The ECDL

kylith

I called to the Local Employment Service as today (I was made redundant in June,) and the advisor recommended that I do the ECDL. I have no formal training on computers, but I'm proficient in Excel and Word and I can get by in Access.

When I was working we occasionally hired someone who had done the ECDL and pretty much all of them were completely useless on computers, one girl couldn't even copy and paste. It got to the point where the CVs of people who'd done the ECDL were actually put at the bottom of the pile and we went by gut instinct about candidates instead.

So, what's your opinion of the ECDL? Did you find it good? Did it teach you anything worth knowing? If you're an employer what does having the ECDL on a CV say to you? And, most importantly; are there any better computer courses out there?

Kanoe

computer on, computer off.

AnonoBoy

They're still running the ECDL?

Jaysus!

I thought that was out of date in 1999.

biko

From AH.

Tbh, I've worked in IT a long time and never met anyone with an ECDL (that they've told me anyway).

Mint Sauce

I done the ECDL for similar reasons to the OP, but I would hope that looking at some of my employment history, it would also suggest that I know a little more that using the on/off key and copy and pasting as well.

Although for anyone who does not have any prior computer knowledge, its preety much next to useless as it was still based on XP and office/word/excel etc 2003-07 when I did it last year.

femur61

I thaught ECDL 10 years ago and it was very good. We did teach copy and paste etc but the big but who ran the courses. My father did a F$s course and was awarded a certificate and at the end of it knew as much about computers as when he started.

KTRIC

I've working in IT Support for 13 years and last year I was unemployed for a month or two.

It was suggested to me that I also do the ECDL :rolleyes:

I laughed at her but she didn't understand why I wouldn't possibly want to do it.

kylith

Looking at the syllabus it seems ridiculous:

Module 1 Concepts of Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
Module 2 Using the Computer and Managing Files
Module 3 Word Processing
Module 4 Spreadsheets
Module 5 Using Databases
Module 6 Presentation
Module 7 Web browsing and Communication

I hope I'm wrong, but it seems to me to translate as
1: what computers are
2: Turning a computer on and off and how to open a file
3: Typing.
4: Excel
5: Excel
6: Making things not look sh*t.
7: The internet

Having spent the last decade setting up databases, pivot tables, mail merge etc it just keeps screaming "Waste of time!" at me.

Mickey H

biko wrote: »

From AH.

Tbh, I've worked in IT a long time and never met anyone with an ECDL (that they've told me anyway).

I've been in IT for a few years also and same story as Biko. Have met people with Microsoft Office User Specialist (Or something similar) but never ECDL.

kylith

Mickey H wrote: »

I've been in IT for a few years also and same story as Biko. Have met people with Microsoft Office User Specialist (Or something similar) but never ECDL.

What's MSOS like, do you know?

I wouldn't mind having a piece of paper that says 'can use computer - signed Professer Computerson', but the ECDL has such an awful reputation.

Mint Sauce

kylith wrote: »

Looking at the syllabus it seems ridiculous:

Module 1 Concepts of Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
Module 2 Using the Computer and Managing Files
Module 3 Word Processing
Module 4 Spreadsheets
Module 5 Using Databases
Module 6 Presentation
Module 7 Web browsing and Communication

I hope I'm wrong, but it seems to me to translate as
1: what computers are
2: Turning a computer on and off and how to open a file
3: Typing.
4: Excel
5: Excel
6: Making things not look sh*t.
7: The internet

Having spent the last decade setting up databases, pivot tables, mail merge etc it just keeps screaming "Waste of time!" at me.

Thats preety much it. I done it part time, just to have something extra on my CV, so glad I missed the full time place as otherwise I would have been bored to tears doing it, even more so than I already was.

I think at times it may even look as a negitive on my CV as its contents are so basic. I used excel, word, outlook, and the internet on a daily basis in my last job, and my CV suggests that. But done the ECDL as had no formal computer training. I did pick up one or two little things, but for the most of the time, I was nearly just going through the motions.

jonnyfingers

Also know nobody who has done the ECDL course. However it's an easy accreditation to add to your CV. Most people could take the test with no training and probably pass it. Or else do what I do, stick it on the CV anyway. If anyone ever challenges you open Excel and stick in a forumula. That should convince them.

subway

i wouldnt know what to think if someone handed me a cv with this on it.
its like including reading & writing as skills.

updating facebook requires more technical skill than ECDL

Mint Sauce

jonnyfingers wrote: »

Also know nobody who has done the ECDL course. However it's an easy accreditation to add to your CV. Most people could take the test with no training and probably pass it. Or else do what I do, stick it on the CV anyway. If anyone ever challenges you open Excel and stick in a forumula. That should convince them.

Most people on our course completed each of the 1 hour module exams in about 15 to 20 minutes.

TheMilkyPirate

I'm actually sitting in an ECDL class now, Thankfully we are on our 2nd last week.

It has been 12 weeks of the most boring sh!te i have ever came across. If you have any knowledge of computers whatsoever this will bore you to bloody tears.

we are currently on module 7 (web browsing) and we are doing nothing, Actually scratch that we've done nothing the last 14 weeks. I studied for one day beofre most of the tests and i haven't got less than 98% yet. It's crap.

Outdated as well were using XP and office 07 :eek:

fitzcoff

I've done the ECDL and the ECDL advanced in Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Access. I did in conjunction with a FETAC level 5 in admin, to me these are awards that prove that I have some knowledge in the use of the programs. With anything I could use them but it's to have some proof that you can was my main reason in using them.

If you can do it for free and have nothing else to be doing then I would but wouldn't spend the money on them as they can be expensive

femur61

jonnyfingers wrote: »

Also know nobody who has done the ECDL course. However it's an easy accreditation to add to your CV. Most people could take the test with no training and probably pass it. Or else do what I do, stick it on the CV anyway. If anyone ever challenges you open Excel and stick in a forumula. That should convince them.

From a former tutor I couldn't agree more, extremely easy.

They don't teach typing as another poster seemed to think but how to use word, which I do think you could get from a book.

mikemac

AnonoBoy wrote: »

I thought that was out of date in 1999.

The very year I did it

Never owned a computer apart from a Commodore 64 and used the internet just a handful of times.
Never used Word or Excel, didn't know how to save or how to copy and paste.

And that's who it is aimed at, zero experience, first time using a computer
Was heading to college so did it over the summer so I wouldn't look a fool and be left behind

Nowadays most people that age have been using bebo or facebook or boards or anything for years, second nature to them, whizzkids
We all have to start somewhere

kylith

fitzcoff wrote: »

I've done the ECDL and the ECDL advanced in Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Access. I did in conjunction with a FETAC level 5 in admin, to me these are awards that prove that I have some knowledge in the use of the programs. With anything I could use them but it's to have some proof that you can was my main reason in using them.

If you can do it for free and have nothing else to be doing then I would but wouldn't spend the money on them as they can be expensive

I could do it for free through Fás, but then I wouldn't be able to get funding for a manual accounting and payroll software course, which I see as being much more important when it comes to applying for jobs.

@ Baraca: is there any course notes you could pass on? I think I can just do the exams.

I just had a look at some sample papers.
Question 1.1: What is a travelling salesman most likely to use?
a. A desktop computer.
b. A tablet PC.
c. A server.
d. A laptop.

I can see how it'd be good for, say, my mam, but I've been essentially running an office for the last 10 years.

beanok77

Heard all this before. What course should someone do rather than ECDL?

TheMilkyPirate

kylith wrote: »

I could do it for free through Fás, but then I wouldn't be able to get funding for a manual accounting and payroll software course, which I see as being much more important when it comes to applying for jobs.

@ Baraca: is there any course notes you could pass on? I think I can just do the exams.

I just had a look at some sample papers.
Question 1.1: What is a travelling salesman most likely to use?
a. A desktop computer.
b. A tablet PC.
c. A server.
d. A laptop.

I can see how it'd be good for, say, my mam, but I've been essentially running an office for the last 10 years.

TBH Kylith, If you've been using a computer for any number of years, months even it will be second nature to you. It is extremely basic. The only thing i didn't know before hand was Access.

tricky D

There was a thread a while back where some person was being interviewed for an not so trivial IT position. One of the interviewers noted that despite having an degree in Computer Science, he didn't have an ECDL and had to be rejected on that basis. Despite him explaining what is obvious to most of us, he still got rejected. So kind of a bullet dodged for him.


If I was checking CV's for web dev or other more than basic IT jobs, I'd use it as a handy filter as I'd want to have someone who uses the keyboard much more compared to the mouse as productivity is much greater using the former.

fitzcoff

You'd prob be better off with doing the manual accounting and payroll software course, you have the experience of running a office to show proof off being able to use a computer,

The books we used were from CIA Training the files and sample exams were downloaded from their website but the course co-ordinator kept all the books

polyfusion

Like the others are saying, it's pretty basic stuff, if you have 2 or 3 hours to put into each module, then go for it. Did it myself a few months back, and found I picked up a few useful things I didn't know before, and though Access was all new to me, just going through the coursework made it very easy.

If you're fairly competent already, might be a good idea to do it online in your own time though, you'll probably be able to get through 3 or 4 modules in an afternoon. Doing it at set times in a classroom would have been crazy for me, and may be for you, I would have wasted a lot of time if I'd done it that way.

yoyo

kylith wrote: »

I could do it for free through Fás, but then I wouldn't be able to get funding for a manual accounting and payroll software course, which I see as being much more important when it comes to applying for jobs.

@ Baraca: is there any course notes you could pass on? I think I can just do the exams.

I just had a look at some sample papers.
Question 1.1: What is a travelling salesman most likely to use?
a. A desktop computer.
b. A tablet PC.
c. A server.
d. A laptop.

I can see how it'd be good for, say, my mam, but I've been essentially running an office for the last 10 years.

Are you allowed 2/4 answers? Because while the obvious answer to that is a laptop a Tablet PC could be equally as used, infact some laptops are tablets in themselves. Possibly an out dated question when Ipad etc al. were not popular

Nick

Mickey H

kylith wrote: »

What's MSOS like, do you know?

I honestly don't know, sorry, but I have heard it's a much higher standard than ECDL.

kylith wrote: »

but the ECDL has such an awful reputation.

True, it does get dismissed as "basic", but with very good reason. It would be very very basic to the likes of you, me, Biko, etc. I mean we do that stuff in our sleep. MOUS [MSOS?]* would offer a greater challenge.

* Not sure which one is correct.

TheMilkyPirate

yoyo wrote: »

Are you allowed 2/4 answers? Because while the obvious answer to that is a laptop a Tablet PC could be equally as used, infact some laptops are tablets in themselves. Possibly an out dated question when Ipad etc al. were not popular

Nick

A lot of the questions are like that, It's very very out-dated. You'd swear some of them were trick questions.

yoyo

baraca wrote: »

A lot of the questions are like that, It's very very out-dated. You'd swear some of them were trick questions.

The strange thing is HP made Tablet Laptops years ago, Im sure others did too but remember HP ones, with a swivel screen and touch screen, although maybe technically they are not "Tablet PCs" but still I would have always called them such. And theres been touch screen capabilities built in to XP (on screen keyboard, tap once to open program) and thats been around 10+ years!...

Nick

slick31

Hey
Can anyone tell me... are the exams for ECDL just multiple choice/True or false questions? Or do you actually have to do anything?
Cheers grateful for any info
Slick:D

uch

They used to be practicals, but not sure nowadays

Stevolende

a combination of the 2. Depends on the module. excel, word and access all had some practical stuff in them.
Think I'd recommend doing it in your own time online if you have the confidence.
Not taking the FAS day course unless you are pretty much a novice. Though people I know were finding the evening course a bit daunting when they started. Think they wound up doing pretty well. but 6 hours a week over 10 weeks, anyway certainly better than 25 hours per week over 14 weeks.