Congratulations! As you’re looking at this it’s likely you’re thinking about retraining for a new career – so you’ve already done more than most. Only one in ten of us are content with our jobs, but most complain but just stay there. So, why not be one of the few who actually do something about it.
When considering retraining, it’s vital to first define your requirements from the position you’d like to train for. You need to know that things would be a lot better before much time and effort is spent re-directing your life. It’s good sense to regard the big picture first, to make an informed decision:
* Is having company at work important to you? Are you better with new people or those you know well? Or you may prefer task-orientated work that you can complete alone?
* What do you require from the market sector you work in? (Things do change – look at the building trade, or banks for example.)
* Would you like this to be the last time you’ll have to retrain?
* Would you like your study to be in an industry where you believe your chances of gainful employment are high until retirement?
Prioritise Information Technology, that’s our best advice – unusually, it’s one of the growing market sectors in this country and overseas. Salaries are also more generous than most.
A useful feature provided by many trainers is job placement assistance. This is to assist your search for your first position. With the growing demand for appropriately skilled people in this country right now, there’s no need to become overly impressed with this service however. It’s not as difficult as you may be led to believe to get a job as long as you’ve got the necessary skills and qualifications.
However, avoid waiting until you have completed your exams before bringing your CV up to date. As soon as you start a course, enter details of your study programme and place it on jobsites!
It’s not uncommon to find that junior support roles are offered to people who are in the process of training and haven’t even passed a single exam yet. This will at least get you into the ‘maybe’ pile of CV’s – rather than the ‘No’ pile.
Most often, a specialist locally based recruitment consultancy (who will, of course, be keen to place you to receive their commission) is going to give you a better service than a centralised training company’s service. They should, of course, also be familiar with the local area and commercial needs.
Not inconsiderable numbers of men and women, apparently, put a great deal of effort into their studies (sometimes for years), and then just stop instead of trying to get the right position. Market yourself… Do your best to put yourself out there. A job isn’t just going to bump into you.
Don’t get hung-up, as many people do, on the certification itself. Training is not an end in itself; you should be geared towards the actual job at the end of it. You need to remain focused on where you want to go.
Students often train for a single year but end up performing the job-role for decades. Don’t make the mistake of choosing what sounds like an ‘interesting’ training program only to spend 20 years doing a job you hate!
You must also consider your feelings on earning potential, career development, plus your level of ambition. It makes sense to understand what (if any) sacrifices you’ll need to make for a particular role, what exams are required and where you’ll pick-up experience from.
Take guidance from an experienced professional, even if you have to pay – it’s usually much cheaper and safer to find out at the start if you’ve chosen correctly, instead of discovering following two years of study that you aren’t going to enjoy the job you’ve chosen and now need to go back to square one.
Looking at the myriad of choice out there, does it really shock us that the majority of trainees get stuck choosing the job they could be successful with.
How can we possibly grasp the tasks faced daily in an IT career if we’ve never been there? Often we have never met anyone who performs the role either.
Getting to the right answer really only appears through a thorough investigation of many unique criteria:
* The sort of individual you reckon you are – what kind of jobs you find interesting, plus of course – what makes you unhappy.
* Why you’re looking at starting in Information Technology – it could be you’re looking to overcome a particular goal such as working for yourself maybe.
* What salary and timescale requirements you may have?
* Learning what the main work types and markets are – plus how they’re different to each other.
* It’s wise to spend some time thinking about the level of commitment you’ll put into your training.
In all honesty, it’s obvious that the only real way to research these issues will be via a meeting with someone that understands Information Technology (as well as it’s commercial needs and requirements.)
You have to be sure that all your exams are current and what employers are looking for – you’re wasting your time with programmes which provide certificates that are worthless because they’re ‘in-house’.
All the major IT organisations like Microsoft, Cisco, Adobe or CompTIA have nationally acknowledged proficiency courses. Huge conglomerates such as these can make sure you stand out at interview.
(C) 2009. Go to LearningLolly.com for logical ideas on Network Security Training and Happy 40th Birthday Internet.
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