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 recommend you seek advice first – find an industry expert; an advisor who can discover your ideal job, and analyse the courses that will suit you:
* Do you like to be around others at work? Are you better with new people or those you know well? Perhaps you prefer not to be disturbed and enjoy responsibilities that you can get on with on your own?
* Which criteria’s are fundamentally important when considering the market sector you’ll work in?
* After re-training, how long a career do you hope for, and can the industry you choose give you the confidence that will happen?
* Do you have niggles about the chance of getting new work, and being in demand in the employment market to the end of your working life?
We ask you to really explore the computer industry – there are more jobs than employees, and it’s a rare career choice where the industry is expanding. Despite what some people would have you think, IT is not full of nerdy individuals looking at screens the whole day (though those jobs exist.) Most positions are done by ordinary people who want to earn a very good living.
Of all the important things to consider, one of the most essential is always comprehensive 24×7 direct-access support from expert mentors and instructors. It’s an all too common story to find providers that only seem to want to help while they’re in the office (9am till 6pm, Monday till Friday usually) and nothing at the weekends.
Avoid those companies who use ‘out-of-hours’ call-centres – with the call-back coming in during standard office hours. It’s no use when you’re stuck on a problem and need an answer now.
The very best programs provide an online access 24 hours-a-day package combining multiple support operations throughout multiple time-zones. You get a single, easy-to-use interface that accesses the most appropriate office any time of the day or night: Support when you need it.
Never ever take second best where support is concerned. The vast majority of IT hopefuls that can’t get going properly, are in that situation because they didn’t get the support necessary for them.
Beginning with the understanding that we have to choose the market that sounds most inviting first and foremost, before we can even chew over which training program fulfils our needs, how do we know the right path?
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.
Often, the key to unlocking this problem appropriately stems from an in-depth chat, covering several different topics:
* What hobbies you have and enjoy – these often reveal the areas will provide a happy working life.
* Are you looking to reach an important objective – like working for yourself sometime soon?
* 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.
* Taking a good look at how much time and effort you can give.
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.
A top of the range training package will have fully authorised exam preparation systems.
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!
If it’s important to you to pass first time, evidence suggests you must pay for one exam at a time, give it the necessary attention and give the task sufficient application.
Take your exams somewhere local and go for the best offer you can find when you’re ready.
Considerable numbers of unscrupulous training companies net huge profits by charging for examinations upfront and hoping that you won’t take them all.
Many training companies will require you to do mock exams and with-hold subsequent exam entries from you until you’ve completely proven that you’re likely to pass – making an ‘exam guarantee’ just about worthless.
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.
Copyright Scott Edwards 2009. Look at ccnatraining4.co.uk or Learn Programming.