Network and computer support staff are ever more in demand in this country, as businesses have come to depend on their technical advice and skills. The nation’s requirement for increasing numbers of skilled and qualified individuals multiplies, as human beings become ever more dependent on PC’s in the modern world.
Trainees looking at this market can be very practical by nature, and won’t enjoy sitting at a desk in class, and slogging through piles of books. If you identify with this, try the newer style of interactive study, where everything is presented via full motion video. Learning psychology studies show that much more of what we learn in remembered when we receive multi-sensorial input, and we get physically involved with the study process.
Learning is now available on CD and DVD discs, where everything is taught on your PC. Using video-streaming, you can sit back and watch the teachers showing you precisely how to do something, and then practice yourself - in an interactive lab. It’s imperative to see some example materials from any company that you may want to train through. Be sure that they contain full motion videos of instructors demonstrating the topic with lab’s to practice the skills in.
Plump for physical media such as CD or DVD ROM’s if possible. This then avoids all the potential pitfalls with broadband ‘downtime’ or slow-speeds.
Authorised simulation materials and exam preparation packages are vital - and absolutely ought to be supplied by your course provider. Don’t fall foul of relying on non-official exam papers and questions. Their phraseology can be quite different - and sometimes this can be a real headache when it comes to taking the real exam. You should make sure you check whether you’re learning enough by doing tests and mock ups of exams to prepare you for taking the real thing.
An all too common mistake that we encounter all too often is to look for the actual course to take, instead of focusing on where they want to get to. Colleges are full of unaware students that chose a program because it looked interesting - rather than what would get them the job they want. It’s common, for example, to find immense satisfaction in a year of study only to end up putting 20 long years into a job you hate, as a consequence of not performing the correct research when you should’ve - at the outset.
Get to grips with earning potential and whether you’re an ambitious person or not. Sometimes, this affects which certifications you’ll need to attain and what’ll be expected of you in your new role. Obtain help from an industry professional who ‘gets’ the commercial realities of the area you’re interested in, and will be able to provide ‘A typical day in the life of’ understanding of what kinds of tasks you’ll be undertaking with each working day. It’s sensible to understand whether or not this is right for you before you start on any retraining programme. There’s little point in starting to train only to find you’ve taken the wrong route.
With so much choice, it’s not really surprising that most potential career changers balk at what job they should even pursue. Because having no solid background in the IT industry, in what way could we be expected to know what someone in a particular job does? To attack this, we need to discuss a variety of core topics:
* Your individual personality and interests - the sort of working tasks you enjoy or dislike.
* What time-frame are you looking at for your training?
* Have you thought about salary vs job satisfaction?
* Considering all that Information Technology encapsulates, it’s obvious you’ll need to be able to absorb how they differ.
* You should also think long and hard about the level of commitment you’re going to give to your education.
The best way to avoid the confusing industry jargon, and uncover the most viable option for your success, have a good talk with an industry-experienced advisor; someone who will cover the commercial realities and truth while explaining all the qualifications.
We need to make this very clear: You have to get round-the-clock 24×7 instructor support. You will have so many problems later if you let this one slide. Many only provide email support (too slow), and telephone support is usually to a call-centre which will make some notes and then email an advisor - who will attempt to call you within 24-48 hrs, when it’s convenient to them. This is not a lot of use if you’re stuck with a particular problem and have a one hour time-slot in which to study.
Top training companies incorporate three or four individual support centres from around the world. An online system provides an interactive interface to join them all seamlessly, no matter what time you login, help is at hand, without any problems or delays. If you opt for less than online 24×7 support, you’ll regret it. It may be that you don’t use it late in the night, but consider weekends, late evenings or early mornings.
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