by Scott Edwards
We all have busy lives, and most often if we want to learn a new profession, getting educated alongside a job is what we’re faced with. Microsoft certified training could be the answer. In addition, you may want to get advice on the careers that are available once you’ve qualified, and what sort of person those jobs might be right for. Many people prefer to discuss what would suit them individually. Training programs must be designed to meet your needs. Consequently, having worked out the right IT job for you, your next focus is the most applicable training course to get you there.
Obviously, the computing market promises impressive prospects. Yet, to investigate it properly, what are the questions we should raise, and which are the sectors we need to investigate?
Beware of putting too much emphasis, as can often be the case, on the certification itself. Training is not an end in itself; this is about employment. Focus on the end-goal. Students often train for a single year but end up performing the job-role for decades. Ensure you avoid the fatal error of finding what seems like a program of interest to you 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 then build your training requirements around that – don’t do it the other way round. Keep your eyes on your goals and study for a job that will keep you happy for many years. Seek help from an experienced industry professional that ‘gets’ the commercial realities of the area you’re interested in, and who can give you ‘A day in the life of’ synopsis of of what you’ll be doing during your working week. It makes good sense to discover if this is the right course of action for you long before you embark on your training program. There’s little reason in beginning your training only to find you’ve taken the wrong route.
Be watchful that any certifications you’re studying for will be recognised by employers and are the most recent versions. ‘In-house’ certificates are not normally useful in gaining employment. Unless the accreditation comes from a major player like Microsoft, Adobe, CompTIA or Cisco, then you’ll probably find it will have been a waste of time – because it won’t give an employer any directly-useable skills.
Most training companies will only provide support available from 9-6 (office hours) and sometimes later on specific days; It’s rare to find someone who offers late evening or full weekend cover. Never accept training that only supports trainees via a call-centre messaging system after 6-9pm in the evening and during weekends. Training schools will give you every excuse in the book why you don’t need this. Essentially – support is needed when it’s needed – not at times when they find it cheaper to provide it. The most successful trainers have many support offices active in different time-zones. They use an online interactive interface to seamlessly link them all together; any time of the day or night – help is at hand without any contact issues or hassle. Don’t ever make the mistake of taking second best with the quality of your support. The majority of trainees who can’t get going properly, are in that situation because they didn’t get the support necessary for them.
If you’re like many of the students we talk to then you probably enjoy fairly practical work – the ‘hands-on’ individual. Typically, the painful task of reading endless manuals would be considered as a last resort, but it doesn’t suit your way of doing things. You should use video and multimedia based materials if book-based learning really isn’t your style. Long-term memory is enhanced with an involvement of all our senses – this has been an accepted fact in expert circles for years now. The latest audio-visual interactive programs with demonstrations and practice sessions beat books hands-down. And you’ll find them fun and interesting. Every company that you look at should be able to show you a few examples of their training materials. You should hope for instructor-led videos and a variety of interactive modules. Pick disc based courseware (On CD or DVD) every time. Thus avoiding all the issues associated with internet connection failure and issues with signal quality.
A subtle way that training providers make extra profits is via an ‘exam inclusive’ package and presenting it as a guarantee for your exams. It looks impressive, but is it really… It’s very clear we’re still paying for it – it’s not so hard to see that it’s been added into the overall figure from the college. It’s definitely not free – and it’s insulting that we’re supposed to think it is! For those who want to pass first time, you must pay for one exam at a time, give it the necessary attention and apply yourself as required. Why pay a training course provider up-front for exam fees? Find the best deal you can at the appropriate time, instead of paying any mark-up – and take it closer to home – instead of miles away at the college’s beck and call. What’s the point in paying early for exam fees when you don’t need to? A great deal of money is made because training colleges are charging all their exam fees up-front – and hoping either that you won’t take them, or it will be a long time before you do. Many training companies will insist on pre-tests and with-hold subsequent exam entries from you until you’ve proven conclusively that you can pass – which makes an ‘Exam Guarantee’ frankly useless. Exams taken at VUE and Prometric centres are currently clocking in at an average of 112 pounds in the UK. Why pay exorbitant ‘Exam Guarantee’ costs (usually wrapped up in the course package price) – when a quality course, support and consistent and systematic learning, coupled with quality exam simulation software is what will really see you through.
Now, why is it better to gain commercially accredited qualifications and not more traditional academic qualifications taught at the state educational establishments? With 3 and 4 year academic degree costs increasing year on year, and the industry’s recognition that key company training often has more relevance in the commercial field, there’s been a large rise in Microsoft, CISCO, Adobe and CompTIA authorised training programmes that provide key skills to an employee at a far reduced cost both money and time wise. Higher education courses, for example, become confusing because of a lot of loosely associated study – with a syllabus that’s far too wide. This prevents a student from getting enough specific knowledge about the core essentials. Think about if you were the employer – and you needed to take on someone with a very particular skill-set. What is easier: Trawl through loads of academic qualifications from various applicants, asking for course details and what commercial skills have been attained, or choose particular accreditations that specifically match what you’re looking for, and make your short-list from that. Your interviews are then about personal suitability – instead of long discussions on technical suitability.
Discovering job security these days is very rare. Companies can throw us out of the workforce at the drop of a hat – as long as it fits their needs. Whereas a marketplace with high growth, where staff are in constant demand (due to a big shortfall of properly qualified staff), provides a market for proper job security. Taking the IT industry as an example, the most recent e-Skills investigation highlighted massive skills shortages throughout the United Kingdom around the 26 percent mark. Meaning that for each four job positions that exist in the computer industry, there are only 3 trained people to perform that task. Attaining proper commercial computer accreditation is accordingly a ‘Fast Track’ to realise a continuing as well as gratifying line of work. Because the IT sector is evolving at such a rate, could there honestly be a better market worth looking at for your new career.
About the Author:
Scott Edwards has worked in the IT industry for 30 yrs. He thinks he knows what he’s talking about by now. If you’re interested in
IT Courses, visit LearningLolly
Computer Training Courses.
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