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.
Before you make decisions on individual training courses, seek out someone who can help you sort out which area will be right for you. Someone who can get a feel for your personality, and find out the best career for you to work towards:
* 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?
* Have you given much thought to which sector you could be employed in? (Post credit crunch, it’s more important than ever to choose carefully.)
* Once you’ve qualified, would you like your new abilities to serve you till you retire?
* Are you happy that the training program you’ve chosen will make you employable, and offer the chance to keep you in work until your pension kicks in?
Don’t overlook the IT sector, that’s our recommendation – it’s one of the few growth areas throughout Europe. Another benefit is that remuneration packages are much better than most.
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.
Many companies enrol you into some sort of program spread over 1-3 years, and drop-ship the materials to you piecemeal as you complete each section or exam. If you think this sound logical, then consider this:
Many students find that the company’s usual training route isn’t ideal for them. They might find a different order of study is more expedient. And what if you don’t get to the end inside of the expected timescales?
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.
Trainees looking to kick off a career in IT generally have no idea of what direction they should take, let alone what area to build their qualifications around.
Since in the absence of any solid background in Information Technology, how should we possibly know what a particular job actually consists of?
Consideration of the following areas is important when you need to expose the right answers:
* What hobbies you have and enjoy – often these define what areas will satisfy you.
* Are you hoping to re-train due to a precise reason – i.e. do you aim to work at home (being your own boss?)?
* Does salary have a higher place on your priority-scale than some other areas.
* 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.
In actuality, you’ll find the only real way to research these issues will be via a meeting with an advisor that has experience of IT (and chiefly it’s commercial needs.)
Don’t forget: the actual training or the accreditation is not the ultimate goal; a job that you’re getting the training for is. Too many training companies put too much weight in the certificate itself.
You may train for one year and then end up performing the job-role for decades. Ensure you avoid the fatal error of finding what seems like an ‘interesting’ course and then spend decades in a job you hate!
Set targets for what you want to earn and how ambitious you are. This can often control what particular certifications will be required and what you can expect to give industry in return.
Seek guidance and advice from an experienced industry professional, even if you have to pay a small fee – it’s usually much cheaper and safer to discover early on whether your choices are appropriate, instead of finding out after two full years that the job you’ve chosen is not for you and now need to go back to square one.
A useful feature offered by some training providers 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 difficult as you may be led to believe to secure your first job – as long as you’ve got the necessary skills and qualifications; employers in this country need your skills.
Nevertheless, don’t procrastinate and wait until you’ve qualified before polishing up your CV. As soon as your training commences, mark down what you’re doing and tell people about it!
It’s not uncommon to find that junior support jobs have been bagged by students who’re still on their course and haven’t even passed a single exam yet. This will at least get your CV into the ‘possible’ pile and not the ‘no’ pile.
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.