Congratulate yourself that you’re on the right track! A fraction of the population enjoy their work and find it stimulating, but vast numbers simply moan about it and take no action. Because you’ve done research we have a hunch that you’re at least considering retraining, so you’ve already stood out from the crowd. Take your time now to research and follow-through.
Before you make decisions on any career courses, discuss your thoughts with an industry expert who can help you sort out which area will be right for you. Someone who can get to know your personality, and find out what types of work suit you:
* Is having company at work important to you? Are you better with new people or those you know well? Or you may prefer task-orientated work that you can complete alone?
* What thoughts do you have with regard to the industry you’ll work in?
* Is this the last time you imagine you’ll re-train, and if so, do you suppose your new career will allow you to do that?
* Would you like your study to be in an industry where you believe your chances of gainful employment are high until retirement?
Prioritise Information Technology, that’s our best advice - unusually, it’s one of the growing market sectors in this country and overseas. Salaries are also more generous than most.
A useful feature provided by many trainers is job placement assistance. This is to assist your search for your first position. With the growing demand for appropriately skilled people in this country right now, there’s no need to become overly impressed with this service however. It’s not as difficult as you may be led to believe to get a job as long as you’ve got the necessary skills and qualifications.
Having said that, it’s important to have help and assistance with preparing a CV and getting interviews though; also we would encourage any student to get their CV updated right at the beginning of their training - don’t put it off till you’ve finished your exams.
It’s not unusual to find that you’ll secure your first job whilst you’re still studying (occasionally right at the beginning). If your CV doesn’t show your latest training profile (and it’s not being looked at by employers) then you don’t stand a chance!
If you don’t want to travel too far to work, then you’ll often find that a local (but specialised) recruitment consultancy may serve you better than the trainer’s recruitment division, for they’re going to be familiar with local employment needs.
Not inconsiderable numbers of men and women, apparently, put a great deal of effort into their studies (sometimes for years), and then just stop instead of trying to get the right position. Market yourself… Do your best to put yourself out there. A job isn’t just going to bump into you.
Of course: a training course or a qualification isn’t what this is about; the career you’re training for is. Far too many training organisations completely prioritise the piece of paper.
Students often train for a single year but end up performing the job-role for decades. Don’t make the mistake of choosing what sounds like an ‘interesting’ training program only to spend 20 years doing a job you hate!
You must also consider your feelings on earning potential, career development, plus your level of ambition. It makes sense to understand what (if any) sacrifices you’ll need to make for a particular role, what exams are required and where you’ll pick-up experience from.
It’s good advice for all students to speak with an industry professional before following a particular study program. This gives some measure of assurance that it contains the commercially required skills for the chosen career path.
Looking at the myriad of choice out there, does it really shock us that the majority of trainees get stuck choosing the job they could be successful with.
As having no previous experience in the IT industry, in what way could we understand what someone in a particular job does?
Getting to the right answer really only appears through a thorough investigation of many unique criteria:
* Personality plays an important role - what things get your juices flowing, and what are the areas that really turn you off.
* Are you aiming to achieve a closely held dream - like working for yourself someday?
* What salary and timescale requirements you may have?
* Often, trainees don’t consider the work involved to gain all the necessary accreditation.
* The time and energy you’ll commit your training.
The bottom line is, your only chance of investigating all this is from an in-depth discussion with an advisor or professional that has enough background to lead you to the correct decision.
Watch out that all accreditations you’re considering doing will be commercially viable and are up-to-date. The ‘in-house’ certifications provided by many companies are not normally useful in gaining employment.
From a commercial standpoint, only top businesses such as Microsoft, Cisco, Adobe or CompTIA (as an example) really carry any commercial clout. Nothing else makes the grade.
(C) 2009. Go to LearningLolly.com for the best information on Wireless Networking Training and Happy Birthday Internet.