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Let’s talk about the elephant in the room: can Centriq really teach IT-skills like networking or coding in just four months?

It’s a fair question! If we weren’t already in the biz, our ears would totally perk up if someone told us we could become a fully trained IT professional in just four months. And to be fair, we’d be a little skeptical, too.  In a world with information-overload, it can be hard to distinguish what’s a sales pitch and what’s valuable information.  The good news? That’s what we’re here for: to break it down without all the glitz, glitter and fancy marketing terms. So, is a four month training program too good to be true?

It’s only four months, but Centriq’s IT Career Program is equal to one year of traditional college.

Over the four-month period, students spend 455 hours in the classroom (roughly seven hours a day, five days a week over the course of four months). The program is built in an immersive format that’s both fast-paced and accelerated. The time-intensive structure is designed to challenge students so they’re prepared for the fast-paced industry they’ll work in.

Additionally, every class at Centriq is hands-on. The best way to learn technology skills is to dive right in so you are physically practicing what you learn as you learn it. By the end the four months, students will actually be doing the exact things employers are looking for.

Does four months at Centriq really compare to four years of college?

Yes, and here’s why: four-year universities and colleges require a minimum of two years of general education courses—classes like biology, English or history—that aren’t relevant to the student’s major.

Let’s take the Computer Science major at Kansas State University, for example. Graduating from this program requires 124 credit hours, broken up into 42 classes. Of those 42 classes, however, only 11 of the required courses are actually related to computer science (and not all of them apply to a career in the field).

Why pay for 31 additional classes that aren’t relevant to your career? Why spend 15 hours a week in class for four years when you could spend 35 hours a week in class for four months? Centriq condenses those four years of college into a four month program by adding weekly class hours and cutting out the non-essential coursework.

So, how do you decide what curriculum to cut out in order to condense the program into 4 months?

There’s actually a pretty straight-forward answer: we cut out all the courseware that isn’t directly needed to succeed in the technology field!  Employers are looking for individuals with current technology job skills—whether you have a degree or not. We’ve been in business a long time, and over 1,000 (yeah, one thousand) Midwest companies have hired Centriq grads. Because we work so closely with these companies, we know exactly what skills they’re looking for—so we know exactly what curriculum to teach. We are also able to continuously update our programs so that students are trained on the most up-to-date technology skills that hiring managers are looking for (not technology skills that are 3 or 4 years old).

If you’re ever interested in an overview of the unique skills-based curriculum we teach at Centriq—and how it applies to technology careers—you can check it out here.

Have More Questions?

We know that searching for a new career is a big deal, especially when shopping around for the right place to learn the necessary skills. We’re here to answer any questions you may have! You can browse other frequently asked questions here or see out complete our complete guide on IT career training vs a college degree. For customized advice and more specific questions, feel free to call Russ, our Senior Education Consultant, at (913) 322-7044, or fill out the form below.