Computer and network support technicians are constantly sought after in Great Britain, as organisations are becoming more reliant upon their knowledge and skills. Whereupon our society becomes growingly beholden to our PC’s, we simultaneously inevitably become more reliant on the commercially qualified network engineers, who maintain those systems.
One thing you must always insist on is proper direct-access 24×7 support via dedicated instructors and mentors. Far too often we see trainers who only provide support to you inside of office hours (typically 9am-6pm) and sometimes a little earlier or later (but not weekends usually).
some companies only provide email support (slow), and telephone support is usually to a call-centre that will chat nicely with you for 5 minutes to ask what the issue is and then simply send an email to an instructor – who will attempt to call you within 24-48 hrs, when it’s convenient to them. This is all next to useless if you’re lost and confused and only have certain times available in which to do your studies.
Top training companies use multiple support centres from around the world. They use an online interactive interface to join them all seamlessly, irrespective of the time you login, there is always help at hand, avoiding all the delays and problems.
Never make do with less than you need and deserve. Direct-access round-the-clock support is the only way to go with computer-based training. Maybe burning the midnight-oil is not your thing; but for most of us, we’re at work while the support is live.
People attracted to this sort of work are often very practical, and won’t enjoy sitting at a desk in class, and slogging through piles of books. If this could be you, go for more modern interactive training, where you can learn everything on-screen.
Studies have consistently shown that becoming involved with our studies, to utilise all our senses, is proven to produce longer-lasting and deeper memory retention.
Interactive full motion video with demonstrations and practice sessions will turn you off book-based study for ever more. And they’re far more fun.
You’ll definitely want a training material demonstration from your training provider. You should ask for instructor videos, demonstrations, slide-shows and fully interactive skills-lab’s.
It’s usually bad advice to select online only courseware. With highly variable reliability and quality from most broadband providers, ensure that you have access to physical media such as CD or DVD ROM’s.
An advisor that doesn’t ask many questions – it’s more than likely they’re just a salesperson. If someone pushes specific products before looking at your personality and experience, then it’s definitely the case.
With a bit of real-world experience or some accreditation, your starting-point of learning is not the same as someone new to the industry.
Where this will be your first attempt at IT study then it may be wise to cut your teeth on user-skills and software training first.
Every program under consideration really needs to work up to a properly recognised qualification at the finale – definitely not some ‘in-house’ plaque for your wall.
Only properly recognised accreditation from the likes of Microsoft, Adobe, CompTIA and Cisco will be useful to a future employer.
(C) Jason Kendall. Browse LearningLolly.com for smart career advice. www.comptiacertification.co.uk or Comptia Network Certification.