What might someone searching for training tracks certified by Microsoft expect to find today? Patently, training companies should be offering a number of course choices that meet the requirements of Microsoft authorised training routes. You might like to have a chat about jobs with an industry expert – and if you’re not sure, then take counsel on what kind of IT job would suit you most, based on your personality and ability level. Having selected the career path you want, an appropriate course has to be picked that’s goes with your skills and abilities. You should expect to be offered a bespoke package for you.

Seeing as the IT industry grants some exceptional job opportunities for everyone – then what are the questions we need to ask and which areas are important to consider?

One fatal mistake that many potential students make is to concentrate on the course itself, and not focus on the desired end-result. Training academies are brimming over with students who chose a course based on what sounded good – rather than what would get them the career they desired. It’s unfortunate, but a large percentage of students start out on programs that sound magnificent in the sales literature, but which gets us a career that doesn’t fulfil at all. Speak to a selection of college leavers for examples.

You must also consider your feelings on career development, earning potential, and if you’re ambitious or not. It makes sense to understand what industry expects from you, which qualifications are required and how you’ll gain real-world experience. It’s good advice for all students to speak with an experienced industry advisor before they embark on a learning programme. This is essential to ensure it has the required elements for the career that is sought.

A lot of commercial training providers will only offer office hours or extended office hours support; very few go late in the evening or at weekends. some companies only provide email support (slow), and telephone support is usually to a call-centre which will just take down the issue and email it over to their technical team – who’ll call back sometime over the next 1-3 days, when it’s convenient to them. This is all next to useless if you’re lost and confused and only have a specific time you can study.

The best trainers use multiple support centres around the globe in several time-zones. An online system provides an interactive interface to provide a seamless experience, any time of the day or night, help is just seconds away, without any contact issues or hassle. Find a trainer that cares. As only true round-the-clock 24×7 support truly delivers for technical programs.

Those that are drawn to this type of work are often very practical, and don’t really enjoy classrooms, and struggling through thick study-volumes. If this could be you, opt for more involving, interactive learning materials, where learning is video-based. If we’re able to involve all our senses in the learning process, our results will often be quite spectacular.

Top of the range study programs now offer interactive discs. Real-world classes from the instructors will mean you’ll take everything in through their teaching and demonstrations. Then it’s time to test your knowledge by using practice-lab’s. You really need to look at courseware examples from the company you’re considering. You’ll want to see that they include full motion videos of instructors demonstrating the topic with lab’s to practice the skills in.

You should avoid purely online training. Ideally, you should opt for CD and DVD ROM courseware where available, so you can use them wherever and whenever you want – it’s not wise to be held hostage to your broadband being ‘up’ 100 percent of the time.

In amongst the top nominees for the biggest issue to be got round in IT training is usually having to turn up to ‘In Centre’ days or workshops. Most training schools extol the virtues of the plus points of attending, it’s almost certain though that you’ll find them a major problem because of:

* Periodic travelling – hundreds of miles usually.

* Mon-Fri availability to events is usual, and trying to take several days leave in a single chunk causes a lot of problems for most working students.

* Don’t disregard the lost holiday days. We typically get twenty days annual leave. If over 50 percent is used in classes, then there’s very little left over for us.

* With the high costs involved, most schools fill the classes up to the brim – which is not ideal (and with less one-on-one time).

* Often trainees hope to push through at quite a pace, but some like to take it easier and be allowed to set their own speed. This will often generate tension and unrest on many workshops.

* The growing costs associated with travel – arranging transport backwards and forwards to the training college plus several days accommodation can start to get expensive with each visit. If we just assume five to ten workshops costing 35 pounds for a single over-night room, plus 40 pounds petrol and food at 15 pounds, we arrive at 450-900 pounds of hidden costs on top.

* Keeping your training private from your employer can be high on the list of priorities to most students. There’s no need to sacrifice potential advancement, pay-rises or accomplishment with your current employer because of your studies. If your employer knows that you’re undertaking training in another area entirely, how will they regard you?

* Who amongst us hasn’t avoided posing that question we were dying to ask, just because we wanted to look smarter?

* When your work takes you away from home, you have the added problem that classes sometimes become very hard to attend – unfortunately however, the fees were paid along with everything else at the start.

The most elegant solution is to watch a filmed lesson – providing direct instruction at a time that’s convenient to you alone. Whenever you experience difficulties, utilise the 24×7 Support (that should’ve been packaged with any technical type of training.) You should remember, if you have a notebook PC, you could study in breaks at work. It really doesn’t matter how frequently you would like to re-take a quiz or test, video tutors can never get frustrated with you! Also, with this method, you can say goodbye to note-taking. Everything is already there for immediate use. What could be simpler: A lot of money is saved and you avoid all the travelling; and you have a far more peaceful training atmosphere.

We can all agree: There really is pretty much no personal job security anymore; there’s really only market or business security – as any company can let anyone go if it meets the business’ trade needs. In times of escalating skills shortages and growing demand however, we always reveal a new kind of market-security; where, fuelled by the conditions of constant growth, businesses find it hard to locate enough staff.

With the computer sector for instance, a recent e-Skills investigation demonstrated major skills shortages in the country around the 26 percent mark. It follows then that for every four jobs that exist in the computer industry, businesses are only able to locate enough qualified individuals for three of them. Highly skilled and commercially educated new staff are therefore at an absolute premium, and in all likelihood it will stay that way for many years to come. It’s unlikely if a better time or market state of affairs is ever likely to exist for acquiring training in this rapidly increasing and budding sector.

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