The International Academy of Design and Technology (Toronto) Ltd., formerly The International Academy of Merchandising & Design (Canada) Ltd., ripped me off for $12, 000.00 and 9 months of my time. One would think with how well they sell themselves in their promotional literature, newspaper and TV ads and web pages, that the place were well equipped for the purpose of delivering the courses they teach. In my experience, computers had to be shared with fellow students. Access was not easy. And the graphic design they teach has to be done on the computer. You would think they'd have enough of them and that they would keep them in good working condition, particularly with memory-hogging graphic work. That was not the case.
The computers were constantly down for repairs, which impaired the delivery of the material to be taught as well as practice by the students. In the end, it didn't matter much though because finding work in the field with their certificate proved to be as likely as installing Saddam Hussein as Supreme Court Judge. They boasted a placement success rate of 80% or greater. If they ever achieved this rate, I don't know, and neither did they offer this information, as to when this might have happened. In my class of 20 or so students, I don't know of any who got a job in this field.
I kept in touch with fellow students for up to 2 years after the course. Not one of the people I attended classes with in that time was employed in the field we trained for.
THEN, they had the nerve to ask me and others in my class if they could use our names for "success stories" in promotional materials. Needless to say, they got negative answers not just from me. It's now been over 5 years since I took the course in this supposedly wonderful field, full of fictitious jobs, where 80% or more of the graduates are supposed to find high-paying work right away.
To top it off, they promised "placement assistance" That sounds like they help you hunt for work through contacts they should have in the field, without which they would be unable to place anyone or quantify the ability of graduates to find the work they promise.
What they really mean by placement assistance is nothing more than what all Canadian job seekers get for free from the many employment assistance centres around the country: internet access in a room at their place of business. They call this "continuous placement assistance". "Continuous" sounds pretty long right? In the fine print, "continuous" is limited to two months. For this coveted access to a computer, they provide you with a access card to get in the building and the room. Then came the reality: the access cards were demanded back three (3) weeks before the time promised in writing.
So after the glorious course, you're back on a computer hunting through job ads like everybody else, except with more debt. I found this private college's practice to be pre-meditated. Since they call upon their students afterwards and hear that they're not finding the work in the record numbers they promise and THEN kick them out of their bogus placement programs, meaning again, that they know that the students are not getting the work they studied for, I can reach no other conclusion than that they knowingly sell courses that lead absolutely nowhere. You would think that with an 80% success rate, I would otherwise have found at least ONE fellow student in my class, who got work in the field, in over 5 years, right?
Speaking of 5, the glorious graduation ceremony was not attended by 5 of my fellow students (that's 25% of my class, perhaps a more appropriate statistic?) because they were so upset about the fix they were in, having just had the privilege of wasting nine months of their lives and sharing twelve thousand dollars of borrowed or saved money with a calculating predator for no personal gain whatsoever. Caveat Emptor!
Gurn
North York, Ontario
Canada
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