Quote to Card

As you’ve arrived here there’s a good chance that you’re about to make a move into the great world of IT and you’ve heard good things about MCSE’s, or you could already be in IT and you’re aware that the next stage is the MCSE accreditation.

We’d recommend you see evidence that the training company you use is educating you on the latest version from Microsoft. A lot of students are left in a mess when they realise they’ve been learning from an outdated MCSE program which now needs updating.

Avoid making a hasty decision when buying a course before having all your questions answered. Find a training provider that will make sure that you’re on the most suitable training path for your requirements.

A service that several companies offer is a Job Placement Assistance program. The service is put in place to steer you into your first IT role. Ultimately it’s not as hard as some people make out to find a job – as long as you’ve got the necessary skills and qualifications; the shortage of IT personnel in Britain looks after that.

You would ideally have advice and support about your CV and interviews though; also we would encourage any student to update their CV the day they start training – don’t put it off until you’ve graduated or passed any exams.

It’s possible that you won’t have even taken your exams when you will get your initial junior support role; yet this won’t be the case unless you’ve posted your CV on job sites.

The most efficient companies to help you find a job are most often specialist independent regional recruitment consultancies. Because they only get paid when they place you, they’re perhaps more focused on results.

A constant aggravation of various course providers is how much students are prepared to study to become certified, but how un-prepared they are to work on getting the position they’ve studied for. Don’t give up when the best is yet to come.

A competent and practiced advisor (in direct contrast to a salesman) will want to thoroughly discuss your current situation. There is no other way of understanding the point at which you need to start your studies.

With a bit of live experience or some accreditation, it may be that your starting point of study is very different to someone completely new.

It’s usual to start with some basic user skills first. This can often make your learning curve a less steep.

Think about the facts below carefully if you’ve been persuaded that that over-used sales technique about an ‘Exam Guarantee’ sounds great value:

These days, we are a bit more aware of hype – and generally we know that for sure it is actually an additional cost to us (it isn’t free or out of the goodness of their hearts!)

Trainees who take exams one at a time, paying for them just before taking them are far more likely to pass first time. They’re thoughtful of the cost and revise more thoroughly to be up to the task.

Don’t you think it’s more sensible to hold on to your money and pay for the exam at the appropriate time, instead of paying a premium to the training company, and to do it in a local testing office – instead of the remote centre that’s convenient only to the trainer?

Big margins are netted by many training colleges that get money upfront for exam fees. A number of students don’t take them for various reasons but no refunds are given. Surprising as it sounds, there are providers who depend on students not taking their exams – and that’s how they increase their profits.

Also, ‘Exam Guarantees’ often aren’t worth the paper they’re written on. Most companies will not pay for you to re-take until you have demonstrated conclusively that you won’t fail again.

Average exam fees were around the 112 pounds mark twelve months or so ago via VUE or Pro-metric centres in the UK. So why pay hundreds or thousands of pounds extra to have ‘Exam Guarantees’, when it’s no secret that the responsible approach is study, commitment and preparing with good quality mock and practice exams.

It’s essential to have authorised exam simulation and preparation programs included in your course.

Steer clear of relying on unofficial preparation materials for exams. The type of questions asked is sometimes startlingly different – and sometimes this can be a real headache when the proper exam time arrives.

Be sure to have some simulated exam questions in order to check your comprehension at any point. Mock exams prepare you properly – so you won’t be quite so nervous at the actual exam.

(C) Jason Kendall. Navigate to LearningLolly.com for great ideas. www.it-training–uk.co.uk or www.learninglolly.com.

Good for you! Hitting upon this feature suggests you’re contemplating your career, and if it’s re-training you’re considering you’ve even now progressed more than the majority of people will. It’s a frightening thought that surprisingly few of us are satisfied and happy at work – but the majority will just put up with it. We implore you to liberate yourself and move forward – you have the rest of your life to enjoy it.

When looking at training, it’s essential to first define your requirements from the job you’re hoping to qualify for. It’s important to discover if things would be a lot better before you put a lot of energy into re-directing your life. We recommend looking at the whole story first, to avoid disappointment:

* Would you like to work with others? If so, do you want a team or are you hoping to meet new people? Or are you better working in isolation?

* What thoughts do you have regarding the industry you hope to work in?

* Is it important that this should be the last time you’ll have to retrain?

* Are you worried about the chance of new employment opportunities, and being in demand in the employment market all the way until retirement?

We would advise you to really explore the IT sector – there are a larger number of roles than employees, plus it’s a rare career choice where the sector is expanding. In contrast to what some people believe, IT isn’t all techie people looking at screens the whole day (though naturally some jobs are like that.) Most positions are taken by people like you and me who enjoy better than average salaries.

An area that’s often missed by new students considering a training program is the issue of ‘training segmentation’. Basically, this means the way the course is divided up to be delivered to you, which completely controls what you end up with.

Normally, you will purchase a course taking 1-3 years and get sent one module each time you pass an exam. It seems to make sense on one level, but consider these issues:

How would they react if you didn’t complete everything at the required speed? Often the prescribed exam order doesn’t come as naturally as another different route may.

To be in the best situation you would have all the learning modules sent to you right at the start; every single thing! This way, nothing can happen down the line which could affect your capability of finishing.

Starting from the viewpoint that we need to find the market that sounds most inviting first, before we can contemplate what development program meets that requirement, how can we choose the correct route?

Working through a list of odd-sounding and meaningless job titles is no use whatsoever. The vast majority of us don’t even know what the neighbours do for a living – so we have no hope of understanding the intricacies of a particular IT career.

Consideration of the following areas is important when you need to expose the right answers:

* Personality plays an important role – what gets you ‘up and running’, and what are the areas that ruin your day.

* For what reasons you’re starting in IT – maybe you want to triumph over some personal goal like being self-employed for instance.

* What salary and timescale requirements you may have?

* Considering all that computing covers, it’s a requirement that you can absorb what is different.

* You’ll also need to think hard about the amount of time and effort you’ll put into gaining your certifications.

For most of us, sifting through these areas requires a good chat with an advisor who can explain things properly. Not only the qualifications – but the commercial expectations and needs also.

A typical blunder that many potential students make is to look for the actual course to take, and take their eye off where they want to get to. Training academies are stacked to the hilt with unaware students who chose a course based on what sounded good – rather than what would get them their end-goal of a job they enjoyed.

It’s possible, in some situations, to obtain tremendous satisfaction from a year of studying and then find yourself trapped for decades in a job you hate, simply because you did it without some decent due-diligence at the beginning.

You’ll want to understand the exact expectations industry will have. What certifications they will want you to have and how you’ll go about getting some commercial experience. It’s also worth spending time setting guidelines as to how far you think you’ll want to build your skill-set as often it can force you to choose a particular set of certifications.

Speak to a professional advisor that has a background in the industry you’re considering, and who’ll explain to you an in-depth explanation of what you’re going to be doing in that job. Researching these areas long before beginning a training course will save you both time and money.

The somewhat scary thought of getting your first role in IT can be made easier by some companies, via a Job Placement Assistance facility. Because of the great shortage of skills in Britain right now, there’s no need to make too much of this option though. It’s not as difficult as you may be led to believe to find the right work once you’re trained and certified.

Bring your CV up to date as soon as possible however (advice and support for this should come from your course provider). Don’t wait till you’ve finished your exams.

Getting your CV considered is more than not being regarded at all. A decent number of junior positions are given to students (sometimes when they’ve only just got going.)

Normally you’ll get quicker results from a specialised and independent local recruitment service than you will through a training course provider’s national service, because they will understand the local industry and employment needs.

Please be sure that you don’t spend hundreds of hours on your training and studies, then call a halt and expect somebody else to sort out your employment. Stand up for yourself and start looking for yourself. Put the same focus into securing the right position as you did to gain the skills.

(C) 2009 – S. Edwards. Pop to New Careers Information or CLICK HERE.