
They will do their work and you have to do yours. Even if they don’t do their’s
At the end of the day you have to remember that everyone does it for themselves and you have to do it for yourself
a. NIIT does it for name and money
b. Franchisees do it for money
c. Faculty does it for money. And more than half of them are faculties because they did not get a job elsewhere. If they did why would they spoil their careers? d. counsellors do it for money So nobody thinks about you, so you have to.
I have seen people studying in other batches who were busy chatting or sitting in groups and idling or doing things which distract them. If their concentration is on their goal and not enjoying the time there then life would be better for them. Continuing my story, I got in to Churchill Software because I impressed the MD to give me a chance and he did. NIIT provided me the platform to reach him. NIIT taught me a lot of things(software) but I had to work on a different technology.
So what helped me was my willingness to learn and the methodologies to follow when learning(taught by NIIT). Usually the employers treat the NIITians doing their PP(Professional Practice) as cheap labour and nothing more. At the end of one year they wash their hands off those people if they are not good enough. My employer treated me like an employee and not as a PP student. He told me that if I did not perform he would throw me out in three months and will not wait for one year to complete.
There was a further twist to the story. As per what NIIT had said earlier my earnings during the first year would be diverted to them. My employer gave my salary to me and I paid NIIT 3, 500 for 12 months and not the entire salary. Though I had problems convincing NIIT in to accepting this, they eventually did. So why did this scheme fail. Why is NIIT not having TFS98 and TFS2003.
Some of us are responsible for it. Some of my batchmates managed not to pay NIIT back. NIIT had a tough time getting the money it had invested on the people back. So at the end of the day it was students who made the lives of other students difficult. Now I have been working for 5 years and have made my position strong. I still thank NIIT for providing me the opportunity. I recently learnt that I could do my post graduation with Karnataka State Open University and I could skip the first two semesters and start with the third by virtue of being a GNIITian.
So what I would like to convey to anyone planning to do a computer course is - If you are confident about yourself then you will succeed, if not you will not then immaterial of where you study or what you study you will not succeed. - Schools, colleges and Institutes provide a platform. It is up to you to use if judicially - Institutes can arrange for interviews provided you are qualified to attend that interview - It is you who would clear the interview so you have to be good enough - Instead of blaming the institute sharpen your technical and soft skills - Excel in what you do so that you will succeed I have met, seen and worked with people who have studied at other institutes.
I have learnt from them that the material provided by Aptech/NIIT is the best. NIIT’s placements are better than that of Aptech’s. Irrespective of the institute the location of the centre is the most crucial factor. Centres in Urban areas/Cities are the best amongst the lot. For example a centre in Bangalore is much better than the once in Hubli or Mangalore. So study in cities, join some courses to help you improve your soft skills and work for yourself. No institute will make you a champ if you do not have it in you. So if you want to join an institute which trains you on software skills why not join NIIT.
