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.

How can we go about making the right choice then? With all these possibilities, we have to know where we should dig – and of course, what to actually be looking for.

Beware of putting too much emphasis, as can often be the case, on the certification itself. Training is not an end in itself; this is about employment. Focus on the end-goal. Students often train for a single year but end up performing the job-role for decades. Ensure you avoid the fatal error of finding what seems like a program of interest to you and then put 10-20 years into a job you hate! It’s essential to keep your focus on what it is you’re trying to achieve, and then build your training requirements around that – don’t do it the other way round. Keep your eyes on your goals and study for a job that will keep you happy for many years. Seek help from an experienced industry professional that ‘gets’ the commercial realities of the area you’re interested in, and who can give you ‘A day in the life of’ synopsis of of what you’ll be doing during your working week. It makes good sense to discover if this is the right course of action for you long before you embark on your training program. There’s little reason in beginning your training only to find you’ve taken the wrong route.

Only consider study paths which will progress to commercially accepted exams. There are far too many small companies suggesting their own ‘in-house’ certificates which will prove unusable when it comes to finding a job. All the major IT organisations like Microsoft, Adobe, CompTIA or Cisco have internationally recognised proficiency programmes. These heavyweights can make sure you stand out at interview.

Training support for students is an absolute must – find a program offering 24×7 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.

Charging for exams upfront and presenting it as a guarantee for your exams is popular with many training course providers. However, let’s consider what’s really going on: Clearly it isn’t free – you’re still coughing up for it – it’s just been wrapped up in the price of the package. It’s well known in the industry that when trainees fund their relevant examinations, when they’re ready to take them and not before, they’ll be in a better position to get through on the first attempt – because they’ll be conscious of what they’ve paid and will therefore apply themselves appropriately. Don’t you think it’s more sensible to find the best exam deal or offer when you’re ready, rather than coughing up months or even a year or two in advance to the training course provider, and also to sit exams more locally – rather than possibly hours away from your area? Paying upfront for exam fees (which also includes interest if you’ve taken out a loan) is bad financial management. Resist being talked into filling the training company’s account with extra money of yours just to give them more interest! Some will be pinning their hopes on the fact that you will never make it to exams – then they’ll keep the extra money. In addition to this, many exam guarantees are worthless. The majority of companies won’t pay for re-takes until you’ve completely satisfied them that you’re ready this time. Average exam fees were about 112 pounds last year via Prometric or VUE centres around the United Kingdom. So why pay hundreds or thousands of pounds extra to have ‘Exam Guarantees’, when it’s obvious that the best guarantee is a regular, committed, study programme, with an accredited exam preparation system.

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.

Discovering job security these days is very rare. Companies can throw us out of the workforce at the drop of a hat – as long as it fits their needs. Whereas a marketplace with high growth, where staff are in constant demand (due to a big shortfall of properly qualified staff), provides a market for proper job security. Taking the IT industry as an example, the most recent e-Skills investigation highlighted massive skills shortages throughout the United Kingdom around the 26 percent mark. Meaning that for each four job positions that exist in the computer industry, there are only 3 trained people to perform that task. Attaining proper commercial computer accreditation is accordingly a ‘Fast Track’ to realise a continuing as well as gratifying line of work. Because the IT sector is evolving at such a rate, could there honestly be a better market worth looking at for your new career.