What might you expect the top of the range training organisations accredited by Microsoft to provide a trainee in Britain in this day and age? Undoubtedly, the ultimate in Microsoft certified training tracks, offering a portfolio of courses to take you to a variety of careers in the IT workplace.

Perhaps you’d like to find a training advisor, who can offer guidance on what sort of job would suit you, and the kind of tasks that are appropriate for somebody with your personality.

When you’ve chosen the career track for you, you’ll need an applicable training course customised to your ability level and skill set. The standard of teaching ought to be of an excellent standard.

One area often overlooked by potential students considering a training program is the concept of ‘training segmentation’. Essentially, this is the method used to break up the program to be delivered to you, which vastly changes the point you end up at.

Most companies will sell you a program spread over 1-3 years, and deliver each piece one-by-one as you complete each section or exam. This sounds reasonable until you consider the following:

How would they react if you didn’t complete everything within the time limits imposed? Sometimes their preference of study order won’t be as easy as an alternative path could be.

In a perfect world, you want ALL the study materials up-front – enabling you to have them all to come back to in the future – as and when you want. You can also vary the order in which you complete each objective if another more intuitive route presents itself.

Searching for your first position in IT is often made easier if you’re offered a Job Placement Assistance facility. With the great need for more IT skills in the UK today, it’s not too important to make too much of this option though. It’s not as difficult as you may be led to believe to secure the right work once you’re properly qualified.

However, what is relevant is to have help and assistance with preparing a CV and getting interviews though; and we’d recommend any student to update their CV the day they start training – don’t wait for when you’re ready to start work.

You might not even have passed your first exam when you will get your initial junior support role; but this can’t and won’t happen unless you’ve posted your CV on job sites.

You can usually expect better performance from an independent and specialised local recruitment consultancy than you’ll experience from any course provider’s national service, as they’ll know the area better.

A slight frustration for various course providers is how hard trainees are prepared to work to get top marks in their exams, but how un-prepared they are to work on getting the job they’re acquired skills for. Don’t falter at the last fence.

With all the options available, there’s no surprise that the majority of students balk at what job they will follow.

Because in the absence of any previous experience in the IT industry, how could any of us understand what any job actually involves?

The key to answering this dilemma in the best manner lies in a deep chat, covering a number of areas:

* Personality plays a significant part – what gets you ‘up and running’, and what are the areas that get you down.

* Why you’re looking at moving into Information Technology – maybe you’d like to conquer a long-held goal like being self-employed maybe.

* What salary and timescale requirements that are important to you?

* Often, trainees don’t consider the energy demanded to get fully certified.

* You need to appreciate the differences between the myriad of training options.

In these situations, it’s obvious that the only real way to research these issues is through a chat with someone who has a background in Information Technology (as well as the commercial needs.)

It’s likely that you’re a practical sort of person – a ‘hands-on’ personality type. If you’re anything like us, the world of book-reading and classrooms is something you’ll force on yourself if you absolutely have to, but you really wouldn’t enjoy it. You should use video and multimedia based materials if book-based learning really isn’t your style.

Where possible, if we can get all of our senses involved in our learning, then we normally see dramatically better results.

Courses are now available in the form of CD and DVD ROM’s, where your computer becomes the centre of your learning. Using video-streaming, you are able to see your instructors showing you how to perform the required skill, and then practice yourself – with interactive lab sessions.

It makes sense to see some examples of the kind of training materials you’ll be using before you make your decision. The minimum you should expect would be instructor demonstrations, video tutorials and audio-visual elements backed up by interactive lab’s.

Avoiding training that is delivered purely online is generally a good idea. Always choose CD or DVD based study materials where offered, enabling them to be used at your convenience – and not be totally reliant on a quality and continuous internet connection.

(C) S. Edwards 2009. Hop over to www.CareerChangeHelp.co.uk/xcch.html or Professional Development Training.