When I’m teaching Cybertex students about Microsoft networks, I like to go beyond what’s in the book. What I’ve found most helpful for students, in teaching them how a Microsoft network operates, is to have them build one from scratch.
It seems like a daunting task at first. Many students are just used to memorizing information from a textbook and showing that knowledge in a test. And while having knowledge from a textbook helps students to a degree, it doesn’t cover everything that an IT student needs to become an IT worker.
In our Network Engineer program, we believe in going beyond theories and beyond books to give students access to current practices in the IT industry. When students learn about Microsoft networks by building them, that knowledge becomes more resonant, more internalized, and more ready for the workplace.
In my experience teaching this way, students are better prepared for the certification exams they’ll take, and they’re definitely better prepared for their job hunts, their first jobs, and their entire IT careers. Hands-on preparation makes it easier for students to find jobs and take on the real world responsibility those jobs bring.
And I don’t just limit that to the classroom experience. I encourage my students to go to job fairs and other network events. We talk about dressing right, about having the right attitude, and about having the common sense and confidence needed for the situation.
A classroom can only take you so far in preparing for a career—you have to know how to get the job and do the job to ultimately make a program preparing you for a career worthwhile.
If you’re interested in an approach that goes beyond the books, that focuses on the skills necessary for an IT career, and lets you build a Microsoft network from scratch, check out the Network Engineer program at Cybertex. Both day and evening shift students can experience teaching that puts preparation for certification exams and IT careers at the forefront.
