1 Ski Boot

If you think Cisco training might be for you, and you haven’t worked with switches and routers, you should start with the Cisco CCNA qualification. This teaches you the knowledge you need to understand routers. The world wide web is built up of many routers, and big organisations with several locations also use them to allow their networks to keep in touch.

Successfully achieving this qualification will mean it’s likely you’ll end up working for national or international corporations that have several locations, but still need contact. The other possibility is working for internet service providers. Both types of jobs command good salaries.

You’ll need a tailored course that will systematically go through everything to make sure that you have comprehensive skills and abilities before embarking on the Cisco skills.

So, what are the questions we need to pose if we’d like to take onboard the understanding required? Because it’s apparent there are many fairly dazzling possibilities for us all to consider.

Ignore any salesman who just tells you what course you should do without a decent chat to better understand your current abilities and also your experience level. Make sure they can draw from a generous product range so they’re able to solve your training issues. An important point to note is that, if you’ve had any relevant accreditation or direct-experience, then you can sometimes expect to start at a different point than a student who’s starting from scratch. Consider starting with some basic PC skills training first. It will usually make the transition to higher-level learning a much easier going.

Proper support should never be taken lightly - locate a good company that provides 24×7 direct access, as not opting for this kind of support could put a damper on the speed you move through things. Don’t accept study programmes that only provide support to you via a call-centre messaging service after office-staff have gone home. Training organisations will try to talk you round from this line of reasoning. The simple fact of the matter is - support is needed when it’s needed - not at times when they find it cheaper to provide it.

Keep looking and you’ll come across the top providers which recommend and use direct-access online support all the time - even in the middle of the night. If you accept anything less than 24×7 support, you’ll regret it very quickly. You may not need it during late nights, but you may need weekends, late evenings or early mornings.

The classroom style of learning we remember from school, involving piles of reference textbooks, is often a huge slog for most of us. If you’re nodding as you read this, find training programs which feature interactive and multimedia modules. Research has constantly verified that getting into our studies physically, is far more likely to produce long-lasting memories.

Locate a program where you’ll receive a library of CD or DVD ROM’s - you’ll learn by watching video tutorials and demonstrations, and be able to use virtual lab’s to practice your new skills. All companies should be able to show you some samples of the type of training materials they provide. You should hope for instructor-led videos and many interactive sections.

Many companies provide just online versions of their training packages; while you can get away with this much of the time, imagine the problems if your access to the internet is broken or you get a slow connection speed. A safer solution is the provision of DVD or CD discs that will not have these problems.

Students will sometimes miss checking on something of absolutely vital importance - the way the company actually breaks down and delivers the courseware sections, and into what particular chunks. Typically, you will purchase a course taking 1-3 years and receive one element at a time until graduation. This may seem sensible until you think about these factors: Sometimes the steps or stages insisted on by the company won’t suit you. It may be difficult to get through every element inside their defined time-scales?

In a perfect world, you’d get ALL the training materials right at the beginning - so you’ll have them all to come back to in the future - at any time you choose. You can also vary the order in which you complete your exams as and when something more intuitive seems right for you.

Think about the following facts and pay great regard to them if you think that over-used sales technique about examination guarantees seems like a good idea:

We all know that we’re still paying for it - it’s quite obvious to see that it’s already in the overall figure from the college. It’s absolutely not free (it’s just marketing companies think we’ll fall for anything they say!) It’s everybody’s ambition to qualify on the first attempt. Taking your exams progressively one by one and funding them one at a time puts you in a much stronger position to qualify at the first attempt - you take it seriously and are aware of the costs involved.

Isn’t it in your interests to go for the best offer at the time, not to pay any mark-up to the training course provider, and to do it in a local testing office - instead of miles away at the college’s beck and call? A lot of extra profit is netted by many companies who take the exam money up-front. For quite legitimate reasons, a number of students don’t get to do their exams and so the company is quids-in. Amazingly, there are providers who rely on that fact - as that’s how they make a lot of their profit. Most companies will require you to do mock exams and with-hold subsequent exam entries from you until you’ve demonstrated an excellent ability to pass - which makes an ‘Exam Guarantee’ frankly useless.

With average Prometric and VUE tests coming in at approximately 112 pounds in Great Britain, it’s common sense to fund them one by one. It’s not in the student’s interests to fork out hundreds or thousands of pounds for exams when enrolling on a course. Commitment, effort and practice with quality exam preparation systems are the factors that really get you through.

It can be a nerve-racking task, but getting your first IT job is often made easier because some trainers offer a Job Placement Assistance facility. Don’t get overly impressed with this service - it’s easy for companies marketing departments to overstate it’s need. Ultimately, the massive skills shortage in this country is why employers will be interested in you.

Work on polishing up your CV right away however (advice and support for this should come from your course provider). Don’t wait for when you’re ready to start work. Having the possibility of an interview is far better than not even being known about. Many junior support jobs are offered to people (who’ve only just left first base.) Actually, a specialist locally based employment service (who will get paid commission to place you) will be more pro-active than a sector of a centralised training facility. In addition, they will no doubt be familiar with local industry and the area better.

Various trainees, it seems, spend evenings and weekends on their training and studies (for years sometimes), and just give up when it comes to looking for their first job. Promote yourself… Do everything you can to let employers know about you. Good jobs don’t just knock on your door.

There is a tidal wave of change washing over technology over the next few decades - and this means greater innovations all the time. We’ve barely started to get a feel for how technology will define our world. The internet will significantly change how we regard and interrelate with the rest of the world over the next few years.

If earning a good living is around the top on your scale of wants, you will appreciate the fact that the average salary for most men and women in IT is a lot more than salaries in much of the rest of industry. The search for properly certified IT professionals is a fact of life for many years to come, due to the constant development in the technology industry and the vast shortage that we still have.

Because you’re doing your research on courses for MCSE, you’ll probably be in 1 of 2 situations: You might be wondering about a radical change of career to the IT sector, and you’ve found a growing demand for properly qualified people. Instead you’re someone with a certain amount of IT knowledge - and you should formalise your skills with the MCSE accreditation.

As you find out about training companies, make sure you don’t use those that compromise their offerings by not providing the latest level of Microsoft development. This will only hamper the student because they’ll have been studying an out-of-date syllabus which doesn’t correspond to the present exams, so they’ll probably fail. A company’s mission statement must be based upon doing the very best they can for their clients, and everyone involved should have a passion for what they do. Studying isn’t simply about qualifications - the process must also include assisting you in working on the best action plan for your future.

Lately, do you find yourself questioning your job security? Normally, we only think of this after something dramatic happens to shake us. But in today’s marketplace, the reality is that our job security is a thing of the past, for all but the most lucky of us. In times of increasing skills deficits together with rising demand though, we generally locate a newly emerging type of security in the marketplace; driven by a continual growth, businesses just can’t get the influx of staff needed.

Taking the computer market as an example, the most recent e-Skills investigation showed major skills shortages in the UK of around 26 percent. To put it another way, this highlights that Great Britain only has 3 trained people for every 4 jobs in existence at the moment. Fully skilled and commercially accredited new staff are accordingly at a resounding premium, and in all likelihood it will stay that way for many years to come. For sure, now really is a critical time to train for Information Technology (IT).

How can we reach a good choice then? With such prospects, we’ll need to know where to be looking - and what to be looking for.

With so much choice, is it any wonder that nearly all career changers have no idea which career they will follow. Because in the absence of any previous experience in computing, how could any of us know what anyone doing a particular job actually does? Achieving a well-informed decision can only grow from a detailed investigation across many changing areas:

* What nature of individual you are - what kind of jobs you really enjoy, and on the other side of the coin - what makes you unhappy.

* For what reasons you’re getting involved with computing - it could be you’re looking to overcome a long-held goal such as being self-employed for instance.

* Is salary further up on your priority-list than other requirements.

* Many students don’t properly consider the work needed to gain all the necessary accreditation.

* It’s wise to spend some time thinking about the amount of time and effort you’ll put into your education.

For most people, sifting through each of these concepts will require meeting with an advisor that knows what they’re talking about. And we’re not only talking about the accreditations - you also need to understand the commercial needs and expectations of industry too.

Most trainers typically provide a big box of books. This isn’t very interesting and not a very good way of remembering. Where we can utilise all of our senses into our learning, then we normally see dramatically better results.

Fully interactive motion videos featuring instructor demo’s and practice lab’s will turn you off book-based study for ever more. And they’re far more fun. You’ll definitely want a look at some courseware examples from the school that you’re considering. The materials should incorporate expert-led demonstrations, slideshows and lab’s for you to practice your skills in.

Go for CD and DVD ROM based physical training media wherever available. This then avoids all the potential pitfalls with the variability of broadband quality and service.

Considering how a program is ‘delivered’ to you can often be overlooked. How many stages do they break the program into? And in what sequence and do you have a say in when you’ll get each part? A release of your materials stage by stage, as you complete each module is the normal way of receiving your courseware. While seeming sensible, you might like to consider this: It’s not unusual for trainees to realise that their providers typical path to completion isn’t as suitable as another. They might find a slightly different order suits them better. And what if you don’t get to the end in the allotted time?

An ideal situation would be to have all the learning modules posted to your home before you even start; the entire package! Thus avoiding any future problems that could impede your capability of finishing.

It’s so important to understand this key point: You have to get round-the-clock 24×7 instructor and mentor support. You’ll severely regret it if you let this one slide. Find a good quality service with proper support available at any time of day or night (even 1am on Sunday morning!) Ensure you get direct access to tutors, and not a message system as this will slow you down - parked in a queue of others waiting to be called back when it’s convenient for them.

It’s possible to find the very best companies who give students online direct access support 24×7 - including evenings, nights and weekends. If you fail to get yourself online 24×7 support, you’ll regret it. You might not want to use the service in the middle of the night, but consider weekends, early mornings or even late evenings at some point.

Exam ‘guarantees’ are sometimes offered as part of a training package - inevitably that means paying for the exams at the very beginning of your studies. Before you jump at guaranteed exams, be aware of the facts:

It’s very clear we’re ultimately paying for it - obviously it has already been included in the overall figure from the college. It’s certainly not free (it’s just marketing companies think we’ll fall for anything they say!) Passing first time is everyone’s goal. Entering examinations in order and paying for them just before taking them puts you in a much stronger position to qualify at the first attempt - you put the effort in and are aware of the costs involved.

Shouldn’t you be looking to hold on to your money and pay for the exam at the appropriate time, not to pay the fees marked up by a training course provider, and to do it locally - instead of miles away at the college’s beck and call? Buying a course that includes payments for examination fees (which also includes interest if you’ve taken out a loan) is insane. Resist being talked into filling the training company’s account with your money just to give them more interest! A lot bank on the fact that you will never make it to exams - so they get to keep the extra funds. The majority of organisations will insist that you take mock exams first and not allow you to re-take an exam until you have proved to them you have a good chance of passing - so an ‘Exam Guarantee’ comes with many clauses in reality.

Exams taken at local centres are approximately 112 pounds in this country. Why spend so much more on charges for ‘Exam Guarantees’ (often covertly rolled into the cost of the course) - when good quality study materials, the proper support and a commitment to studying and the use of authorised exam preparation tools are actually the key to your success.

You have to be sure that all your qualifications are commercially valid and current - don’t bother with programs which lead to some in-house certificate (which is as useless as if you’d printed it yourself). From the perspective of an employer, only the big-boys like Microsoft, Adobe, Cisco or CompTIA (for instance) will get you into the interview seat. Anything less just doesn’t cut the mustard.

With hundreds of computer courses to be had, it can be difficult to find the right one. Choose one that matches up with your character and abilities, and one that is in demand in the working environment. If you’re thinking about upgrading your IT skill-set, perhaps with some Microsoft Office skills, or even becoming an IT professional, you have a choice of how to study.

Modern training methods currently enable students to be instructed on a new style of course, that is much cheaper than traditional courses. The great value of these courses means anyone can afford them.

Massive developments are coming via technology over the next few decades - and the industry becomes more ground-breaking every year. We’ve only just begun to scrape the surface of how technology is going to shape our lives. Technology and the web will profoundly revolutionise how we see and interact with the world around us over the next few years.

And don’t forget that income in the IT industry across the UK is a lot better than in the rest of the economy, so in general you will be in a good position to receive significantly more in the IT sector, than you’d expect to earn elsewhere. Due to the technological sector emerging with no sign of a slow-down, it’s looking good that demand for appropriately qualified IT professionals will continue to boom for a good while yet.

How do we make a good choice then? With such prospects, it’s important to know where to be looking - and of course, what to actually be looking for.

Beginning with the understanding that we have to choose the market that sounds most inviting first, before we can even mull over which training program meets that requirement, how can we choose the correct route? Consequently, if you don’t have any understanding of the IT industry, what chance is there for you to know what someone in a particular field does each day? Let alone arrive at what training route is the most likely for you to get there. To work through this, a discussion is necessary, covering a variety of core topics:

* What nature of person you reckon you are - which things you enjoy, and conversely - what makes you unhappy.

* Why you’re looking at getting involved with Information Technology - is it to achieve some personal goal like working from home for instance.

* Where is the salary on a scale of importance - is an increase your main motivator, or does job satisfaction rate further up on your priority-list?

* Often, trainees don’t consider the energy demanded to gain all the necessary accreditation.

* You need to understand what differentiates each individual training area.

For the majority of us, sifting through all these ideas will require meeting with a professional who knows what they’re talking about. And we don’t just mean the qualifications - but also the commercial requirements of industry too.

A lot of training companies will only provide support to you inside of office hours (typically 9am-6pm) and sometimes a little earlier or later; most won’t answer after 8-9pm at the latest and frequently never at the weekends. Find a good quality service where you can receive help at any time of day or night (irrespective of whether it’s the wee hours on Sunday morning!) Ensure you get access directly to professional tutors, and not a message system as this will slow you down - waiting for tutors to call you back when it’s convenient for them.

Keep looking and you’ll come across the very best companies which provide their students direct-access online support around the clock - even in the middle of the night. Unless you insist on online 24×7 support, you’ll quickly find yourself regretting it. You may avoid using the support throughout the night, but you may need weekends, late evenings or early mornings.

Many trainers provide a big box of books. Learning like this is dull and repetitive and not ideal for taking things in. Our ability to remember is increased with an involvement of all our senses - learning experts have been saying this for years now.

Top of the range study programs now offer self-contained CD or DVD materials. Through instructor-led video classes you’ll take everything in through their teaching and demonstrations. Then you test your knowledge by practicing and interacting with the software. Any company that you’re considering must be pushed to demo some samples of their training materials. You’re looking for evidence of tutorial videos and demonstrations and interactive areas to practice in.

Avoiding training that is delivered purely online is generally a good idea. You want physical CD/DVD ROM course materials where possible, as you need to be able to use them whenever it’s convenient for you - and not be totally reliant on your internet connection always being ‘up’ and available.

One area often overlooked by new students considering a training program is ‘training segmentation’. Essentially, this is the way the course is divided up for drop-shipping to you, which vastly changes the point you end up at. Individual deliveries for each training module piece by piece, as you complete each module is the normal way of receiving your courseware. This sounds sensible, but you must understand the following: Maybe the order of study insisted on by the company won’t suit you. And what if you don’t finish all the sections within their timetable?

An ideal situation would be to have all the learning modules packed off to you right at the start; every single thing! Then, nothing can hinder your capability of finishing.

One interesting way that training companies make extra profits is through up-front charges for exams and offering an exam guarantee. It looks impressive, until you think it through:

Everybody’s aware that they’re still paying for it - it’s quite obvious to see that it’s already been included in the overall figure from the training company. It’s definitely not free - don’t think these companies are so generous with their money! We all want to pass first time. Going for exams one at a time and paying for them just before taking them has a marked effect on pass-rates - you take it seriously and are mindful of the investment you’ve made.

Look for the very best offer you can at the appropriate time, and avoid college mark-up fees. You’ll also be able to choose where to do your exams - meaning you can choose a local testing centre. A great deal of money is secured by some training companies that get money for exam fees in advance. A number of students don’t take them for various reasons but no refunds are given. Surprising as it sounds, there are companies around who actually rely on students not sitting all the exams - as that’s very profitable for them. Pay heed to the fact that, with the majority of Exam Guarantees - the company decides when you can do your re-takes. Subsequent exam attempts are only authorised at the company’s say so.

Splashing out often many hundreds of pounds extra on an ‘Exam Guarantee’ is short-sighted - when a commitment to studying and the use of authorised exam preparation tools is actually the key to your success.

A service that several companies offer is a programme of Job Placement assistance. This is designed to help you get your first commercial position. At the end of the day it isn’t so complicated as you might think to secure a job - assuming you’re well trained and qualified; the growing UK skills shortage sees to that.

Help and assistance with preparing a CV and getting interviews is sometimes offered (alternatively, check out one of our sites for help). It’s essential that you work on your old CV right away - not after you’ve qualified! Many junior support roles have been offered to students who’re still on their course and haven’t even passed a single exam yet. At least this will get you on your way. The best services to help you land that job are usually specialist independent regional recruitment consultancies. Because they get paid commission to place you, they have more incentive to get on with it.

Certainly be sure that you don’t put hundreds of hours of effort into your studies, then call a halt and leave it up to everyone else to find you a job. Stop procrastinating and make your own enquiries. Invest the same focus into getting a good job as it took to get qualified.

Currently in the UK, industry would struggle if it weren’t for support workers fixing networks and computers, while making recommendations to users on a constant basis. With the increasingly multifaceted levels of technological advances, greater numbers of qualified workers are required to look after the various different areas we’ve become dependent on.

Making the most fitting career development choice is hard enough - so which sectors are important to investigate and which questions should we pose?

An all too common mistake that many potential students make is to concentrate on the course itself, and not focus on where they want to get to. Schools are stacked to the hilt with unaware students who chose a course based on what sounded good - instead of what would yield the job they want. It’s possible, in some situations, to thoroughly enjoy one year of training but end up spending 10 or 20 years in a career that does nothing for you, as a consequence of not performing some quality research when it was needed - at the start.

You also need to know how you feel about earning potential and career progression, and if you’re ambitious or not. You should understand what the role will demand of you, which exams they want you to have and how to develop your experience. All students are advised to talk with an experienced industry professional before following a particular study programme. This gives some measure of assurance that it contains the commercially required skills for the career path that has been chosen.

You have to be sure that all your exams are what employers want - don’t bother with programmes which end up with a useless in-house certificate or plaque. From an employer’s perspective, only the major heavyweights like Microsoft, CompTIA, Adobe or Cisco (as an example) really carry any commercial clout. Nothing else will cut the mustard.

Many trainers provide a bunch of books and manuals. Learning like this is dull and repetitive and isn’t the best way to go about achieving retention. Where possible, if we can utilise all of our senses into our learning, then we often see hugely increased memory retention as a result.

Locate a program where you’ll get a host of CD and DVD based materials - you’ll start with videos of instructor demonstrations, followed by the chance to use virtual lab’s to practice your new skills. It’s imperative to see examples of the study materials provided by the company you’re considering. You’ll want to see that they include instructor-led video demonstrations with virtual practice-lab’s.

Avoiding training that is delivered purely online is generally a good idea. Always choose CD or DVD based study materials where offered, as you need to be able to use them whenever it’s convenient for you - it’s not wise to be held hostage to a good broadband connection all the time.

Most training providers will only provide basic 9am till 6pm support (maybe a little earlier or later on certain days); very few go late in the evening or at weekends. Beware of institutions who use messaging services ‘out-of-hours’ - with the call-back coming in during office hours. This is no use if you’re stuck and want support there and then.

We recommend looking for training programs that utilise many support facilities active in different time-zones. All of them should be combined to offer a simple interface together with 24×7 access, when you need it, with no fuss. Never compromise where support is concerned. The majority of students who throw in the towel, would have had a different experience if they’d got the right support package in the first place.

Review the following points very carefully if you’re inclined to think the sales ploy of an ‘Exam Guarantee’ sounds great value:

Everybody’s aware that they’re still footing the bill for it - obviously it has been inserted into the gross price invoiced by the training company. Certainly, it’s not a freebie (it’s just marketing companies think we’ll fall for anything they say!) It’s well known in the industry that if a student pays for each examination, at the time of taking them, there’s a much better chance they’ll pass first time - because they’ll think of their investment in themselves and their application will be greater.

Don’t you think it’s more sensible to not pay up-front, but at the appropriate time, rather than coughing up months or even a year or two in advance to the training company, and to do it in a local testing office - instead of miles away at the college’s beck and call? Many questionable training colleges secure a great deal of profit because they’re getting paid for all the exam fees up-front then hoping you won’t see them all through. Remember, with most ‘Exam Guarantees’ - they control when and how often you can re-take the exam. Subsequent exam attempts are only authorised at the company’s say so.

Spending hundreds or even thousands extra on ‘Exam Guarantees’ is short-sighted - when consistent and systematic learning, coupled with quality exam simulation software is what will get you through.

Commercial qualifications are now, most definitely, starting to replace the older academic routes into the IT industry - but why is this happening? Vendor-based training (as it’s known in the industry) is far more specialised and product-specific. The IT sector has acknowledged that this level of specialised understanding is necessary to handle an acceleratingly technical workplace. CISCO, Adobe, Microsoft and CompTIA are the dominant players. Of course, a necessary portion of background detail must be taught, but essential specialised knowledge in the particular job function gives a vendor trained person a massive advantage.

The bottom line is: Authorised IT qualifications tell an employer precisely what skills you have - the title is a complete giveaway: for example, I am a ‘Microsoft Certified Professional’ in ‘Planning and Maintaining a Windows 2003 Infrastructure’. Therefore companies can look at the particular needs they have and what certifications will be suitable to deal with those needs.

The world of information technology is amongst the most stimulating and innovative industries you could be involved with. Being a member of a team working on breakthroughs in technology is to do your bit in the gigantic changes shaping life over the next few decades. Technological changes and connections via the internet is going to spectacularly alter the direction of our lives over future years; remarkably so.

A average IT technician over this country as a whole can demonstrate that they earn significantly more money than equivalent professionals in other market sectors. Typical wages are hard to beat nationally. It’s no secret that there is a significant national requirement for professionally qualified IT workers. In addition, as the industry constantly develops, it appears this will be the case for a good while yet.