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?
A fatal Faux-Pas that we encounter all too often is to concentrate on the course itself, and not focus on the end result they want to achieve. Universities are stacked to the hilt with students who chose a course based on what sounded good - rather than what would get them an enjoyable career or job. It's a sad fact, but a large percentage of students kick-off study that often sounds fabulous from the prospectus, but which delivers a career that doesn't satisfy. Talk to many university graduates and you'll see where we're coming from.
Stay focused on where you want to get to, and build your study action-plan from that - don't do it back-to-front. Stay on target - making sure you're training for an end-result you'll still be enjoying many years from now. As a precursor to beginning a particular study programme, you'd be well advised to discuss individual career needs with an industry professional, to make sure the retraining programme covers all that is required.
Be careful that the certifications you're considering doing are commercially relevant and are current. 'In-house' certificates are often meaningless. To an employer, only top businesses such as Microsoft, CompTIA, Cisco or Adobe (for instance) will get you short-listed. Nothing else makes the grade.
Proper support should never be taken lightly - ensure you track down something providing 24x7 full access, as anything else will annoy you and definitely impede your ability to learn. Be wary of any training providers which use call-centres 'out-of-hours' - with the call-back coming in during standard office hours. It's not a lot of help when you've got study issues and need an answer now.
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 24x7 round-the-clock support provides the necessary backup.
Students who consider this area of study can be very practical by nature, and don't really enjoy classrooms, and endless reading of dry academic textbooks. If this is putting you off studying, use multimedia, interactive learning, with on-screen demonstrations and labs. Recent studies into the way we learn shows that much more of what we learn in remembered when we involve as many senses as possible, and we put into practice what we've been studying.
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.
Avoid training that is purely online. Always choose CD or DVD based study materials where offered, so that you have access at all times - you don't want to be reliant on a quality and continuous internet connection.
Considering how a program is 'delivered' to you can often be overlooked. How many parts is the training broken down into? And in what sequence and how fast does each element come? Usually, you'll join a programme staged over 2 or 3 years and get sent one module each time you pass an exam. This may seem sensible until you think about these factors: Sometimes the steps or stages prescribed by the provider doesn't suit you. What if you find it hard to complete every element inside their defined time-scales?
In a perfect world, you'd get ALL the training materials right at the beginning - so you'll have them all to come back to in the future - as and when you want. You can also vary the order in which you move through the program if another more intuitive route presents itself.
One crafty way that training companies make extra profits is by charging for exams up-front and then including an 'Exam Guarantee'. This looks like a great idea for the student, until you think it through:
It's very clear we're ultimately paying for it - obviously it has been inserted into the gross price invoiced by the college. It's absolutely not free (it's just marketing companies think we'll fall for anything they say!) Evidence shows that when students fund their relevant examinations, at the time of taking them, they'll be in a better position to pass first time - because they're aware of their payment and their application will be greater.
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.
IT has become one of the most stimulating and innovative industries you could be involved with. Being a member of a team working on breakthroughs in technology means you're a part of the huge progress that will affect us all over the next generation. Computer technology and interaction on the internet will radically change the direction of our lives in the near future; remarkably so.
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.
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?
A fatal Faux-Pas that we encounter all too often is to concentrate on the course itself, and not focus on the end result they want to achieve. Universities are stacked to the hilt with students who chose a course based on what sounded good - rather than what would get them an enjoyable career or job. It's a sad fact, but a large percentage of students kick-off study that often sounds fabulous from the prospectus, but which delivers a career that doesn't satisfy. Talk to many university graduates and you'll see where we're coming from.
Stay focused on where you want to get to, and build your study action-plan from that - don't do it back-to-front. Stay on target - making sure you're training for an end-result you'll still be enjoying many years from now. As a precursor to beginning a particular study programme, you'd be well advised to discuss individual career needs with an industry professional, to make sure the retraining programme covers all that is required.
Be careful that the certifications you're considering doing are commercially relevant and are current. 'In-house' certificates are often meaningless. To an employer, only top businesses such as Microsoft, CompTIA, Cisco or Adobe (for instance) will get you short-listed. Nothing else makes the grade.
Proper support should never be taken lightly - ensure you track down something providing 24x7 full access, as anything else will annoy you and definitely impede your ability to learn. Be wary of any training providers which use call-centres 'out-of-hours' - with the call-back coming in during standard office hours. It's not a lot of help when you've got study issues and need an answer now.
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 24x7 round-the-clock support provides the necessary backup.
Students who consider this area of study can be very practical by nature, and don't really enjoy classrooms, and endless reading of dry academic textbooks. If this is putting you off studying, use multimedia, interactive learning, with on-screen demonstrations and labs. Recent studies into the way we learn shows that much more of what we learn in remembered when we involve as many senses as possible, and we put into practice what we've been studying.
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.
Avoid training that is purely online. Always choose CD or DVD based study materials where offered, so that you have access at all times - you don't want to be reliant on a quality and continuous internet connection.
Considering how a program is 'delivered' to you can often be overlooked. How many parts is the training broken down into? And in what sequence and how fast does each element come? Usually, you'll join a programme staged over 2 or 3 years and get sent one module each time you pass an exam. This may seem sensible until you think about these factors: Sometimes the steps or stages prescribed by the provider doesn't suit you. What if you find it hard to complete every element inside their defined time-scales?
In a perfect world, you'd get ALL the training materials right at the beginning - so you'll have them all to come back to in the future - as and when you want. You can also vary the order in which you move through the program if another more intuitive route presents itself.
One crafty way that training companies make extra profits is by charging for exams up-front and then including an 'Exam Guarantee'. This looks like a great idea for the student, until you think it through:
It's very clear we're ultimately paying for it - obviously it has been inserted into the gross price invoiced by the college. It's absolutely not free (it's just marketing companies think we'll fall for anything they say!) Evidence shows that when students fund their relevant examinations, at the time of taking them, they'll be in a better position to pass first time - because they're aware of their payment and their application will be greater.
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.
IT has become one of the most stimulating and innovative industries you could be involved with. Being a member of a team working on breakthroughs in technology means you're a part of the huge progress that will affect us all over the next generation. Computer technology and interaction on the internet will radically change the direction of our lives in the near future; remarkably so.
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.
About the Author:
After 2 Decades in IT, Jason Kendall has focused himself on IT education (UK based) consultancy. If you're interested in Computer Courses, visit LearningLolly Computer Training.
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