Thursday, June 16, 2011

My Competition and an Experience from a Student

I had a partner that I have been dealing with for years.  When the consulting model was bringing people from India and placing them, they did very well and in fact have about 210 consultants still working for them.

But recently they have entered into the training and placement model that VXL Training specializes in.  I know what I do looks easy, but it is not.  I work weekends, I pick up the phone no matter what the time is (as long as I am awake), I constantly monitor my teachers and use only the very best in the technologies that I teach in.  I do so much work, because I know that my students come to me with the knowledge that 90% of my students get jobs, and keeping that ratio high means success not just for me but for whole families that depend on my students.  What I do changes people lives.  I take that responsibility very seriously.

Anyway this partner (now former partner) started a MicroStrategy class and they wanted me to give them a few students, so I gave them 2 students into this class.  When I recruit students and put them into a training, weather it is mine or not, my students expect results.  The students finished the class, of course my partners did not monitor the class, did not take feedback from the class, all they did was just start the class and left everything up to the teacher.

After the class was over and the students had been practicing and felt they were ready for the interview the teacher basically disappeared.  He would not pick up the phone, he would not answer emails, if you called from a different phone number he would pick up the phone then say he was busy and hang up.

In the final analysis both of the students that I recruited for that class did not get a job and as soon as the class was over the teacher disappeared.  I trusted my partners to deliver the same level of quality of training and support that I do, but they did not.  They failed my students, me and VXL's reputation.

I looked at their ad for FREE training in MIindia.com and other places and I see that they are offering $300-$400 per month stipend.  My question is, does that $300-$400 a month matter, when they do not take your career or the training seriously, when they do not monitor the training.  They expect to recruit a large number of students place 1-2 out of a batch of 10 and declare themselves a financial success, because all they care about is financial success and not your success.

Trust me, that is not a group that you want to deal with.

(I wrote this about 1 month back.  1 of the 2 students is currently in my BA batch and is doing excellent and will be placed student.  I know there is a lot of repetition from the story I wrote earlier, but I felt it was important.  I was so mad when they failed my 2 students that I wrote this story right after it happened, but I did not say anything since the other company was owned by friends of mine.)