Jarret TT Camp

Network and computer support workers are constantly sought after in Great Britain, as companies are becoming more reliant upon their knowledge and capacity to solve problems. The world’s need for those people is constantly growing, as everything becomes significantly more computer dependent.

Don’t put too much store, as a lot of students can, on the certification itself. Your training isn’t about getting a plaque on your wall; this is about gaining commercial employment. Focus on the end-goal.

Imagine training for just one year and then end up doing a job for a lifetime. Don’t make the mistake of taking what may be an ‘interesting’ training program and then put 10-20 years into a job you hate!

It’s essential to keep your focus on what it is you’re trying to achieve, and create a learning-plan from that – don’t do it back-to-front. Keep on track and study for something you’ll enjoy for years to come.

Take advice from an experienced professional, even if there’s a fee involved – it’s considerably cheaper and safer to discover early on whether something is going to suit and interest you, rather than find out following two years of study that you’ve picked the wrong track and now need to go back to square one.

For the most part, a everyday IT hopeful doesn’t have a clue what way to go about starting in a computing career, or which market is worth considering for retraining.

Because in the absence of any commercial skills in IT, how should we possibly know what a particular job actually consists of?

Contemplation on these areas is required if you want to get to the right solution that will work for you:

* Personality plays a significant role – what things get your juices flowing, and what are the things that you really dislike.

* For what reasons you’re getting involved with computing – it could be you’re looking to achieve a life-long goal like being self-employed for instance.

* Is your income higher on your priority-scale than some other areas.

* Considering all that Information Technology encompasses, it’s important to be able to absorb how they differ.

* The time and energy you’ll commit your training.

In actuality, the only way to research these matters will be via a meeting with someone who understands computing (and chiefly it’s commercial needs.)

Qualifications from the commercial sector are now, very visibly, already replacing the traditional academic paths into IT – but why should this be?

With fees and living expenses for university students climbing ever higher, plus the IT sector’s growing opinion that vendor-based training is closer to the mark commercially, there’s been a dramatic increase in Microsoft, CISCO, Adobe and CompTIA authorised training paths that create knowledgeable employees at a fraction of the cost and time involved.

The training is effectively done through concentrating on the actual skills required (together with a relevant amount of related knowledge,) rather than covering masses of the background detail and ‘fluff’ that academic courses can often find themselves doing – to fill a three or four year course.

Imagine if you were an employer – and you needed to take on someone with a very particular skill-set. What’s the simplest way to find the right person: Go through a mass of different academic qualifications from hopeful applicants, having to ask what each has covered and which vocational skills they’ve mastered, or pick out specific commercial accreditations that perfectly fit your needs, and draw up from that who you want to speak to. You’ll then be able to concentrate on getting a feel for the person at interview – instead of long discussions on technical suitability.

Many students come unstuck over one aspect of their training which is often not even considered: The way the training is divided into chunks and sent out to you.

Training companies will normally offer a program spread over 1-3 years, and deliver each piece one-by-one as you pass each exam. On the surface this seems reasonable – until you consider the following:

What happens when you don’t complete every exam? And what if the order provided doesn’t meet your requirements? Because of nothing that’s your fault, you may not meet the required timescales and therefore not end up with all the modules.

To avoid any potential future issues, many trainees now want to insist that all study materials are delivered immediately, and not in stages. It’s then your own choice in what order and how fast or slow you want to work.

(C) 2010 S. Edwards. Check out MCSE 2008 or www.MCSE2008-UK.co.uk.

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