Misleading course content and poor learning outcome
I completed a course in SQL, Python programming, and software development. Overall, the training was terrible, not worth the money, and a complete waste of time.
Before starting, I had a consultation where I explained what I wanted to learn. I clearly stated that I wanted to learn coding and programming with Python and SQL. The advisor offered me a combination of courses, and I accepted the proposal. At the time, I did not fully understand the course content, but I trusted her and expected to learn coding and programming with Python and SQL. That was my mistake.
The course contained very little actual coding. Instead, it focused mainly on topics that I was not interested in, such as storage solutions and various tools available on the market (interesting but not what I wanted to focus on). There were also many mistakes throughout the course material. During the first week alone, I submitted at least four troubleshooting tickets to verify whether certain content errors were intentional or simply mistakes. There were even errors in the code examples that I was supposed to learn from. Although I am not a programmer, I could tell that some of the code did not make any sense.
To be fair, the support staff were always very polite and willing to help. However, I felt as if I was the first person ever taking the course and that nobody had properly reviewed the material for errors. Many topics were repeated unnecessarily. Sometimes, when I asked ChatGPT for explanations, it provided exactly the same examples that appeared in the course. This gave me the impression that much of the platform content was simply copied from ChatGPT. If that is the case, I could have obtained the same information for free instead of paying thousands of euros for a course that provided very little value. These platforms can offer more than ChatGPT but they should put some effort not just copy paste.
After only two weeks, I realized that the course was not what I had asked for. I contacted the Agentur für Arbeit to cancel the course because it was clearly a waste of both time and money. Unfortunately, I never received a response and therefore had to complete the training.
I would definitely not recommend this course unless someone is specifically interested in learning about software products, technology tools, or related sales-oriented topics. Instead, I would recommend online learning platforms such as Coursera, edX, or DataCamp and many others that cover everything you want to learn. They cost only around €40–50 per month and, although you have to pay for them yourself, they are far more efficient and provide the opportunity to learn exactly what you are looking for.
The collaboration between the Agentur für Arbeit/Jobcenter and some training providers should be reconsidered. In my opinion, it often results in a waste of public funds and participants' time. These courses are extremely expensive and frequently do not deliver the quality they promise.
I did not pay for the course myself, but the state paid a significant amount of money on my behalf for something that, in my opinion, was not worth the investment. I do not feel proud of that at all.