Without a regular deluge of well educated PC and network support staff, industry in the United Kingdom (and indeed in most countries) would surely be brought to its knees. Therefore, there’s a huge requirement for technicians to support systems and users alike. The nation’s requirement for increasing numbers of skilled and qualified individuals is growing, as society becomes ever more dependent on computers in the modern world.

How do we reach an educated decision then? With all this potential, it’s important to know where to dig - and what to be investigating.

A competent and professional advisor (vs a salesperson) will want to thoroughly discuss your current experience level and abilities. This is paramount to understanding the starting point for your education. If you’ve got any work-based experience or base qualifications, it may be that your starting point of study is now at a different level to a new student. Starting with a foundation course first may be the ideal way to get into your computer training, depending on your current skill level.

Be watchful that any certifications you’re considering doing will be recognised by employers and are bang up to date. ‘In-house’ exams and the certificates they come with are usually worthless. All the major commercial players like Microsoft, Adobe, CompTIA or Cisco each have internationally renowned skills programs. These heavyweights can make sure you stand out at interview.

At the top of your shopping list for a training program should be comprehensive 24×7 direct-access support with trained professional instructors and mentors. Far too often we see trainers who only provide office hours (or extended office hours) support. Find a good quality service where you can access help at any time of day or night (no matter if it’s in the middle of the night on a weekend!) You want direct access to tutors, and not a call-centre that will take messages so you’re constantly waiting for a call-back during office hours.

The best trainers incorporate three or four individual support centres around the globe in several time-zones. They use an online interactive interface to provide a seamless experience, any time of the day or night, help is just seconds away, without any problems or delays. If you fail to get yourself direct-access round-the-clock support, you’ll regret it. You may not need it in the middle of the night, but you’re bound to use weekends, early mornings or late evenings.

If you’re like many of the students we talk to then you’re a practical sort of person - a ‘hands-on’ type. Usually, the world of book-reading and classrooms is something you’ll make yourself do if you have to, but you’d hate it. Consider interactive, multimedia study if learning from books is not your thing. Long-term memory is enhanced when multiple senses are involved - experts have been clear on this for years now.

Start a study-program in which you’ll receive a selection of DVD-ROM’s - you’ll start with videos of instructor demonstrations, and then have the opportunity to fine-tune your skills in fully interactive practice sessions. You really need to look at some example materials from the company you’re considering. Be sure that they contain video demo’s and interactive elements such as practice lab’s.

Pick CD and DVD ROM based physical training media where possible. You can then avoid all the difficulties of the variability of broadband quality and service.

Adding in the cost of examination fees upfront then including an exam guarantee is a popular marketing tool with a good many training companies. But look at the facts:

Everybody’s aware that they’re still being charged for it - it’s quite obvious to see that it’s already in the overall figure from the training company. It’s definitely not free - and it’s insulting that we’re supposed to think it is! The fact is that when students fund each examination, one at a time, there’s a much better chance they’ll pass first time - because they’re aware of the cost and so will prepare more thoroughly.

Find the best exam deal or offer available when you take the exam, and hang on to your cash. You’ll then be able to select where you do the examinations - which means you can stay local. Is there a good reason to pay interest on a bigger loan than is necessary because you’ve paid early for examinations when there was no need to? Big margins are made by companies charging all their exam fees up-front - and banking on the fact that many won’t be taken. It’s also worth noting that many exam guarantees are worthless. The majority of companies won’t be prepared to pay for re-takes until you’ve completely satisfied them that you’re ready this time.

Exams taken at VUE and Prometric centres are currently clocking in at an average of 112 pounds in this country. What’s the point of paying huge ‘Exam Guarantee’ costs (often covertly rolled into the cost of the course) - when good quality study materials, the proper support and study, commitment and preparing with good quality mock and practice exams is what will really guarantee success.

Many trainees are under the impression that the state educational path is still the best way into IT. So why then are commercial certificates becoming more popular with employers? With an ever-increasing technical demand on resources, industry has moved to specific, honed-in training that the vendors themselves supply - for example companies such as CISCO, Adobe, Microsoft and CompTIA. This frequently provides reductions in both cost and time. The training is effectively done through honing in on the actual skills required (together with a proportionate degree of background knowledge,) rather than trawling through all the background detail and ‘fluff’ that degrees in computing can often find themselves doing - to pad out the syllabus.

Put yourself in the employer’s position - and your company needed a person with some very particular skills. Which is the most straightforward: Trawl through loads of academic qualifications from hopeful applicants, trying to establish what they know and which vocational skills have been attained, or select a specialised number of commercial certifications that exactly fulfil your criteria, and make your short-list from that. The interview is then more about the person and how they’ll fit in - rather than establishing whether they can do a specific task.

Can job security really exist anywhere now? In the UK for instance, with industry changing its mind on a day-to-day basis, we’d question whether it does. Security can now only exist in a quickly increasing market, driven forward by a lack of trained workers. This shortage creates the right background for a higher level of market-security - a much more desirable situation.

Reviewing the Information Technology (IT) industry, a recent e-Skills study showed a 26 percent skills deficit. To explain it in a different way, this reveals that the UK is only able to source three properly accredited workers for each four job positions that exist now. Properly qualified and commercially certified new workers are thus at a complete premium, and in all likelihood it will stay that way for a long time. Because the IT sector is expanding at such a quick pace, is there any other sector worth looking at as a retraining vehicle.

Tags: Online Colleges

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