Good for you! Hitting upon this feature suggests you’re contemplating your career, and if it’s re-training you’re considering you’ve even now progressed more than the majority of people will. It’s a frightening thought that surprisingly few of us are satisfied and happy at work – but the majority will just put up with it. We implore you to liberate yourself and move forward – you have the rest of your life to enjoy it.
We suggest that you discuss your ideas first – find someone who knows the industry; someone who’ll give you career advice based on what works best for you, and analyse the training programs you may be suited to:
* Would you like to work with others? If so, do you want a team or are you hoping to meet new people? Or are you better working in isolation?
* Have you given much thought to which sector you could be employed in? (Post credit crunch, it’s more important than ever to choose carefully.)
* Is it important that this should be the last time you’ll have to retrain?
* Do you think being qualified will give you the opportunity to discover new employment possibilities, and remain in employment until you choose to stop?
Don’t overlook the IT sector, that’s our recommendation – it’s one of the few growth areas throughout Europe. Another benefit is that remuneration packages are much better than most.
Often, students don’t think to check on something of absolutely vital importance – how their company divides up the physical training materials, and into how many bits.
Normally, you will purchase a course taking 1-3 years and get sent one module each time you pass an exam. It seems to make sense on one level, but consider these issues:
What happens when you don’t complete every single exam? Maybe the prescribed order won’t suit you? Because of nothing that’s your fault, you may not meet the required timescales and therefore not end up with all the modules.
To provide the maximum security and flexibility, it’s normal for most trainees to make sure that every element of their training is couriered out in one package, all at the beginning. It’s then up to you in what order and how fast or slow you’d like to work.
Starting from the viewpoint that we need to find the market that sounds most inviting first, before we can contemplate what development program meets that requirement, how can we choose the correct route?
Since in the absence of any solid background in Information Technology, how should we possibly know what a particular job actually consists of?
To attack this, there should be a discussion of a number of unique issues:
* What hobbies you have and enjoy – often these define what areas will satisfy you.
* For what reasons you’re starting in IT – maybe you want to triumph over some personal goal like being self-employed for instance.
* What salary and timescale requirements you may have?
* There are many markets to choose from in IT – you will have to get some background information on what sets them apart.
* You’ll also need to think hard about the amount of time and effort you’ll put into gaining your certifications.
The bottom line is, the best way of investigating all this is by means of a good talk with an experienced advisor that has enough background to provide solid advice.
Don’t forget: the actual training or the accreditation is not the ultimate goal; a job that you’re getting the training for is. Too many training companies put too much weight in the certificate itself.
It’s an awful thing, but thousands of new students start out on programs that sound fabulous in the sales literature, but which delivers a career that is of no interest at all. Just ask several university graduates and you’ll see where we’re coming from.
Set targets for what you want to earn and how ambitious you are. This can often control what particular certifications will be required and what you can expect to give industry in return.
Speak to a professional advisor that has a background in the industry you’re considering, and who’ll explain to you an in-depth explanation of what you’re going to be doing in that job. Researching these areas long before beginning a training course will save you both time and money.
Some training providers offer a Job Placement Assistance service, to help you into your first commercial role. But don’t place too much emphasis on it – it’s quite easy for eager sales people to make too much of it. Ultimately, the still growing need for IT personnel in the UK is what will enable you to get a job.
Bring your CV up to date as soon as possible however (advice and support for this should come from your course provider). Don’t wait till you’ve finished your exams.
It’s not uncommon to find that junior support jobs have been bagged by students who’re still on their course and haven’t even passed a single exam yet. This will at least get your CV into the ‘possible’ pile and not the ‘no’ pile.
The top companies to get you a new position are most often independent and specialised local recruitment services. Because they get paid commission to place you, they’ll work that much harder to get a result.
A common aggravation of some training companies is how hard students are prepared to study to become certified, but how un-prepared they are to work on getting the role they have acquired skills for. Get out there and hustle – you might find it’s fun.
(C) Scott Edwards 2009. Navigate to www.HowToChooseACareer.co.uk or New Careers Information.