What kind of things might a person looking for training tracks certified by Microsoft expect to come across? Clearly, companies should give access to a selection of course choices that cover the range of Microsoft certified training tracks.
It’s a good idea to look for a person who’s got industry experience, who can offer guidance on which area of the industry would be best, and what sort of tasks are appropriate for an individual with your abilities and personal preferences.
Insist that your course is personalised to your current level of knowledge and ability. Select a company that will ensure that your training program is purpose built for the career you want to get into.
Adding in the cost of examination fees up-front and offering an ‘Exam Guarantee’ is a common method with many training course providers. However, let’s consider what’s really going on:
Certainly it’s not free - you’re still coughing up for it - the price has simply been included in the whole thing.
Should you seriously need to pass first time, then the most successful route is to pay for one exam at a time, focus on it intently and give the task sufficient application.
Don’t pay up-front, but seek out the best deal for you at the time, and avoid college mark-up fees. You’ll then be able to select where you do the examinations - meaning you can choose a local testing centre.
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 getting money in early for exam fees - and then hoping that you won’t take them all.
Most companies will require you to do mock exams and with-hold subsequent exam entries from you until you’ve proven conclusively that you can pass - which makes an ‘Exam Guarantee’ frankly useless.
Exam fees averaged about 112 pounds in the last 12 months via UK VUE or Prometric centres. So don’t be talked into shelling out hundreds or thousands of pounds more for ‘an Exam Guarantee’, when any student knows that the best guarantee is a commitment to studying and the use of authorised exam preparation tools.
Always expect authorised exam simulation and preparation programs included in your course.
Sometimes people can get thrown by practicing questions for their exams that aren’t from the authorised examining boards. Sometimes, the phraseology can be quite different and you need to be ready for this.
Practice exams will prove invaluable for confidence building - so that when you come to take the real deal, you will be much more relaxed.
Throw out a salesperson that recommends a training program without performing a ‘fact-find’ to better understand your current abilities plus your experience level. Always check they have access to a wide-enough range of products from which they could give you a program that suits you..
An important point to note is that, if you have some relevant accreditation or direct-experience, then you can sometimes expect to start at a different point than someone who is new to the field.
Starting with a user skills program first will sometimes be the most effective way to commence your IT training, depending on your current skill level.
One fatal mistake that potential students often succumb to is to choose a career based on a course, instead of focusing on where they want to get to. Training academies are full of students that chose a program because it looked interesting - instead of the program that would surely get them the job they want.
It’s an awful thing, but the majority of trainees begin programs that seem marvellous in the sales literature, but which gets us a career that is of no interest at all. Try talking to typical university graduates to see what we mean.
Be honest with yourself about the income level you aspire to and what level of ambition fits you. Often, this changes which precise exams will be required and what’ll be expected of you in your new role.
Your likely to need help from an advisor that can explain the sector you think may suit you, and is able to give you ‘A typical day in the life of’ explanation for each job considered. All of these things are absolutely essential as you’ll need to fully understand if this change is right for you.
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