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PC and network support staff are ever more sought after in the UK, as businesses are becoming more reliant upon their knowledge and skills. Whilst our society becomes growingly reliant on technology, we simultaneously become more dependent on the well trained network engineers, who ensure the systems function properly.

Which kind of questions should we be raising if we’re to gain the understanding required? After all, it seems there are some pretty phenomenal opportunities for us all to investigate.

An all too common mistake that students everywhere can make is to choose a career based on a course, and take their eye off the desired end-result. Schools are stacked to the hilt with students that chose a program because it looked interesting – in place of something that could gain them their end-goal of a job they enjoyed. It’s a testament to the marketing skills of the big companies, but a great many students kick-off study that often sounds magnificent in the marketing materials, but which delivers a career that doesn’t satisfy. Talk to many college students for a real eye-opener.

Take time to understand what your attitude is towards career progression and earning potential, and if you’re ambitious or not. It’s vital to know what the role will demand of you, what accreditations are required and where you’ll pick-up experience from. We advise all students to talk with an experienced industry advisor before deciding on their study programme. This gives some measure of assurance that it features what is required for the chosen career path.

Proper support should never be taken lightly – find a program providing 24×7 full access, as anything else will annoy you and definitely hamper your progress. Email support is too slow, and telephone support is usually to a call-centre that will chat nicely with you for 5 minutes to ask what the issue is and then simply send an email to an instructor – who will attempt to call you within 24-48 hrs, at a time suitable for them. This is no good if you’re stuck and can’t continue and can only study at specific times.

Keep your eyes open for providers that utilise many support facilities across multiple time-zones. Each one should be integrated to provide a single interface and also round-the-clock access, when you want it, with no hassle. Never make do with less than you need and deserve. Online 24×7 support is the only way to go for technical training. Perhaps you don’t intend to study during the evenings; but for the majority of us however, we’re at work while the support is live.

The classroom style of learning we remember from school, using textbooks and whiteboards, is an up-hill struggle for the majority of us. If all this is ringing some familiar bells, find training programs which feature interactive and multimedia modules. Research has consistently verified that an ‘involved’ approach to study, where we utilise all our senses, will more likely produce memories that are deeper and longer-lasting.

Search for a course where you’re provided with an array of CD and DVD based materials – you’ll learn by watching video tutorials and demonstrations, and then have the opportunity to fine-tune your skills in fully interactive practice sessions. It makes sense to see some of the typical study materials provided before you hand over your cheque. The minimum you should expect would be video tutorials, instructor demo’s and a variety of audio-visual and interactive sections.

It’s usually bad advice to choose training that is only available online. Connection quality and reliability varies hugely across your average broadband company, ensure that you have access to disc based courseware (On CD or DVD).

Many training schools are still using one of the most out-dated training concepts – classroom lessons. Very often portrayed as a huge benefit, following a chat with most students who’ve had to attend a couple, you’ll most likely hear about many or most of these problems:

* The amount of travel required – lots of visits and sometimes over 100 miles a pop.

* Asking for frequent time off work – a lot of schools provide weekday availability and link several days together. This isn’t ideal for most people who work, especially if you include the travel time on top.

* I think you’d agree that we usually think four weeks vacation allowance is barely enough. Sacrifice at least half of this for study classes and you’ll experience even more problems.

* Training events fill up fast and can sometimes be too big – so they’re not personal enough.

* Workshop pace – classes can contain trainees of varied abilities, therefore there is often tension between those that want to go quickly as opposed to the ones who need a little longer.

* A lot of trainees tell us of the considerable cost of all the travelling back and forth to the centre and paying for food and accommodation can get very expensive.

* We all enjoy our privacy. We wouldn’t want to run the risk of throwing away any possible promotion at our current place of work because we’re getting trained in a different area.

* Don’t think it’s unusual for trainees to not ask questions they want answered – simply because they’re surrounded by fellow attendees.

* It’s a fact; classes are pretty much undoable, where you work or live away for days at a time.

It really does make more sense to take classes at your convenience – not your training provider’s – and employ videos of instructors with interactive virtual-lab’s. You can study anywhere you want. If you own a laptop, take in some fresh air in your garden as you study. Any issues that arise just logon to the 24×7 support facility. Note-taking is gone forever – you have the lessons and accompanying information ready-made for you. If you need to cover something again, it’s all right there. The bottom line: Much less stress and hassle, saved money, and no wasted travelling time.

How can job security honestly exist anymore? In the UK for instance, with businesses changing their mind at alarming speeds, there doesn’t seem much chance. It’s possible though to locate security at market-level, by digging for areas in high demand, together with a shortage of skilled staff.

Reviewing the computing industry, the 2006 e-Skills survey highlighted a more than 26 percent shortage in trained professionals. Therefore, for every four jobs existing across computing, organisations are only able to locate properly accredited workers for three of them. Accomplishing proper commercial computing accreditation is consequently a fast-track to achieve a long-lasting as well as pleasing career. For sure, this really is such a perfect time to consider retraining into the IT industry.

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