Sham Vocational Schools and quick, easy professional training
For years, we at Paragon have been cautioning individuals about the hazards of sham aviation career programs. The promise of exciting, high-paying employment rarely matches reality. This problem is not limited to aviation. Here are observations from the IT industry:
“CLC [Computer Learning Center] was a vocational trap school to fool ignorant people into thinking they could be mighty system admins after taking their classes, whereas, in reality they taught nothing useful…while tricking their students into taking out huge loans because ‘one day they would be highly paid system administrators.’ … Later CLC was sued for fraud and lost.”
Source: 2600 The Hacker Quarterly magazine, Vol. 27, No. 3, Autumn 2010, pg. 28, “The Hacker Perspective” by Barrett D. Brown
And, regarding vocational training and instant gratification:
“…It’s all a load of crap. If you’re truly passionate about the world, then dive into the culture, read what’s available about it online, look at the…articles [in print]…. Don’t fixate on how it’s going to pay off or what you’re going to call yourself. If you truly have the interest, pursue that and figure out where your strengths lie. It takes years, it’s not easy, and most people will think you’re completely wasting your time. But if you’re truly into it, you will enjoy the process and meet a whole lot of really interesting people. It’s a journey that simply can’t be rushed.”
Source: 2600 The Hacker Quarterly magazine, Vol. 27, No. 4, Winter 2010-2011, pg. 43, “Discussion Time: Advice Sought”
Two axioms remain: “Buyer Beware!” And, “Good – Fast – Cheap — Pick two of the three.”