Computer Training Programs - News

Well Done! As you're looking at this we guess you must be considering getting re-qualified for a new job - so you've already done more than most. A small minority of us are pleased to go to work each day, but it's rare anyone does more than moan. You could join a select group who make a difference in their lives.

We suggest that you discuss your ideas first - find someone who knows the industry; someone who'll give you career advice based on what works best for you, and analyse the training programs you may be suited to:

* Would you like to work with others? If so, do you want a team or are you hoping to meet new people? Or are you better working in isolation?

* What thoughts do you have regarding the industry you hope to work in?

* Is it important that this should be the last time you'll have to retrain?

* Are you worried about the chance of new employment opportunities, and being in demand in the employment market all the way until retirement?

We would advise that your number one choice is the IT sector - everyone knows that it's getting bigger. IT isn't all techie people staring at computers the whole time - naturally there are those roles, but the majority of roles are carried out by people like you and me who get on very well.

Often, students don't think to check on something of absolutely vital importance - how their company divides up the physical training materials, and into how many bits.

Delivery by courier of each element stage by stage, as you complete each module is the typical way that your program will arrive. This sounds logical, but you might like to consider this:

What happens when you don't complete every single exam? Maybe the prescribed order won't suit you? Because of nothing that's your fault, you may not meet the required timescales and therefore not end up with all the modules.

To be straight, the very best answer is to obtain their recommendation on the best possible order of study, but make sure you have all of your learning modules right from the beginning. Everything is then in your possession in the event you don't complete everything at their required pace.

Trainees looking to kick off a career in IT generally have no idea of what direction they should take, let alone what area to build their qualifications around.

Working through a list of odd-sounding and meaningless job titles is no use whatsoever. The vast majority of us don't even know what the neighbours do for a living - so we have no hope of understanding the intricacies of a particular IT career.

Arriving at an informed answer really only appears through a careful examination covering many changing key points:

* The type of personality you have and what you're interested in - which working tasks you love or hate.

* Are you looking to achieve a key aim - for example, working from home sometime soon?

* Does salary have a higher place on your priority-scale than some other areas.

* There are many markets to choose from in IT - you will have to get some background information on what sets them apart.

* How much effort you'll commit getting qualified.

In actuality, you'll find the only real way to research these issues will be via a meeting with an advisor that has experience of IT (and chiefly it's commercial needs.)

Don't get hung-up, as many people do, on the certification itself. Training for training's sake is generally pointless; you should be geared towards the actual job at the end of it. You need to remain focused on where you want to go.

You may train for one year and then end up performing the job-role for decades. Ensure you avoid the fatal error of finding what seems like an 'interesting' course and then spend decades in a job you hate!

You'll want to understand the exact expectations industry will have. What certifications they will want you to have and how you'll go about getting some commercial experience. It's also worth spending time setting guidelines as to how far you think you'll want to build your skill-set as often it can force you to choose a particular set of certifications.

Seek guidance and advice from an experienced industry professional, even if you have to pay a small fee - it's usually much cheaper and safer to discover early on whether your choices are appropriate, instead of finding out after two full years that the job you've chosen is not for you and now need to go back to square one.

Some training providers offer a Job Placement Assistance service, to help you into your first commercial role. But don't place too much emphasis on it - it's quite easy for eager sales people to make too much of it. Ultimately, the still growing need for IT personnel in the UK is what will enable you to get a job.

You would ideally have help and assistance with preparing a CV and getting interviews though; and we'd encourage everyone to bring their CV up to date as soon as they start a course - don't delay till you've finished your exams.

It's not uncommon to find that junior support jobs have been bagged by students who're still on their course and haven't even passed a single exam yet. This will at least get your CV into the 'possible' pile and not the 'no' pile.

If it's important to you to find work near your home, then you'll often find that a specialist independent regional recruitment consultant or service can generally serve you better than a national service, due to the fact that they're far more likely to be familiar with the jobs that are going locally.

Please be sure that you don't spend hundreds of hours on your training and studies, then call a halt and expect somebody else to sort out your employment. Stand up for yourself and start looking for yourself. Put the same focus into securing the right position as you did to gain the skills.

(C) S. Edwards 2009. Hop over to www.NewCareersInformation.co.uk or How To Choose A Career.