In 2007 & 2008 I used to provide ISTQB CTFL trainings many times. In a company (its name cannot be mentioned) we assessed the skills of all testers early this year, and proposed to send almost all testers to pass the exam on foundation level. Cost of getting a trainer would have been too high (>200 kHUF each), therefore we decided to provide the meeting ourselves, and pay for the exam only.
Due to the high number of trainees and their limited availability we split them into groups of 8, and went through all the seven chapters. This resulted more than 40 sessions. We started the training series in late April, have it suspended during summer vacations, and finish it in September. At the end we have had 10 sessions to practice, and some optional ones.
To ensure that pupils make the effort to learn at home, we stated that the company pays the exam to whom only, who passes both in-house pre-exam above 80%.
Four people have qualified themselves in September, another four in October (two in Hungarian, all others in English), and they all have passed their exams above 65%. Currently another nine people are in the pipeline.
It is a great success to me. First, it was not easy to show the management how ISTQB CTFL training supports they effort in reaching goals. Then, it is not easy to get the cost approved. Provision of 50+ training sessions is also a challenge.
I already have a 10+ list of new applicants for a similar internal training course held next year…
PÉTERBENCZE, Sándor 