Currently in the UK, commercial institutions could not function efficiently without assistance from support workers mending networks and computers, while recommending solutions to users each and every day. The need for better qualified personnel multiplies, as we turn out to be vastly more reliant on computers in the twenty first century.

How are we supposed to make a good choice then? With so many opportunities, we’ll need to know where to be looking – and what it is we should be investigating.

You should remember: the training itself or the accreditation isn’t what this is about; the job or career that you’re getting the training for is. Too many training companies place too much importance on just the training course. Imagine training for just one year and then end up doing the actual job for 10-20 years. Avoid the mistake of choosing what sounds like a very ‘interesting’ program and then spend decades in a job you hate!

You’ll want to understand what expectations industry may have of you. Which precise accreditations you’ll be required to have and how to gain experience. It’s also worth spending time considering how far you wish to progress your career as it will often affect your choice of certifications. Our recommendation would be to seek guidance and advice from a skilled advisor before embarking on some particular training programme, so you can be sure that the specific package will give the appropriate skill-set.

Consider only study courses that’ll lead to industry accepted accreditations. There are way too many trainers suggesting their own ‘in-house’ certificates that are essentially useless when you start your job-search. You’ll discover that only industry recognised accreditation from the likes of Microsoft, CompTIA, Adobe and Cisco will have any meaning to employers.

Students who consider this area of study are often very practical, and aren’t really suited to the classroom environment, and slogging through piles of books. If you identify with this, opt for more involving, interactive learning materials, with on-screen demonstrations and labs. Research over recent years has constantly confirmed that connecting physically with our study, is far more likely to produce long-lasting memories.

Courses are now available on CD and DVD discs, so you can study at your own computer. Through video streaming, you will be able to see the instructor presenting exactly how something is done, and then practice yourself – in a virtual lab environment. You really need to look at courseware examples from the company you’re considering. They have to utilise full motion videos of instructors demonstrating the topic with lab’s to practice the skills in.

You’ll find that many companies will only provide purely on-line training; and although this is okay the majority of the time, imagine the problems if you lose your internet access or you get intermittent problems and speed issues. A safer solution is the provision of actual CD or DVD ROMs that will solve that problem.

It’s so important to understand this key point: It’s essential to obtain proper 24×7 round-the-clock support from professional instructors. Later, you’ll kick yourself if you don’t adhere to this. Locate training schools with help available at all hours of the day and night (irrespective of whether it’s the wee hours on Sunday morning!) Make sure it’s always access directly to professional tutors, and not access to a call-in service which takes messages – so you’re parked in a queue of others waiting to be called back at a convenient time for them.

We recommend that you search for providers that use several support centres around the globe in several time-zones. Every one of them needs to be seamlessly combined to provide a single interface and also access round-the-clock, when it suits you, with the minimum of hassle. Don’t accept second best where support is concerned. The majority of IT hopefuls who fall by the wayside, would have had a different experience if they’d got the right support package in the first place.

Incorporating exams with the course fee then giving it ‘Exam Guarantee’ status is a popular marketing tool with many training course providers. But look at the facts:

They’ve allowed costings for it one way or another. One thing’s for sure – it isn’t free – they’ve simply charged more for the whole training package. Students who take each progressive exam, funding them as they go are in a much stronger position to qualify at the first attempt. They’re thoughtful of the cost and revise more thoroughly to ensure they are ready.

Don’t you think it’s more sensible to not pay up-front, but at the appropriate time, rather than coughing up months or even a year or two in advance to the training company, and to do it in a local testing office – instead of miles away at the college’s beck and call? Many questionable training colleges secure a great deal of profit because they’re getting paid for all the exam fees up-front then hoping you won’t see them all through. Remember, with most ‘Exam Guarantees’ – they control when and how often you can re-take the exam. Subsequent exam attempts are only authorised at the company’s say so.

Prometric and VUE exams are in the region of 112 pounds in Britain at the time of writing. What’s the point of paying huge ‘Exam Guarantee’ costs (often covertly rolled into the cost of the course) – when good quality study materials, the proper support and consistent and systematic learning, coupled with quality exam simulation software is what will really see you through.

So, why ought we to be looking at commercially accredited qualifications as opposed to traditional academic qualifications gained through the state educational establishments? Vendor-based training (as it’s known in the industry) is more effective in the commercial field. Industry has realised that specialisation is what’s needed to meet the requirements of a technologically complex marketplace. Adobe, Microsoft, CISCO and CompTIA are the dominant players. In essence, the learning just focuses on what’s actually required. It’s slightly more broad than that, but the principle objective is to master the precisely demanded skill-sets (alongside some required background) – without overdoing the detail in every other area (as universities often do).

What if you were an employer – and your company needed a person with some very particular skills. What should you do: Wade your way through loads of academic qualifications from graduate applicants, struggling to grasp what they’ve learned and which commercial skills they have, or select a specialised number of commercial certifications that precisely match your needs, and make your short-list from that. You can then focus on how someone will fit into the team at interview – instead of having to work out if they can do the job.

At times individuals don’t catch on to what information technology is doing for all of us. It is electrifying, revolutionary, and means you’re working on technology that will affect us all over the next generation. We are really only just starting to understand how this will truly impact our way of life. How we communicate and interact with everyone around us will be profoundly affected by technology and the internet.

If making decent money is around the top on your scale of wants, then you’ll be pleasantly surprised to hear that the average salary of a typical IT worker is considerably more than with the rest of the economy. Demand for well trained and qualified IT technicians is certain for quite some time to come, due to the continuous expansion in the marketplace and the massive deficiency that we still have.