On this page we feature students who are either currently attending or recently attended a Boot Camp at Koenig. We encourage them to share their experiences in India with their friends across the world. If you are planning to join a Boot Camp at Koenig, you will find this section interesting. And, of course, you can hope to be featured here soon !!!
My name is Ken Pacheco, I am 38. I am from London but currently working in Germany.
Background
My background in IT is quite extensive. I've been in the IT arena for over 15 years and have touched various technologies from Mid range servers to Networks/Comms for various blue chip financial and space related industries!
I have been involved with networking and Comms for some time now and silly enough i let my CCNA qualification lapse many years ago (when you're in the industry its very hard to find time to study). Of course, as opportunities open up, so you have to improve your skills when you can and its important to show on paper that you can still cut it in the big wide world.
Enrolling process
I wanted to re-certify my CCNA so i could move forward. I wasn't sure how much of the syllabus had changed, so i opted for a boot camp. Problem is where to do it. London was the obvious choice but couldn't quite justify the costs to the finance department. So a colleague recommended to just have a look at the Koenig website.
The first impressions were good. They had a lot of information available from the courses they offered down to how to apply and what to expect on the course/trip. The costs compared to a similar one in London/Europe were very competitive and a couple of email queries had to be sent just to clarify that the website did not have any typos!
I was impressed with the replies they were guaranteed by the following day (given the time difference) and very informative and helpful.
After verifying some details and presenting it to HR the formalities of being accepted and processed was just a walk in the park very easy to do.
Delhi Culture and cuisine
I arrived in India walked through the security and into a huge crowd of people waiting as i walked through. It was easy to pick out my Koenig representative and the transfer to the hotel (exciting as that was) if you've ever experienced driving in India. you know what i will mean) went seamlessly.
I stayed at the Rangoli Park which was in the budget range of accommodation. I wouldn't say it was located in an exciting part of Delhi or that it was at all touristy in any way but it was clean and the staff were helpful and friendly. The rooms all had air
conditioning, cable tv and an internet connection and after a long trip over, I found that the 24 hour room service was very useful! For those used who have never been to India or done much camping yes it will be a shock to you but this is the way it is. Although it is their winter it was 28C and during the day Delhi had this constant haze and a light fragrance of engine oil! People do live on the streets, cows rule the road, no one obeys the road signs food is tasty and plentiful beware in the western world you may be used to having breast of meat in your chicken or mutton (lamb) curry don't expect that here there will be bones although if you do ask most places will de-bone it for foreigners well I loved it.
I arrived a couple of days prior to the course, to acclimatise not that i need much acclimatisation as my family are from Goa, so India didn't really have anything to 'shock' me with. I could have gone to study in Goa, but being too close to family meant i probably would not be able to study at all. Besides I’ve never been to Delhi before and having an opportunity to visit Agra (Taj Mahal) was something that was in my to do list and now had the chance to do it!
Sightseeing
Although i'd left my sightseeing plans to the last minute, Koenig went out of their way to find a choice of guided tours to Agra. I could have done it the
hard way and queued at Delhi station at 5am to get a ticket but instead i opted for a coach tour which covered Agra Fort, Shopping, Taj Mahal, and the birth place of Hari Krishna (now a temple). Koenig arranged for a taxi to take me to the coach departure point and collection at the end. Although there was not enough time to fully confirm everything i was a but worried they couldn't do it but that was all way laid by a small car arriving, and a friendly smile "hello I’m from Koenig" It was a long day but certainly worth it. What i found out later when settling my bill was that my Trip wasn't added on that was because although I hadn't quite confirmed my plans about my journey, the guy who picked me up for the sightseeing trip , actually went out of his way and paid for the ticket out of his own pocket, so that there wouldn't be any panicking wow that’s what i call outstanding service!
I also took time myself to wander around Delhi, using rickshaws, auto rickshaws and the new metro system and say some of Delhi's monuments, Red Fort, India gate, Counaught square and even looked into the stalls where bargains were to be had. Just be aware that there are a lot of places that have two prices "local" and "tourist". But even under tourist prices its still cheaper than in Europe/US! Anyway its something you should all try crossing the road however is definitely for the brave hardy ones!
Koenig and Training
Learning days consisted of an early start breakfast from 7am and the first taxi to the centre was at 8.15am. Koenig lay on free transport to the Learning centre the staff are all friendly and helpful. The registration process took a bit longer than i expected, but there were a few people starting courses that week. I was introduced to my instructor and found out quickly that this wasn't going to be a huge classroom size just me and him. His English was perfect Ok some of you may find the instructors pronunciation difficult, but I’m not a stranger to India so I’m used to that. The Instructor quickly ascertained my skill level and the course itself was very good. I didn't even use the supplied course books (although for those of you who have no network knowledge, this would be a bad idea!)
We got through the material pretty quickly and it wasn't parrot fashioned from the books either - he did know his stuff, It was nice to know that i hadn't forgotten very much at all The instructor did mention that the super fast track course would have been more appropriate still, i found the pace adequate and the information i could suck out of the instructor was amazing he even gave me some very very useful pointers about subnetting (my pet hate) but now I see the light!
The classrooms all had air con and plenty of equipment available for the course content, so we could try out any scenario. I did have a faulty router which was quickly replaced and one of the exercises we couldn't do initially because it was on the wrong IOS. How fortunate that an exercise shortly came up for replacing Cisco IOS! The hands on aspect was invaluable.
Of course its not a barrage of facts, figures and mental exercise you go at your pace, have breaks when you want one morning we were both worse for wear, so chatted about Indian/western culture and compared life notes until we were ok enough to carry on with the course! how informal can you get!
When it came to the exam yes of course i was nervous, my instructor said i shouldn't be worried and he was right i passed with flying colours!
Evenings
Most evenings were spent studying, It would be a travesty coming all the way here and not achieving your academic goals but there were a couple of evenings the other students had organised something (someone’s birthday or celebrating an exam) Which i went to. They were there for a much longer duration one or two months seemed to be the norm. All from different places around the globe. But sharing the whole experience. Yes i did get stories of Delhi Belly and about Delhi culture for some it was their first time in India and others it was their first time abroad from home. Koenig did supply a useful reading material "what to do/what not to do after you book your course and maybe they were too excited to read it or had 'temporarily 'forgotten' .For those with sensitive stomachs MacDonald’s, Subways and Dominos pizza were doing a roaring trade! I never had any problems with the food. Some had problems with the room, but equally said how easy it was to change with no hassle with the staff. Note to the sound sensitive, Delhi is a city that runs practically 24hrs a day so you will get some noise personally i didn't find it a problem being from London.
I regret not adding extra time at the end of my course, to say goodbye to the other guys on the other courses. it was the weekend and they were planning a big night out. In the short time there, we all got on well and even exchanged details (for the future) Also I wished i had time to go and buy some more stuff to bring back as it was unbelievably cheap.
I left India with quite a few rupees in my pocket. which goes to show what good value this place is. But I’m hoping to come on another course with Koenig so that i can spend those other rupees and get more qualifications in the process.
Many thanks to the Koenig team for all their help and trainer for his great job.
