PC and network support staff are ever more sought after in the UK, as businesses are becoming more reliant upon their knowledge and skills. Whilst our society becomes growingly reliant on technology, we simultaneously become more dependent on the well trained network engineers, who ensure the systems function properly.

Which kind of questions should we be raising if we’re to gain the understanding required? After all, it seems there are some pretty phenomenal opportunities for us all to investigate.

A typical blunder that many potential students make is to focus entirely on getting a qualification, rather than starting with the desired end-result. Schools are stacked to the hilt with unaware students who chose a course based on what sounded good – in place of something that could gain them the job they want. Don’t let yourself become part of the group that choose a course that sounds really ‘interesting’ and ‘fun’ – and end up with a certification for a career they’ll never really get any satisfaction from.

Be honest with yourself about what you want to earn and whether you’re an ambitious person or not. Usually, this will point the way to what precise accreditations will be required and what industry will expect from you in return. Always seek guidance and advice from a skilled professional, even if you have to pay a small fee – it’s considerably cheaper and safer to discover early on if a chosen track will suit, instead of discovering following two years of study that you’ve picked the wrong track and have wasted years of effort.

A lot of training providers will only provide support available from 9-6 (office hours) and sometimes later on specific days; It’s rare to find someone who offers late evening or full weekend cover. Avoid those companies that use call-centres ‘out-of-hours’ – where you’ll get called back during typical office hours. It’s not a lot of help when you’ve got study issues and need help now.

It’s possible to find the top providers who give students online direct access support all the time – including evenings, nights and weekends. Always pick a trainer that gives this level of learning support. Because only round-the-clock 24×7 support provides the necessary backup.

Students who consider this area of study often have a very practical outlook on work, and don’t really enjoy classrooms, and poring through books and manuals. If you identify with this, go for more modern interactive training, where learning is video-based. Our ability to remember is increased when multiple senses are involved – experts have been clear on this for decades now.

Top of the range study programs now offer interactive CD and DVD ROM’s. Real-world classes from the instructors will mean you’ll find things easier to remember via their teaching and demonstrations. You can then test yourself by practicing and interacting with the software. It would be silly not to view a small selection of training examples before you sign on the dotted line. Always insist on instructor demonstrations, video tutorials and interactive modules with audio-visual elements.

Opt for physical media such as CD or DVD ROM’s if possible. You’re then protected from broadband ‘downtime’ or slow-speeds.

Workshops are often touted as a major benefit by a lot of training schools. If you talk to most IT hopefuls who’ve attended a few, you’ll begin to see a common thread – they are viewed as a major negative due to many reasons:

* Loads of travelling – many trips and quite often hundreds of miles each time.

* Asking for frequent time off work – a lot of schools provide weekday availability and link several days together. This isn’t ideal for most people who work, especially if you include the travel time on top.

* I think you’d agree that we usually think four weeks vacation allowance is barely enough. Sacrifice at least half of this for study classes and you’ll experience even more problems.

* Training events invariably end up too big.

* Workshop pace – classes can contain trainees of varied abilities, therefore there is often tension between those that want to go quickly as opposed to the ones who need a little longer.

* The growing costs associated with travel – driving or taking public transport to the training centre and of course several days bed and breakfast can mount up with each visit. If you only assumed 5-10 classes costing around 35 pounds for one over-night room, plus a petrol cost of 40 pounds and food at 15 pounds, that equates to four to nine hundred pounds of add-on cost.

* We all enjoy our privacy. We wouldn’t want to run the risk of throwing away any possible promotion at our current place of work because we’re getting trained in a different area.

* Asking questions in front of other class-mates sometimes makes us feel uncomfortable. Have you ever left a question un-asked just because you didn’t want to look foolish?

* For students working away from home occasionally, it’s a fact of life that events are now very hard to attend – and yet, the money has already been paid.

Many students discover a more flexible approach is to exploit pre-made lessons at the location of your choice – taking them when it’s convenient to you – not some other person. You can train wherever you want. If you have a laptop, why not catch a bit of sunshine outside as you work. Any difficulties and utilise the 24×7 Support. Modules and lessons can be repeated whenever you feel you need to – repetition aids memory. And you’ll never have to write notes again – it’s all provided. The final outcome: Reduced stress, more money in the bank, and travelling is removed.

How can job security honestly exist anymore? In the UK for instance, with businesses changing their mind at alarming speeds, there doesn’t seem much chance. It’s possible though to locate security at market-level, by digging for areas in high demand, together with a shortage of skilled staff.

The computer industry skills-gap around the UK clocks in at roughly twenty six percent, as reported by the 2006 e-Skills survey. This shows that for every 4 jobs that exist in Information Technology (IT), we’ve only got three properly trained pro’s to fulfil that role. This worrying fact clearly demonstrates the requirement for more properly certified computing professionals in the country. It’s unlikely if a better time or market state of affairs will exist for gaining qualification for this rapidly emerging and developing business.

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