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Well Done! As you’re looking at this you’re probably toying with the idea of getting re-qualified for a new job – that puts you way ahead of the crowd. Only one in ten of us are satisfied with our careers, but most complain but just stay there. Why not be one of a small number who decide to make the change.

We’d politely request that before you start any study program, you run through some things with a mentor who can see the bigger picture and can make recommendations. They can assess your personality and help you sort out a role to fit you:

* Do you want to interact with other people? If you say yes, are you a team player or are you hoping to meet new people? Or are you better working in isolation?

* Do you have a preference which area you could be employed in? (In this economy, it’s vital to get it right.)

* How long a career do you hope to have once retrained, and can your chosen industry give you the confidence that will happen?

* Are you happy that the training program you’ve chosen can help you find employment, and will make it possible to be employed until retirement?

We would advise that one of your key sectors is the IT industry – it’s common knowledge that it’s getting bigger. It’s not full of geeky individuals lost in their computer screens every day – naturally those roles do exist, but most jobs are filled with people like you and me who are earning rather well.

If you’re like many of the students we talk to then you probably enjoy fairly practical work – a ‘hands-on’ type. If you’re anything like us, the painful task of reading endless manuals would be considered as a last resort, but you’d hate it. Consider interactive, multimedia study if book-based learning really isn’t your style. Studies in learning psychology have shown that much more of what we learn in remembered when we involve as many senses as possible, and we take action to use what we’ve learned.

The latest home-based training features interactive discs. Real-world classes from the instructors will mean you’ll learn your subject by way of the expert demonstrations. Then it’s time to test your knowledge by interacting with the software and practicing yourself. Each company you’re contemplating should be able to show you a few samples of the materials provided for study. Make sure you encounter videos of instructor-led classes and interactive areas to practice in.

It doesn’t make sense to go for purely on-line training. Connection quality and reliability varies hugely across your average broadband company, it makes sense to have disc based courseware (On CD or DVD).

It’s usual for students to get confused with a single training area which doesn’t even occur to them: How the training is broken down and delivered to your home. Trainees may consider it sensible (when study may take one to three years for a full commercial certification,) for your typical trainer to courier the training stage by stage, as you complete each part. However: What if for some reason you don’t get to the end of each and every exam? And what if you find the order of the modules counter-intuitive? Through no fault of your own, you mightn’t complete everything fast enough and therefore not end up with all the modules.

For maximum flexibility and safety, it’s normal for most trainees to request that all their modules (now paid for) are posted to them in one go, with nothing held back. You can then decide in which order and at what speed you want to work.

So many training providers only look at the plaque to hang on your wall, and completely avoid what it’s all actually about – which is of course employment. Always begin with the final destination in mind – don’t make the vehicle more important than the destination. It’s a sad fact, but the majority of trainees kick-off study that often sounds spectacular from the syllabus guide, but which delivers a career that doesn’t satisfy. Just ask several university leavers for a real eye-opener.

Make sure you investigate how you feel about career development, earning potential, and whether you intend to be quite ambitious. You need to know what (if any) sacrifices you’ll need to make for a particular role, what qualifications are needed and in what way you can develop commercial experience. You’d also need help from an advisor that can explain the market you’re considering, and who can give you ‘A typical day in the life of’ outline of the job being considered. These things are absolutely essential as you’ll need to know if you’re barking up the wrong tree.

Huge changes are coming via technology over the next generation – and it only gets more exciting every day. Computing technology and interaction through the internet is going to dramatically affect the direction of our lives over future years; to a vast degree.

Let’s not forget that the average salary in the IT sector in Great Britain is noticeably more than average salaries nationally, therefore you will most likely receive significantly more once qualified in IT, than you’d get in most other industries. Because the IT market sector is still emerging at an unprecedented rate, the chances are that the requirement for professionally qualified and skilled IT workers will continue actively for quite some time to come.

Finding your first job in the industry can be a little easier with the help of a Job Placement Assistance service. The honest truth is that it isn’t so complicated as you might think to land your first job – as long as you’ve got the necessary skills and qualifications; because there’s still a great need for IT skills in the UK today.

Get your CV updated straight-away though – you should get plenty of help from your training provider on this. Don’t delay until you’ve graduated or passed any exams. It’s not uncommon to find that junior support jobs have been offered to trainees who are still learning and have yet to take their exams. At least this will get you into the ‘maybe’ pile of CV’s – rather than the ‘No’ pile. You’ll normally experience better results from a local IT focused recruitment consultant or service than you’ll experience from any course provider’s national service, because they will understand the local industry and employment needs.

A regular grievance for many training providers is how much students are prepared to work to get qualified, but how ill-prepared they are to market themselves for the position they have acquired skills for. Don’t falter at the last fence.