Good for you! By landing here you’ve doubtless been pondering on retraining for a new career – so already you’ve made a start. Only one in ten of us are happy and fulfilled in our work, but most complain but just stay there. You could join a select group who take responsibility for their future.
We’d politely request that in advance of taking a course of training, you discuss your plans with a person who has knowledge of the industry and can give you advice. The right person will be able to assess your personal likes and dislikes and help you sort out a role to fit you:
* Is collaborating with others important to you? Would that be with the same people or with many new people? Maybe working on your own on specific tasks could suit you better?
* Which criteria’s are fundamentally important when considering the market sector you’ll work in?
* Is this the final time you want to study, and if so, do you believe this career choice will give you scope to do that?
* Are you confident that your industry training course will offer you employment opportunities, and have the ability to allow you to work until retirement?
A predominant industry in the UK to tick all of the above boxes is the computer industry, particularly IT. There is a requirement for greater numbers of knowledgeable workers in IT, just check out any jobs website and you’ll discover what we mean. Don’t misunderstand and think it’s full of techie geeks sitting in front ofscreens all the time – there are many more roles than that. Large numbers of workers in the industry are people of average intelligence, but they enjoy their work and get well paid.
A lot of training companies will only provide office hours or extended office hours support; not many go late into the evening (after 8-9pm) or cover weekends properly.
Don’t buy training courses that only support students via a message system when it’s outside of usual working hours. Training companies will defend this with all kinds of excuses. The bottom line is – you want support at the appropriate time – not when it suits them.
Be on the lookout for training programs that incorporate three or four individual support centres from around the world. Every one of them needs to be seamlessly combined to offer a simple interface together with 24 hours-a-day access, when it suits you, with the minimum of hassle.
If you accept anything less than direct-access 24×7 support, you’ll regret it. It may be that you don’t use it during the night, but you may need weekends, evenings and early mornings at some point.
Looking around, we find a myriad of professional positions up for grabs in the IT industry. Finding the particular one out of this complexity is a mammoth decision.
How can we possibly grasp what is involved in a particular job when we’ve never done it? Often we have never met anyone who performs the role either.
Achieving any kind of right choice can only grow through a methodical study of several shifting key points:
* Personalities play a significant part – what gets you ‘up and running’, and what are the things that really turn you off.
* What time-frame are you looking at for retraining?
* How important is salary to you – is it very important, or is enjoying your job a little higher on the scale of your priorities?
* With everything that IT encapsulates, it’s obvious you’ll need to be able to absorb how they differ.
* It’s wise to spend some time thinking about what kind of effort and commitment you’ll put into gaining your certifications.
To bypass the barrage of jargon, and reveal what’ll really work for you, have an informal chat with an industry-experienced advisor; an individual who appreciates and can explain the commercial realities as well as each qualification.
Validated exam preparation packages are vital – and absolutely ought to be sought from your training company.
Because a lot of examination boards in IT tend to be American, you must be prepared for the way exams are phrased. It’s no use simply understanding random questions – it’s essential that you can cope with them in the proper exam format.
A way to build self-confidence is if you test your knowledge through tests and practice exams to get you ready for the real deal.
It’s not uncommon for companies to offer inclusive exam guarantees – this always means you have to pay for the exams before you’ve even made a start on the course. Before you jump at a course with such a promise, why not think about this:
These days, we tend to be a tad more knowledgeable about sales gimmicks – and most of us know that for sure it is something we’re paying for – it’s not because they’re so generous they want to give something away!
Qualifying on the first ‘go’ is what everyone wants to do. Taking your exams progressively in order and paying for them just before taking them sees you much better placed to get through first time – you prepare appropriately and think carefully about the costs.
Take your exams somewhere local and go for the best offer you can find when you’re ready.
Is there a good reason to pay interest on a bigger loan than is necessary because you’ve paid early for examination fees when there was no need to? Big margins are netted by organisations charging all their exam fees up-front – and hoping either that you won’t take them, or it will be a long time before you do.
Additionally, exam guarantees often have very little value. Many training companies won’t pay for re-takes until you have demonstrated conclusively that you won’t fail again.
Exams taken at local centres are in the region of 112 pounds in this country. What’s the point of paying huge charges for ‘Exam Guarantees’ (usually wrapped up in the course package price) – when a quality course, support and consistent and systematic learning, coupled with quality exam simulation software is what will really see you through.