Congratulations! Hitting upon this feature means you’re likely to be wondering about where you’re going, and if you’re considering retraining you’ve even now progressed more than most. Did you know that surprisingly few of us would say we are contented at work – but most will take no corrective action. We encourage you to liberate yourself and do something – you have the rest of your life to enjoy it.
For those thinking of re-training, it’s crucial that you first make a list of your expectations from the position you’re looking to get into. It’s important to discover if things would be a lot better before much time and effort is spent re-directing your life. So much better to look at the destination you’re hoping for, to avoid disappointment:
* Is collaborating with others important to you? Would that be with a small ‘tightly-knit’ team or with many new people? It could be working by yourself on specific tasks would give you pleasure?
* What do you need from the area of industry you choose? (Things do change – look at the building trade, or banks for example.)
* After re-training, how long a career do you hope for, and can your chosen industry give you the confidence that will happen?
* Is it important for the course you’re re-training in to be in a market sector where you know you’ll have a job until your pension kicks in?
It’s important that one of your key sectors is the IT industry – everyone knows that it’s getting bigger. It’s not all nerdy people gazing at their PC’s the whole time – of course those roles do exist, but the majority of roles are carried out by people like you and me who are earning rather well.
Chat with any knowledgeable consultant and they can normally tell you many terrible tales of how students have been duped by salespeople. Make sure you deal with an industry professional that quizzes you to find out what’s right for you – not for their bank-account! You need to find an ideal starting-point that fits you.
With some real-world experience or certification, it may be that your starting point of study is very different to someone completely new.
If this is going to be your first crack at studying for an IT examination then you should consider whether to begin with user-skills and software training first.
The perhaps intimidating chore of getting your first IT job is often eased by some companies, via a Job Placement Assistance facility. Ultimately it isn’t so complicated as you might think to get a job – assuming you’re well trained and qualified; the growing UK skills shortage sees to that.
One important thing though, avoid waiting until you have passed your final exams before polishing up your CV. Right at the beginning of your training, enter details of your study programme and tell people about it!
Quite often, you’ll land your initial role while still studying (even when you’ve just left first base). If your CV doesn’t say what you’re learning (and it hasn’t been posted on jobsites) then you’re not even going to be known about!
Most often, an independent and specialised local employment service (who will get paid by the employer when they’ve placed you) is going to give you a better service than a centralised training company’s service. Also of course they should be familiar with local industry and the area better.
In a nutshell, as long as you focus the same level of energy into securing a job as into training, you’re not going to hit many challenges. A number of people strangely invest a great deal of time on their course materials and then just stop once they’ve passed their exams and would appear to think that businesses will just discover them.
The classroom style of learning we remember from school, utilising reference manuals and books, can be pretty hard going sometimes. If you’re nodding as you read this, find training programs that are on-screen and interactive.
Where possible, if we can study while utilising as many senses as possible, our results will often be quite spectacular.
The latest home-based training features easy-to-use DVD or CD ROM’s. Real-world classes from the instructors will mean you’ll take everything in by way of the demonstrations and explanations. Knowledge can then be tested by practicing and interacting with the software.
It’s very important to see the type of training provided by the company you’re considering. It’s essential they incorporate instructor-led video demonstrations with virtual practice-lab’s.
Avoid training that is purely online. Always choose CD or DVD based study materials where offered, so that you have access at all times – and not be totally reliant on a quality and continuous internet connection.
Make sure you don’t get caught-up, like so many people do, on the training process. Training for training’s sake is generally pointless; this is about gaining commercial employment. You need to remain focused on where you want to go.
It’s common, in some situations, to thoroughly enjoy one year of training and then spend 20 miserable years in a tiresome job role, entirely because you stumbled into it without the correct research at the outset.
Be honest with yourself about earning potential and the level of your ambition. Often, this changes what particular exams will be expected and what’ll be expected of you in your new role.
Seek guidance and advice from an experienced professional, irrespective of whether you have to pay – it’s usually much cheaper and safer to find out at the start if a chosen track will suit, instead of finding out after 2 years that the job you’ve chosen is not for you and now need to go back to square one.
(C) 2009. Check out LearningLolly.com for superb advice on MCSA or MCSE and Web Design Training.
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