My 18 year old son, recently graduated from high school, is planning to take
a year or two off from academics, and then attend college.  In the meantime,
he is very interested in going into the computer field.  He is very
intelligent, has a very high mathematical and science aptitude, and although
not very experienced with programming, seems to have a good aptitude for that
as well.  (His personality type, ISTP/INTP, is one of action and doing rather
than academic-oriented -- for example, he loves rock and sport climbing.)

He doesn't know yet which field/area to focus on, but I'll encourage him take
the Microsoft Skills 2000 test (an aptitude and interest test related to the
IT/computer field) to help find his path, or at least know what to avoid.
(Any other suggestions to help him focus on which computer/IT field to
go into that best fits his personality, aptitude and interests?)

On Monday he will see a rep for a local IT training center which is a
Microsoft Authorized Technical Education Center, is Novell Certified, etc.,
etc., with an interest in getting some computer-training leading to some type
of certification.

Does anybody here have recommendations, advice, etc. for attending such
training schools?  Are they worth it, or are they a rip-off?  Should he NOT
go to such a training center -- are there better alternatives that give the
same end-result but are less expensive or better (such as home-training, say
using a CD-ROM)?  In essence, is it a good idea for him to do this, at least
for getting a reasonable paying job so he can later afford college (and maybe
even find an employer willing to help with college)?  (His present thoughts
are that he may need a formal classroom environment where he can interact
with the teacher, rather than self-study.)

References to Web sites containing useful information on this topic would be
most appreciated.

Thanks.

Jon Noring

(p.s., personal replies preferred, but do not hesitate to post if you feel
your comments will be useful to many.)

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MIT and Drexel University are two excellent schools.  (MIT for comp sci, and
Drexel for IS/IT)
As long as he loves writing code, the aptitude tests won't mean diddley, and
the rock climbing might be a good idea at breaktime as long as he doesn't
jump due to unexplained GPFs caused by his code.

And if that was a plug for MS.....
I personally feel that the MS exams and certifications are a massive
money-making scam, but because the industry has been suckered into the idea,
it may turn out to be a good thing when he's out hunting for a job.

John
PalmQuest Software, Inc.

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