If it weren’t for a continuous flood of well educated network and PC support staff, business in the United Kingdom (and around the world) would inevitably be drawn to a standstill. We have a constantly increasing demand for technicians to support both users and the systems they work with. The world’s requirement for those members of the workforce is ever increasing, as everything becomes significantly more computer dependent.

Getting to the most suitable career choice is very difficult – so which sectors are important to investigate and which questions do we need to be posing?

Don’t get hung-up, as many people do, on the training course itself. Training is not an end in itself; this is about employment. Focus on the end-goal. It’s possible, in some situations, to thoroughly enjoy one year of training but end up spending 10 or 20 years in a job you hate, entirely because you stumbled into it without some quality research when it was needed – at the start.

Get to grips with the income level you aspire to and whether you’re an ambitious person or not. This can often control what particular accreditations will be expected and what industry will expect from you in return. We advise all students to talk with a professional advisor before they embark on a training program. This gives some measure of assurance that it contains the commercially required skills for the career that is sought.

You should only consider retraining programmes which will progress to industry accepted certifications. There are way too many small colleges promoting unknown ‘in-house’ certificates that are essentially useless when it comes to finding a job. The top IT companies such as Microsoft, CompTIA, Adobe or Cisco have widely acknowledged proficiency programmes. These heavyweights will make your CV stand-out.

Proper support should never be taken lightly – locate a good company that includes 24×7 access, as anything less will frustrate you and could put a damper on the speed you move through things. Locate training schools where you can receive help at any time of day or night (no matter if it’s in the middle of the night on a weekend!) Ensure you get direct access to tutors, and not simply some messaging service that means you’re constantly waiting for a call-back during office hours.

The most successful trainers have many support offices across multiple time-zones. Online access provides the interactive interface to seamlessly link them all together, any time of the day or night, help is just a click away, without any contact issues or hassle. Find a training company that offers this level of study support. As only live 24×7 round-the-clock support provides the necessary backup.

If you’re like many of the students we talk to then you’ve always enjoyed practical work – the ‘hands-on’ person. If you’re like us, the unfortunate chore of reading reference guides is something you’ll make yourself do if you have to, but it’s not really your thing. So look for on-screen interactive learning packages if you’d really rather not use books. Memory is vastly improved with an involvement of all our senses – this has been an accepted fact in expert circles for years now.

Fully interactive motion videos with demonstrations and practice sessions will forever turn you away from traditional book study. And they’re far more fun. Don’t take any chances and look at examples of the courseware provided before you sign on the dotted line. Always insist on video tutorials, instructor demo’s and audio-visual elements backed up by interactive lab’s.

Avoiding training that is delivered purely online is generally a good idea. Physical CD or DVD ROM materials are preferable where obtainable, enabling them to be used at your convenience – and not be totally reliant on a quality and continuous internet connection.

Students often end up having issues because of a single courseware aspect which is often not even considered: How the training is broken down and couriered to your address. Training companies will normally offer a 2 or 3 year study programme, and deliver each piece one-by-one as you pass each exam. This sounds reasonable until you consider the following: With thought, many trainees understand that their training company’s typical path to completion is not what they would prefer. You may find that varying the order of study will be far more suitable. And what if you don’t get to the end at the pace they expect?

In a perfect world, you’d get ALL the training materials right at the beginning – giving you them all to come back to at any time in the future – at any time you choose. This allows a variation in the order that you complete your exams if another more intuitive route presents itself.

Incorporating exams with the course fee then giving it ‘Exam Guarantee’ status is popular with a good many training companies. However, let’s consider what’s really going on:

You’re paying for it one way or another. It’s definitely not free – it’s just been rolled into the price of the whole package. Evidence shows that if a student pays for their own exams, one by one, the chances are they’re going to pass every time – since they’re aware of their investment in themselves and so will prepare more thoroughly.

Isn’t it in your interests to go for the best offer at the time, not to pay any mark-up to the college, and to do it in a local testing office – rather than possibly hours away from your area? Considerable numbers of questionable training course providers net huge amounts of money through getting paid for all the exam fees up-front then hoping you won’t see them all through. It’s also worth noting that many exam guarantees are worthless. The majority of organisations will not pay for you to re-take until you can prove to them you’re ready to pass.

Spending hundreds or even thousands extra on ‘Exam Guarantees’ is short-sighted – when study, commitment and preparing with good quality mock and practice exams is what will really see you through.

Being a part of the information technology industry is amongst the most stimulating and innovative industries that you can get into right now. To be working on the cutting-edge of technology puts you at the fore-front of developments affecting everyone who lives in the 21st century. Society largely thinks that the technological advancement we have experienced is slowing down. All indicators point in the opposite direction. Massive changes are on the horizon, and most especially the internet is going to dominate how we conduct our lives.

And don’t forget salaries either – the average salary in the United Kingdom for the usual IT worker is significantly more than the national average. Odds are that you’ll receive a whole lot more than you could reasonably hope to get in other industries. It seems there’s no easing up for IT industry growth in the United Kingdom. The sector is continuing to expand enormously, and we don’t have anywhere near enough qualified skilled IT professionals to fill current job vacancies, so it’s not likely that this will change significantly for the significant future.

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