Computer and network support workers are more and more sought after in the United Kingdom, as businesses are becoming more reliant upon their knowledge and skills. The world’s hunger for the above mentioned people is growing at an impressive rate, as everything becomes more and more computer dependent.
Many people question why qualifications from colleges and universities are being overtaken by more commercially accredited qualifications?
With a growing demand for specific technological expertise, the IT sector has had to move to the specialised core-skills learning that the vendors themselves supply - that is companies such as CISCO, Adobe, Microsoft and CompTIA. This usually turns out to involve less time and financial outlay.
In a nutshell, only that which is required is learned. It isn’t quite as lean as that might sound, but the principle remains that students need to cover the precise skills needed (including a degree of required background) - without trying to cram in everything else (as universities often do).
It’s a bit like the TV advert: ‘It does what it says on the tin’. The company just needs to know what areas need to be serviced, and then advertise for someone with the specific certification. They’ll know then that all applicants can do what they need.
Getting into your first IT role is often made easier with the help of a Job Placement Assistance program. Because of the massive need for more IT skills in the United Kingdom at the moment, it’s not too important to make too much of this option though. It isn’t so complicated as you might think to get employment once you’re properly qualified.
Nevertheless, don’t wait till you have passed your final exams before bringing your CV up to date. The day you start training, mark down what you’re doing and place it on jobsites!
Quite frequently, you will get your first role while you’re still a student (sometimes when you’ve only just got going). If your CV doesn’t show your latest training profile (and it hasn’t been posted on jobsites) then you’re not even going to be known about!
If you’d like to keep travelling time and costs to a minimum, then you’ll probably find that a specialist independent regional recruitment consultant or service can generally work much better for you than a national service, because they’re far more likely to know the local job scene.
A good number of students, it seems, spend evenings and weekends on their training and studies (for years sometimes), and just give up when it comes to trying to get a job. Sell yourself… Do everything you can to get in front of employers. A job isn’t just going to bump into you.
Be careful that the certifications you’re studying for will be recognised by employers and are the most recent versions. ‘In-house’ certificates are generally useless.
To an employer, only the big-boys like Microsoft, CompTIA, Adobe or Cisco (to give some examples) will get you short-listed. Anything less just won’t hit the right spot.
A successful training program will undoubtedly also include Microsoft (or key company) exam preparation packages.
Avoid depending on non-official exam preparation systems. The terminology of their questions is often somewhat different - and often this creates real issues when the proper exam time arrives.
Obviously, it’s essential to ensure that you’re completely ready for your final certified exam before taking it. Revising ‘mock’ exams logs the information in your brain and helps to avoid failed exams.
(C) 2009 Scott Edwards. Visit learninglolly.com/Network_Training_Courses.html or Microsoft Training.