1. Courses not long enough to adequately cover materials
2. Instructors who start with "we aren't going to cover XYZ" as you can study that yourself, the worst one was turning up and being told "we won't be covering IPV6" here is a self study cd from cisco instead you can take with you (It was the IPV6 i was really there for!!!)
3. Being stuck in group dependent labs with people who didn't know the basics and then sitting waiting for them to complete, to the point where on one course I insisted on a lab setup for myself or I wanted my money back as I was the only one who had any hands on experience, (no one met the pre-requisites except me.
4. Instructors who rush the material to finish an hour early
5. Non official curriculum that you can see from day 1 doesn't cover all the topics.
6. Not enough time to do labs and think about what you are actually doing just typing away.... no point.
The list could go on - I was a trainer myself and I can recognise an instructor fed up with teaching the subject they are on.. and an instructor who can't be bothered or simply can't help a student troubleshoot an issue or explain a techniuque differently because they don't really have the depth themselves.
that said one of the best instructors I ever had was a lady who said - we aren't doing the labs provided they are worthless and here are the ones we will use - made by herself and brilliant, she even had a floppy disk (yep that far back) with all the configs so if you got stuck you could go back or load up if fed up of troubleshooting something, and from my recollection she could troubleshoot anything that you had buggered up.
With all this in mind I found myself in a quandry - I wanted to renew my CCNP, I have had a time off studying through work and illness so wanted a course to catch up on whats new and as final prep for the exams - I stress final prep because going on a course without covering the material or concepts first is a recipee for overload and not gaining understanding.
So I scouted about and came up with Firebrand training - http://www.firebrandtraining.co.uk they seemed to have good reviews, and not just those on their website but ones on blogs and forums. So with some Cisco credits in hand negotiated with Cisco and BT I booked onto the CCNP route bootcamp.
I arrived a day early as I always do so I can settle myself in clear my head of work and family and get ready to work. Straight away you could see firebrand was something different, the location at Wyboston Lakes is amazing - there is a brand to it (no bad thing) and you can see the staff have bought into it and have pride in their job.
The training facility is spacious, with a lounge that provides basically free everything, hot cold drinks sweets, fruit and a not for profit chocolate vending machine. There's and Xbox and all the staff are close by and happy to answer anything you ask without looking like you are interrupting them. In short they are professionals (everyone) and courteous, you instantly feel settled in and raring to go.
The hotel accomodation is great and so is the food, my room had places to fit the books and training materials I had brought with me and the TV let me use it as a second screen for my surface pro. There was a desk lamp plenty of desk space to lay out materials. The staff know who you are and why your there, they obviously have a good relationship with Firebrand as they seemed completely natural about firebrand questions.
At lunch i was asked by the serving staff what i was there for, was I enjoying the stay and it didn't seem scripted they were just nice people... I was starting to feel like I had slipped into the "other training dimension" that you imagine but doesn't really exist.
The biggest room bonus was the Shower (hot and powerfull) thats always a big winner for me!
My course induction was on a Saturday at 6pm and it was a proper induction and then straight onto the classroom for introductions and going through the logistics. I walked in and WOW there was actual kit available if I wanted it (not seen that since the old days) although the labs were to be online and official cisco ones - bonus you get access for 60 days!
My instructor Dave Peek was obviously still enthused and set the tone for the rest of the week with a plan of how things would go, we then started straight away on some basic recaps - he didn't just say we will get started tomorrow! There was none of the we aren't going to cover xyz or rush through it was your here for 8 days and we will be doing 12 hr days. Not only that the training centre is open 24/7 and the instructor is normally around till 9:30.... find that anywhere else!
There was a good mix of students - firebrand is global so they were from uk and abroad - all of them met the pre-requisites but with a mix of experience and roles. We had our evening meal and the instructor sat with us, not slinking off to avoid the students.
So for me the biggest selling point so far is the whole scenario of firebrand, they seem to have thought of everything - they have made sure all you need to succeed is there and they aren't out to squeeze every little penny from you whilst on site - you could easily go through the whole course without buying anything more or needing a trip to the shops... Right down to the "failing is not an option Tshirts for only £5.00) the message is you have paid and we are going to deliver on that... They take their reputation seriously.
So it would be right in assuming I am a bit of a cynic when it comes to training companies, and if they can win me over you know that they are really that good. I made it my business to "chat" to other candidates on other courses and they all shared the same feeling.
There's a lot more of the course to go so I will finish this post up later with my final review all I can say is if they deliver on the rest - if I fail it's down to me and nothing else - which is a great feeling.
If I have my way this is where my team will be doing all their training!!
