Attention Graduates - we need your testimonials

[Mikhail Portnov]

Dear Portnov School graduates!!!

We value a lot the cakes and the words of appreciation coming to our email and expressed over the phone.

Now we have the Forum and we also have Testimonials section on the school web site. So, that is my call for your testimonials. Your experience is absolutely invaluable to new students and people who think about joining the school.

• How did it change you and your life?
• What would you do differently as a student with the knowledge you have today?
• What is your best advice to new QA students?

You are welcome to publish your ideas here. You can email to the Office and we will place your words on the web site.

Many thanks in advance!!!

Mikhail

[manasuri]

good turning point

Hi Mikhail & Sofia.
I am very happy to inform you both regarding getting an offer for a contract position in Wellsfargo . I am very grateful to both of you for provided me with all the support and guidance for enabling me to reach this point in my career path.

I really appreciate sofia for encouraging me all the time, giving confidence, answer my questions with patience.

I am glad that i joined in portnov .It is a turning point in my career. As I dont have any real time experience ,and took a break after my graduation, the training i took in portnov really helped me alot,

The internship you provided helped me get confidence to attend the interview.
Thanks to mikhail and John for sharing their excellent knowledge and rich experiences .I had a great time in your classes and learned a lot.

I really recommend portnov school to everyone whoever looking for an oppertunity but don't know exactly the path to reach.

Thank u for all the help. I am looking forward to meet and share the cake with u all.

Regards,
Meeraja.

[honey]

the point

"You are welcome to publish your ideas here. You can email to the Office and we will place your words on the web site."

Any college, high school, etc. has some kind of webpages, for instance, "Rate my Professor", and because the graduates of Portnov computer school depends on internships offered by the school, could we have a webpage or at least a topic in the Forum with a name "Rate your Internship".

Its good to prevent students from spending their lifetime for free, and don't get any knowledge out of it .
At least we can share opinion about our tutors.

For example my tutor during my internship told me to come with questions after 7pm and on the next day(and day after...) he left before I even had a chance of asking him.
Another tutor kept telling “don’t ask anyone in the company any technical questions, don’t talk to anyone”, etc.

-honey

[Mikhail Portnov]

Any college, high school, etc. has some kind of webpages, for instance, "Rate my Professor", and because the graduates of Portnov computer school depends on internships offered by the school, could we have a webpage or at least a topic in the Forum with a name "Rate your Internship".

We are working on the form, which students would use to provide feedback on the teachers and training in general.

As of today we have the Contact Us form - http://portnov.com/contact.shtml

Besides online forms we communicate with students in person, over the phone, and via email. If something really concerns you - just drop a line to Sofia or myself.

Its good to prevent students from spending their lifetime for free, and don't get any knowledge out of it.

It is your decision to go for an unpaid internship. And nobody can make you to stay there longer than you decide to. As a school we are telling graduates to move forward in 2-3 months. So, "spending their lifetime for free" is 100% against what we teach to do. So, let us do that. I am confronting many graduates on everyday basis because they prefer to stay month after month on unpaid or low paid internships.

I would say that you get the knowledge in the school and apply that knowledge at the internship. It gives you confidence and marketability. You are supposed to be mature though - internship is not an extension of the classroom. It is a work place. Paid or unpaid - there are no teachers there.

At least we can share opinion about our tutors.

That is what I just said - there are no teachers or tutors there.

For example my tutor during my internship told me to come with questions after 7pm and on the next day(and day after...) he left before I even had a chance of asking him.

I would set a meeting first. If there is no time set for the Q&A why the person would expect you to come?

Another tutor kept telling “don’t ask anyone in the company any technical questions, don’t talk to anyone”, etc.

That person is 100% correct. If you work in a team then you should have someone inside the team who is assigned to answer your questions. If you go outside the team with your questions then your manager is exposed to criticism now:
- team is not competent enough to answer questions
- interns are not managed properly - they wonder around unsupervised

The reality is such, that you are expected to ask good questions. If you keep asking questions about things you are supposed to know from school or previous work experience - that is the fastest way to lose the job or internship.


I do not know your specific situation. My judgement is based purely on your words. So, if you are not happy with how the internship goes, which might happen, the only reasonable way to handle that is to get us involved. We have lots of resources and the leverage needed to fix things if they go wrong.

Also, we have learned from experience that exact same internship, project, team, "tutor" keep some people absolutely happy and some would complain. Normally we are able to match all the students with an internship which they really appreciate. Again - I do not know your details.

[dima1008]

Thanks

Hi everyone,
I am a new immigrant-only 2 years in the US. I had a strong background in
my country but in America I had to start as a pizza delivery driver and
later on worked as a salesperson in a Russian store. I found an ad about
Portnov Computer School in a local magazine and asked my friends about
this school. I heard a lot of success stories from real people who
attended this school and were able to find a good job in QA. Many of them
were not very young, same as me.

I received a very warm welcome at Portnov, and was given an opportunity to
attend several classes before making the final decision to join the
program. Sofia is really great! She guided me through all the stages of
studies and internship placement, being always patent and polite to
everyone.
Mikhail is an experienced teacher and consultant in job search - he can
better than anybody reveal your strengths and weaknesses and advise you on
the best way to take a job. You should not be waiting that until somebody
does it for you, you have to learn hard and take full responsibility of
your future. Your success fully depends on you.

Thank you, Mikhail, Sofia, Olga and all others! Guys, you are wonderful.

[dima1008]

Hi everyone,
I am a new immigrant-only 2 years in the US. I had a strong background in
my country but in America I had to start as a pizza delivery driver and
later on worked as a salesperson in a Russian store. I found an ad about
Portnov Computer School in a local magazine and asked my friends about
this school. I heard a lot of success stories from real people who
attended this school and were able to find a good job in QA. Many of them
were not very young, same as me.

I received a very warm welcome at Portnov, and was given an opportunity to
attend several classes before making the final decision to join the
program. Sofia is really great! She guided me through all the stages of
studies and internship placement, being always patent and polite to
everyone.
Mikhail is an experienced teacher and consultant in job search - he can
better than anybody reveal your strengths and weaknesses and advise you on
the best way to take a job. You should not be waiting that until somebody
does it for you, you have to learn hard and take full responsibility of
your future. Your success fully depends on you.

Thank you, Mikhail, Sofia, Olga and all others! Guys, you are wonderful.

[Smitha Honnudike]

Glad I came here.!
I came across Portnov School through one of my husband’s colleague with very good feedback. I was a little skeptical initially because I’m new to Testing.

After 4 months of training and 6 weeks of internship , there is no doubt Portnov is the place for anyone who wants to kick start their career here in Bay area.
Portnov computer school is a great training program. This school provides a full blown training on QA.

The learning here begins from day one and there is no stopping or turning back after. The instructors walk you through most important interview questions from day one. All you have to do it learn , understand and remember.I have a come a long way and not stopped learning since then. Each and every person in Portnov Computer School wants the best for their students . They genuinely want to help all those, who put hard work effort and lot of dedication to find that job they have always dreamt of.

Many thanks Protnov for everything

[isoltan]

Dear School Staff,

Thank you so much for all the great work you do. The teachers and the administrative staff are amazing, very helpful, resourceful and patient. It was a great decision to start the QA Express class. We had some intense 3 months of training and tomorrow I am starting the internship, feeling excited!

I am very grateful to our teachers for sharing their knowledge and expertise. They have so much to offer, truly. You just need to listen and follow the directions. Also all new students need to realize in advance that there will be lots of self-studying time allocated to the process. Be prepared.

Thank you once more for all the great work you do. Hope to see you sometime soon.

Kudos,
Irina S