Should you be looking for Microsoft certified training, it stands to reason you'll want companies to provide a wide range of the finest training courses currently available. Maybe you'd choose to find advisors with experience of the IT industry, who can offer guidance on what sort of job would suit you, and what sort of tasks are suitable for someone with a personality like yours. When you've settled on the job you'd like to get into, an appropriate course has to be singled out that's a match for your current skills and aptitude. This can be personally tailored for your needs.
Obviously, the computing market promises impressive prospects. Yet, to investigate it properly, what are the questions we should raise, and which are the sectors we need to investigate?
A ridiculously large number of organisations only look at the plaque to hang on your wall, and forget the reasons for getting there - getting yourself a new job or career. Always start with the final destination in mind - too many people focus on the journey. Imagine training for just one year and then end up doing the actual job for 10-20 years. Avoid the mistake of finding what seems like an 'interesting' training program only to spend 20 years doing something you don't even enjoy! You also need to know your leanings around earning potential, career development, and how ambitious you are. It's vital to know what (if any) sacrifices you'll need to make for a particular role, which particular certifications are required and in what way you can develop commercial experience. Before setting out on a learning programme, you'd be well advised to discuss specific career needs with an experienced industry professional, in order to be sure the retraining program covers all that is required.
It only makes sense to consider study programs which grow into commercially acknowledged exams. There are loads of minor schools promoting unknown 'in-house' certificates that are essentially useless in the real world. Unless your qualification is issued by a conglomerate such as Microsoft, Cisco, CompTIA or Adobe, then you'll probably find it will be commercially useless - as no-one will have heard of it.
Training support for students is an absolute must - find a program offering 24x7 direct access to instructors, as not obtaining this level of support will severely impede your ability to learn. Locate training schools where you can access 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 access directly to professional tutors and not simply some messaging service that means waiting for tutors to call you back - probably during office hours. The best training colleges utilise an online access 24 hours-a-day package pulling in several support offices over many time-zones. You're offered a simple interface which seamlessly selects the best facility available irrespective of the time of day: Support when you need it. Never make the mistake of compromise where support is concerned. Many students who can't get going properly, would have had a different experience if they'd got the right support package in the first place.
Often, trainers provide a big box of books. This can be very boring and not ideal for studying effectively. Memory is vastly improved when all our senses are brought into the mix - educational experts have expounded on this for many years. Find a course where you'll receive a library of CD and DVD based materials - you'll begin by watching videos of instructors demonstrating the skills, and then have the opportunity to use virtual lab's to practice your new skills. It's wise to view examples of the courseware provided before you sign the purchase order. The minimum you should expect would be videoed instructor demonstrations and a variety of audio-visual and interactive sections. Often, companies will only use purely on-line training; sometimes you can get away with this - but, imagine the problems if you lose your internet access or you get a slow connection speed. It's much safer to rely on physical CD or DVD discs which don't suffer from these broadband issues.
A subtle way that training providers make extra profits is via an 'exam inclusive' package and presenting it as a guarantee for your exams. It looks impressive, but is it really... It's very clear we're still paying for it - it's not so hard to see that it's been added into the overall figure from the college. It's definitely not free - and it's insulting that we're supposed to think it is! For those who want to pass first time, you must pay for one exam at a time, give it the necessary attention and apply yourself as required. Why pay a training course provider up-front for exam fees? Find the best deal you can at the appropriate time, instead of paying any mark-up - and take it closer to home - instead of miles away at the college's beck and call. What's the point in paying early for exam fees when you don't need to? A great deal of money is made because training colleges are charging all their exam fees up-front - and hoping either that you won't take them, or it will be a long time before you do. Many training companies will insist on pre-tests and with-hold subsequent exam entries from you until you've proven conclusively that you can pass - which makes an 'Exam Guarantee' frankly useless. Exams taken at VUE and Prometric centres are currently clocking in at an average of 112 pounds in the UK. Why pay exorbitant 'Exam Guarantee' costs (usually wrapped up in the course package price) - when a quality course, support and consistent and systematic learning, coupled with quality exam simulation software is what will really see you through.
Now, why is it better to gain commercially accredited qualifications and not more traditional academic qualifications taught at the state educational establishments? With 3 and 4 year academic degree costs increasing year on year, and the industry's recognition that key company training often has more relevance in the commercial field, there's been a large rise in Microsoft, CISCO, Adobe and CompTIA authorised training programmes that provide key skills to an employee at a far reduced cost both money and time wise. Higher education courses, for example, become confusing because of a lot of loosely associated study - with a syllabus that's far too wide. This prevents a student from getting enough specific knowledge about the core essentials. Think about if you were the employer - and you needed to take on someone with a very particular skill-set. What is easier: Trawl through loads of academic qualifications from various applicants, asking for course details and what commercial skills have been attained, or choose particular accreditations that specifically match what you're looking for, and make your short-list from that. Your interviews are then about personal suitability - instead of long discussions on technical suitability.
We'd all like to believe that our jobs are safe and the future is protected, but the growing likelihood for most jobs in England at the moment seems to be that security may be a thing of the past. Of course, a quickly growing market-place, where staff are in constant demand (because of a massive shortfall of fully trained people), creates the conditions for real job security. The Information Technology (IT) skills deficit around Great Britain currently stands at over 26 percent, as reported by the latest e-Skills study. It follows then that for each 4 job positions that exist across Information Technology (IT), organisations can only find trained staff for 3 of them. This single reality on its own highlights why the country desperately needs considerably more workers to get trained and enter the IT industry. Because the IT sector is developing at the speed it is, it's unlikely there's any better sector worth considering for a new future. - 16039
Obviously, the computing market promises impressive prospects. Yet, to investigate it properly, what are the questions we should raise, and which are the sectors we need to investigate?
A ridiculously large number of organisations only look at the plaque to hang on your wall, and forget the reasons for getting there - getting yourself a new job or career. Always start with the final destination in mind - too many people focus on the journey. Imagine training for just one year and then end up doing the actual job for 10-20 years. Avoid the mistake of finding what seems like an 'interesting' training program only to spend 20 years doing something you don't even enjoy! You also need to know your leanings around earning potential, career development, and how ambitious you are. It's vital to know what (if any) sacrifices you'll need to make for a particular role, which particular certifications are required and in what way you can develop commercial experience. Before setting out on a learning programme, you'd be well advised to discuss specific career needs with an experienced industry professional, in order to be sure the retraining program covers all that is required.
It only makes sense to consider study programs which grow into commercially acknowledged exams. There are loads of minor schools promoting unknown 'in-house' certificates that are essentially useless in the real world. Unless your qualification is issued by a conglomerate such as Microsoft, Cisco, CompTIA or Adobe, then you'll probably find it will be commercially useless - as no-one will have heard of it.
Training support for students is an absolute must - find a program offering 24x7 direct access to instructors, as not obtaining this level of support will severely impede your ability to learn. Locate training schools where you can access 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 access directly to professional tutors and not simply some messaging service that means waiting for tutors to call you back - probably during office hours. The best training colleges utilise an online access 24 hours-a-day package pulling in several support offices over many time-zones. You're offered a simple interface which seamlessly selects the best facility available irrespective of the time of day: Support when you need it. Never make the mistake of compromise where support is concerned. Many students who can't get going properly, would have had a different experience if they'd got the right support package in the first place.
Often, trainers provide a big box of books. This can be very boring and not ideal for studying effectively. Memory is vastly improved when all our senses are brought into the mix - educational experts have expounded on this for many years. Find a course where you'll receive a library of CD and DVD based materials - you'll begin by watching videos of instructors demonstrating the skills, and then have the opportunity to use virtual lab's to practice your new skills. It's wise to view examples of the courseware provided before you sign the purchase order. The minimum you should expect would be videoed instructor demonstrations and a variety of audio-visual and interactive sections. Often, companies will only use purely on-line training; sometimes you can get away with this - but, imagine the problems if you lose your internet access or you get a slow connection speed. It's much safer to rely on physical CD or DVD discs which don't suffer from these broadband issues.
A subtle way that training providers make extra profits is via an 'exam inclusive' package and presenting it as a guarantee for your exams. It looks impressive, but is it really... It's very clear we're still paying for it - it's not so hard to see that it's been added into the overall figure from the college. It's definitely not free - and it's insulting that we're supposed to think it is! For those who want to pass first time, you must pay for one exam at a time, give it the necessary attention and apply yourself as required. Why pay a training course provider up-front for exam fees? Find the best deal you can at the appropriate time, instead of paying any mark-up - and take it closer to home - instead of miles away at the college's beck and call. What's the point in paying early for exam fees when you don't need to? A great deal of money is made because training colleges are charging all their exam fees up-front - and hoping either that you won't take them, or it will be a long time before you do. Many training companies will insist on pre-tests and with-hold subsequent exam entries from you until you've proven conclusively that you can pass - which makes an 'Exam Guarantee' frankly useless. Exams taken at VUE and Prometric centres are currently clocking in at an average of 112 pounds in the UK. Why pay exorbitant 'Exam Guarantee' costs (usually wrapped up in the course package price) - when a quality course, support and consistent and systematic learning, coupled with quality exam simulation software is what will really see you through.
Now, why is it better to gain commercially accredited qualifications and not more traditional academic qualifications taught at the state educational establishments? With 3 and 4 year academic degree costs increasing year on year, and the industry's recognition that key company training often has more relevance in the commercial field, there's been a large rise in Microsoft, CISCO, Adobe and CompTIA authorised training programmes that provide key skills to an employee at a far reduced cost both money and time wise. Higher education courses, for example, become confusing because of a lot of loosely associated study - with a syllabus that's far too wide. This prevents a student from getting enough specific knowledge about the core essentials. Think about if you were the employer - and you needed to take on someone with a very particular skill-set. What is easier: Trawl through loads of academic qualifications from various applicants, asking for course details and what commercial skills have been attained, or choose particular accreditations that specifically match what you're looking for, and make your short-list from that. Your interviews are then about personal suitability - instead of long discussions on technical suitability.
We'd all like to believe that our jobs are safe and the future is protected, but the growing likelihood for most jobs in England at the moment seems to be that security may be a thing of the past. Of course, a quickly growing market-place, where staff are in constant demand (because of a massive shortfall of fully trained people), creates the conditions for real job security. The Information Technology (IT) skills deficit around Great Britain currently stands at over 26 percent, as reported by the latest e-Skills study. It follows then that for each 4 job positions that exist across Information Technology (IT), organisations can only find trained staff for 3 of them. This single reality on its own highlights why the country desperately needs considerably more workers to get trained and enter the IT industry. Because the IT sector is developing at the speed it is, it's unlikely there's any better sector worth considering for a new future. - 16039
About the Author:
Scott Edwards has worked in the IT industry for 30 yrs. He should understand what he's doing by now. To investigate IT Courses, visit LearningLolly Computer Training.