Upgrade single training session to personal training pass?

[Macdaddyohbob]

Hi all. After over 20 years in IT almost exclusively supporting Macs, I now find that I can't even get an interview for open jobs because everyone wants jamf/Casper experience. I'm about to break down and pay for this myself, but wanted to know, if I pay the $2500 for the single session, can I pay later to upgrade to training pass? And for those out there with the jamf cert(s), is CCT enough to satisfy what employers are looking for to get in the door (even if you feel you need further training on your own) or are they really looking for CCA/CCE? Any advise would be greatly appreciated as I'm having to decide whether to leave the field or take the training in -hopes- that it will pay for itself.

Thanks!

[hjcao]

You may want to play with Jamf Now for a bit before jumping into training. Its fairly similar to Jamf Pro and will give you some kind of foundation to work with when you take the training. There's also a jamf 101 offering that looks pretty good! Personally, I don't have the certs yet, (They are expensive and I just got my current employer to agree to a training pass so hopefully soon!) but am able to find positions based on experience. My biggest help in finding positions has been the job board here and having my resume out on indeed. You may also want to join the Mac admins slack channel. Lots of gigs filter through there as well.

[blackholemac]

@Macdaddyohbob That's a hard one and I feel you because I'm a long term Mac admin. I will say you will enjoy using the Casper product. I also am going to second using Jamf NOW...it's free. I also have been in this business forever and these days when I say AppleShare IP, At Ease or Macintosh Manager, I might get a dumb look from some of the newer guys doing Apple support.

I will say that no product such as Jamf can replace a hard knowledge of Apple products itself. I cut my teeth on DeployStudio, scripting, Workgroup Manager and a whole lot of other technologies we don't talk about. Trying out Jamf Now is good because it will get you access to learning modern MDM-based management methods that came into play right around 10.7.x. Having any cert is no substitute for experience working with the products which you have that going for you.

As for Jamf's training, it is rock solid and conducted by guys that have strong experience with both Jamf and Apple itself. Even as a Jamf customer and long-term Apple guy, I am always coming away with new techniques from their classes as are our org's technicians. I will also note that I have seen high level guys in the Apple IT community present in some of my previous classes. They tend to come away learning stuff as well.

On a practical note, my experience with Jamf classes (and practical knowledge of the company) tell me that @cam and @dustydorey are the guys at Jamf that are responsible for the curriculum/training and I'm guessing their staff can plug you in where you need to be in terms of class policies/pricing/rules/content, etc. I tagged them on this post hoping for them reach out to you on how to contact their staff.

Good luck and feel free to contribute on this board. Most folks on here love to share knowledge and as an Apple IT veteran, we likely have some chances to learn from you as well.