We all have busy lives, and most often if we want to learn a new profession, getting educated alongside a job is what we’re faced with. Microsoft certified training could be the answer. In addition, you may want to get advice on the careers that are available once you’ve qualified, and what sort of person those jobs might be right for. Many people prefer to discuss what would suit them individually. Training programs must be designed to meet your needs. Consequently, having worked out the right IT job for you, your next focus is the most applicable training course to get you there.

How can we go about making the right choice then? With all these possibilities, we have to know where we should dig – and of course, what to actually be looking for.

Beware of putting too much emphasis, as can often be the case, on the certification itself. Training is not an end in itself; this is about employment. Focus on the end-goal. Students often train for a single year but end up performing the job-role for decades. Ensure you avoid the fatal error of finding what seems like a program of interest to you and then put 10-20 years into a job you hate! It’s essential to keep your focus on what it is you’re trying to achieve, and then build your training requirements around that – don’t do it the other way round. Keep your eyes on your goals and study for a job that will keep you happy for many years. Seek help from an experienced industry professional that ‘gets’ the commercial realities of the area you’re interested in, and who can give you ‘A day in the life of’ synopsis of of what you’ll be doing during your working week. It makes good sense to discover if this is the right course of action for you long before you embark on your training program. There’s little reason in beginning your training only to find you’ve taken the wrong route.

Only consider study paths which will progress to commercially accepted exams. There are far too many small companies suggesting their own ‘in-house’ certificates which will prove unusable when it comes to finding a job. All the major IT organisations like Microsoft, Adobe, CompTIA or Cisco have internationally recognised proficiency programmes. These heavyweights can make sure you stand out at interview.

Proper support should never be taken lightly – locate a good company providing 24×7 full access, as not obtaining this level of support will severely hamper your progress. Never purchase study programmes that only provide support to trainees with a call-centre messaging system outside of normal office hours. Trainers will give you every excuse in the book why you don’t need this. Essentially – support is needed when it’s needed – not at times when they find it cheaper to provide it. The best training colleges opt for an online access round-the-clock facility combining multiple support operations from around the world. You will be provided with a single, easy-to-use interface which switches seamlessly to the best choice of centres no matter what time of day it is: Support when you need it. If you opt for less than direct-access 24×7 support, you’ll quickly find yourself regretting it. It may be that you don’t use it late at night, but what about weekends, early mornings or late evenings?

If you’re like many of the students we talk to then you’re a practical sort of person – the ‘hands-on’ personality type. Typically, the world of book-reading and classrooms would be considered as a last resort, but you’d hate it. So look for on-screen interactive learning packages if book-based learning really isn’t your style. Many studies have proved that much more of what we learn in remembered when we involve as many senses as possible and take action to use what we’ve learned. The latest audio-visual interactive programs with demonstrations and practice sessions will turn you off book-based study for ever more. And you’ll find them fun and interesting. You must see examples of the study materials provided by the company you’re considering. It’s essential they incorporate instructor-led video demonstrations with virtual practice-lab’s. Purely on-line training should be avoided. Always choose CD or DVD based study materials where obtainable, enabling them to be used at your convenience – you don’t want to be reliant on your broadband being ‘up’ 100 percent of the time.

Charging for exams upfront and presenting it as a guarantee for your exams is popular with many training course providers. However, let’s consider what’s really going on: Clearly it isn’t free – you’re still coughing up for it – it’s just been wrapped up in the price of the package. It’s well known in the industry that when trainees fund their relevant examinations, when they’re ready to take them and not before, they’ll be in a better position to get through on the first attempt – because they’ll be conscious of what they’ve paid and will therefore apply themselves appropriately. Don’t you think it’s more sensible to find the best exam deal or offer when you’re ready, rather than coughing up months or even a year or two in advance to the training course provider, and also to sit exams more locally – rather than possibly hours away from your area? Paying upfront for exam fees (which also includes interest if you’ve taken out a loan) is bad financial management. Resist being talked into filling the training company’s account with extra money of yours just to give them more interest! Some will be pinning their hopes on the fact that you will never make it to exams – then they’ll keep the extra money. In addition to this, many exam guarantees are worthless. The majority of companies won’t pay for re-takes until you’ve completely satisfied them that you’re ready this time. Average exam fees were about 112 pounds last year via Prometric or VUE centres around the United Kingdom. So why pay hundreds or thousands of pounds extra to have ‘Exam Guarantees’, when it’s obvious that the best guarantee is a regular, committed, study programme, with an accredited exam preparation system.

What is the reason why qualifications from colleges and universities are now falling behind more commercial qualifications? With the costs of academic degree’s becoming a tall order for many, plus the industry’s recognition that corporate based study is closer to the mark commercially, we have seen a large rise in CISCO, Adobe, Microsoft and CompTIA authorised training courses that supply key solutions to a student at a far reduced cost both money and time wise. In essence, students are simply taught the necessary specifics in depth. It’s not quite as straightforward as that, but the most important function is always to focus on the exact skills required (including a degree of required background) – without overdoing the detail in all sorts of other things (as universities often do). Imagine if you were an employer – and you wanted someone who could provide a specific set of skills. What is easier: Wade your way through a mass of different academic qualifications from hopeful applicants, having to ask what each has covered and what trade skills they’ve mastered, or choose a specific set of accreditations that perfectly fit your needs, and make your short-list from that. The interview is then more about the person and how they’ll fit in – rather than on the depth of their technical knowledge.

It would be wonderful to believe that our jobs are secure and our future is protected, but the growing likelihood for the majority of jobs throughout the United Kingdom right now seems to be that security may be a thing of the past. We could however locate market-level security, by looking for areas that have high demand, coupled with a lack of qualified workers. Reviewing the computer industry, a recent e-Skills study highlighted a 26 percent deficit in trained staff. Therefore, out of each 4 positions existing across IT, organisations can only source trained staff for three of them. Highly qualified and commercially accredited new workers are consequently at a complete premium, and it looks like they will be for a long time. In reality, acquiring professional IT skills as you progress through the coming years is likely the finest career direction you could choose.

These days, industry could not function efficiently if it weren’t for support workers fixing both computers and networks, while advising users on a constant basis. Our country’s need for more technically qualified people multiplies, as we become significantly more beholden to PC’s in the modern world.

Of course: the training program or the accreditation is not the ultimate goal; a job that you’re getting the training for is. Too many training companies place too much importance on the qualification itself. Don’t let yourself become one of the unfortunate masses that choose a course that seems ‘fun’ or ‘interesting’ – only to end up with a qualification for something they’ll never enjoy.

Spend some time thinking about what you want to earn and what level of ambition fits you. Sometimes, this affects which precise accreditations you’ll need to attain and what you can expect to give industry in return. Take advice from an industry professional, even if there’s a fee involved – it’s usually much cheaper and safer to discover early on if your choices are appropriate, instead of discovering after two full years that the job you’ve chosen is not for you and have wasted years of effort.

We need to make this very clear: It’s essential to obtain proper 24×7 round-the-clock instructor and mentor support. We can tell you that you’ll strongly regret it if you let this one slide. Beware of institutions that use call-centres ‘out-of-hours’ – where an advisor will call back during normal office hours. This is no use if you’re stuck and need an answer now.

Top training companies utilise several support facilities active in different time-zones. By utilising an interactive interface to seamlessly link them all together, no matter what time you login, help is just seconds away, without any problems or delays. Never make the mistake of compromise with the quality of your support. Most trainees who throw in the towel, are in that situation because of a lack of support.

It’s likely that you’ve always enjoyed practical work – the ‘hands-on’ individual. If you’re like us, the painful task of reading endless manuals can be just about bared when essential, but it doesn’t suit your way of doing things. Check out video-based multimedia instruction if learning from books is not your thing. Many studies have proved that long term memory is improved when we involve as many senses as possible, and we get physically involved with the study process.

Programs are now found in disc format, where your computer becomes the centre of your learning. Using video-streaming, you can watch instructors demonstrating how it’s all done, followed by your chance to practice – in a virtual lab environment. All companies must be able to demonstrate samples of their courseware. Expect video tutorials, instructor led classes and a wide selection of interactive elements.

Many companies provide just online versions of their training packages; and although this is okay the majority of the time, consider what happens if internet access is lost or you only get very a very slow connection sometimes. A safer solution is the provision of CD and DVD ROM materials that will not have these problems.

Some certification companies are still using the rather old-fashioned idea of classroom lessons. Quite often pushed as a positive point, following a chat with most students who’ve had to attend a couple, you’ll most likely hear about many or most of these issues:

* Many round trips – sometimes hundreds of miles at a time.

* Availability of classes; normally weekdays only and sometimes 2-3 days at a time. You then have the difficulty of the work-leave.

* Lost holiday days – a lot of IT hopefuls only have 20 days holiday. If half or more of that is used up by training events, that isn’t going to leave much vacation time for most student’s families.

* ‘In-Centre’ workshop days can fill up very quickly and often end up larger than is ideal.

* The ‘pace’ – classes often consist of trainees of varying talent, so there is often tension between students with more background knowledge and those who want to go a little slower.

* The cost of travel – travelling to and from the training facility plus accommodation can start to get expensive with each visit. Assuming just an average of 5 to 10 workshops costing around 35 pounds for a single over-night room, plus 40 pounds for petrol and 15 pounds for food, that equates to four to nine hundred pounds of extra costs to cover.

* You should never risk the possibility of getting passed-over for a lift up the ladder or wage increases because your employer knows you’re retraining.

* It’s quite usual for trainees not to put a question forward that they would like answered – just because they’re in front of other people.

* Working away from home – a fair few trainees find they have to work or live somewhere else for certain parts of their training. Days in-centre are hard to get to, yet the money has already changed hands in your initial payment.

Why not simply watch and learn with instructors one-on-one in pre-filmed classes, doing them when it suits you – not somebody else. Whenever you experience difficulties, use the provided 24×7 live support (that you should have insisted on for any technical study.) You should remember, if you own a notebook PC, study isn’t restricted to the home or office. You have the ability to watch and re-watch the study modules whenever you need to. And of course, you won’t need to jot down any notes because the class is available whenever you want it. The outcome: Much less stress and hassle, saved money, and you’ve got no travelling to do.

IT has become one of the most stimulating and innovative industries that you could be a part of. To be dealing with leading-edge technology is to do your bit in the gigantic changes affecting everyone who lives in the 21st century. We’ve barely started to get a feel for how technology will affect our lives in the future. The internet will profoundly transform the way we regard and interact with the rest of the world over the coming decades.

And don’t forget salaries moreover – the average salary in the UK for an average man or woman in IT is much higher than in other market sectors. Chances are that you’ll earn a much greater package than you’d typically expect to bring in elsewhere. The requirement for well trained and qualified IT technicians is assured for many years to come, because of the constant growth in IT dependency in commerce and the massive shortage that remains.