Only one in ten people in this country are happy with what they do for a living. Naturally most won’t do a thing. You’ve reached this paragraph, which at a minimum indicates that change is beckoning.

Before we even think about any career courses, look for an advisor who will be able to guide you on the right type of training for you. A person who will ask questions about your likes and dislikes, and discover what type of job will be right for you:

* Is it your preference to work in isolation or perhaps being around others is vital for your sanity?

* Building and Banking are a little shaky these days, so think carefully about the sector that would give you the most options?

* Should this be a one off time that you’ll need to re-qualify?

* Do you believe that the training program you’ve chosen will offer you employment opportunities, and offer the chance to be employed up to the time you want to stop?

We would advise you to find out more about the IT industry – there are a larger number of positions than employees, and it’s one of the few choices of career where the sector is on the grow. In contrast to the opinions of certain people, it isn’t just geeks looking at screens all day long (if you like the sound of that though, they do exist.) The vast majority of roles are filled by ordinary people who enjoy a very nice lifestyle due to better than average wages.

There is a tidal wave of change flooding technology in the near future – and this means greater innovations all the time. Technological changes and connections on the internet will dramatically affect the direction of our lives over future years; remarkably so.

Incomes in IT are not a problem also – the average salary in the UK for the usual man or woman in IT is much higher than in other market sectors. Odds are you’ll bring in a much greater package than you’d expect to earn doing other work. As the IT industry keeps growing at an unprecedented rate, it’s likely that the requirement for certified IT specialists will continue to boom for decades to come.

Reaching the most fitting career option is hard enough – so which sectors are important to investigate and what questions do we need to be seeking the answers to?

Talk to almost any specialised advisor and you’ll be surprised by their many worrying experiences of how students have been duped by salespeople. Ensure you only ever work with a professional advisor that asks some in-depth questions to uncover the best thing for you – not for their paycheque! Dig until you find a starting-point that will suit you. Sometimes, the starting point of study for a person with experience is largely dissimilar to the student with none. Where this will be your first effort at an IT exam then you might also want to cut your teeth on a user-skills course first.

Many trainers provide a bunch of books and manuals. Obviously, this isn’t much fun and not a very good way of remembering. Memory is vastly improved when all our senses are brought into the mix – this has been an accepted fact in expert circles for years now.

The latest audio-visual interactive programs with demonstrations and practice sessions will forever turn you away from traditional book study. And you’ll find them fun and interesting. It’s wise to view some of the typical study materials provided before you sign on the dotted line. Always insist on videoed instructor demonstrations and interactive modules with audio-visual elements.

Plump for CD or DVD ROM based materials where possible. You can then avoid all the difficulties of broadband ‘downtime’ or slow-speeds.

Proper support should never be taken lightly – ensure you track down something that provides 24×7 direct access, as anything less will frustrate you and could hamper your progress. Beware of institutions who use ‘out-of-hours’ messaging systems – with the call-back coming in during standard office hours. This is no use if you’re stuck and want support there and then.

As long as you look hard, you will find professional companies which recommend and use online support 24×7 – at any time of day or night. Find a trainer that cares. Only true live 24×7 support provides the necessary backup.

Qualifications from the commercial sector are now, without a doubt, taking over from the traditional academic paths into the IT sector – why then is this the case? With 3 and 4 year academic degree costs becoming a tall order for many, along with the IT sector’s general opinion that key company training is closer to the mark commercially, we’ve seen a big surge in CISCO, Adobe, Microsoft and CompTIA based training courses that supply key solutions to a student for considerably less. The training is effectively done through concentrating on the skill-sets required (together with an appropriate level of related knowledge,) instead of covering masses of the background ‘padding’ that computer Science Degrees can get bogged down in – to fill a three or four year course.

The bottom line is: Authorised IT qualifications tell an employer precisely what skills you have – the title is a complete giveaway: for example, I am a ‘Microsoft Certified Professional’ in ‘Managing and Maintaining Windows Server 2003′. Consequently an employer can identify just what their needs are and what certifications will be suitable to deal with those needs.

Think about the following facts in detail if you’re inclined to think the marketing blurb about ‘guaranteeing’ exams sounds like a benefit to the student:

You’ll be charged for it somehow. It certainly isn’t free – it’s simply been shoe-horned into the price as a whole. Students who go in for their examinations when it’s appropriate, funding them as they go are in a much stronger position to qualify at the first attempt. They are mindful of their spending and take the necessary steps to be ready for the task.

Isn’t it outrageous to have to pay the college in advance for exam fees? Go for the best offer when you take the exam, instead of paying a premium – and do it locally – rather than possibly hours away from your area. What’s the point in paying early for exams when you didn’t need to? A lot of profit is made because training colleges are getting money in early for exam fees – and then hoping that you won’t take them all. In addition to this, ‘Exam Guarantees’ often aren’t worth the paper they’re written on. Many training companies won’t pay again for an exam until you’ve completely satisfied them that you’re ready this time.

Paying maybe a thousand pounds extra on ‘Exam Guarantees’ is short-sighted – when hard work, commitment and the right preparation via exam simulations is what will really see you through.

The perhaps intimidating chore of securing your first job is often relieved by some training providers because they offer a Job Placement Assistance programme. The fact of the matter is it’s not as hard as some people make out to find your first job – as long as you’re correctly trained and certified; the shortage of IT personnel in Britain looks after that.

Advice and support about getting interviews and your CV should be offered (alternatively, check out one of our sites for help). Ensure you work on your old CV today – don’t wait until you’ve finished your exams! A good number of junior support jobs have been bagged by trainees who are still learning and haven’t got any qualifications yet. At least this will get you into the ‘maybe’ pile of CV’s – rather than the ‘No’ pile. If you’d like to get employment in your home town, then you’ll often find that a local (but specialised) recruitment consultancy could be of more use than a national service, due to the fact that they’re far more likely to know the jobs that are going locally.

Many people, it would appear, conscientiously work through their course materials (sometimes for years), only to give up at the first hurdle when attempting to secure a job. Sell yourself… Make an effort to put yourself out there. A job isn’t just going to bump into you.

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