Friday, January 30, 2009

Discussing Computer Training

By Scott Edwards

When choosing any computer training program it is very important that the certification you will gain appropriates with the working world. Additionally, you should make sure that the course suits you, your personality and abilities. There's lots to choose from with these courses - from basic office skills up to training courses for web designers, networkers programmers etc. Share your ideas before you take the plunge - talk to an advisor with knowledge of the industry. Somebody who you trust to pick the right specialist area for you - that's both relevant to industry and leads to a job you'll love. By taking advantage of the latest training methods and keeping overheads low, you will start to see a new kind of training company offering a finer level of training and support for considerably less than the more out-dated colleges.

At times individuals don't catch on to what IT can do for us. It is stimulating, innovative, and means you're doing your bit in the gigantic wave of technology affecting everyones lives in the 21st century. We're only just starting to get to grips with how all this will mould and change our lives. How we interact with the world will be significantly affected by technology and the internet. And don't forget that the average salary in IT in Great Britain is significantly better than in other market sectors, so in general you'll probably earn much more with professional IT knowledge than you would in most typical jobs. As the IT industry keeps growing with no sign of a slow-down, the chances are that the requirement for well trained and qualified IT technicians will flourish for years to come.

So, what are the questions we should ask if we'd like to take onboard the understanding we want? After all, it's evident there are a good many fairly unparalleled possibilities for us to investigate.

Potential trainees eager to begin a career in IT often don't know what direction is best, or even which market to get qualified in. How can we possibly grasp the day-to-day realities of any IT job when it's an alien environment to us? We normally don't even know anybody who works in that sector anyway. Generally, the way to deal with this question in the best manner comes from a thorough conversation around some important points: Your personal interests and hobbies - these often show the possibilities will satisfy you; What sort of time-frame do you want for the retraining, and what priority do you place on job satisfaction vs salary; With so many areas to train for in computing - it's wise to pick up a basic understanding of what makes them different; together with having a serious look into the effort, commitment and time you can give. For the majority of us, getting to the bottom of these areas will require meeting with a professional who has direct industry experience. And we're not only talking about the certifications - but also the commercial requirements of industry too.

It's so important to understand this key point: It's essential to obtain proper 24x7 round-the-clock professional support from mentors and instructors. We can tell you that you'll strongly regret it if you don't adhere to this. Find a good quality service where you can receive help at any time of day or night (even if it's early hours on Sunday morning!) You want access directly to professional tutors and not a call-centre that will take messages so you're waiting for tutors to call you back - probably during office hours. Be on the lookout for providers that incorporate three or four individual support centres across multiple time-zones. Every one of them needs to be seamlessly combined to provide a single interface and also round-the-clock access, when you need it, with no hassle. Never make the mistake of compromise with the quality of your support. Many would-be IT professionals who fall by the wayside, just need the right support system.

Most trainers typically provide piles of reference manuals and workbooks. It's not a very interesting way to learn and isn't the best way to go about studying effectively. Research into the way we learn shows that we remember much more when all our senses are involved and take action to use what we've learned. Study programs now come in the form of CD and DVD ROM's, where your computer becomes the centre of your learning. Video streaming means you can watch instructors demonstrating how to do something, and then practice yourself - in a virtual lab environment. You really need to look at examples of the study materials provided by any company that you may want to train through. It's essential they incorporate instructor-led video demonstrations with virtual practice-lab's. Some companies only have access to training that is purely available online; and while this is acceptable much of the time, think what will happen if you lose your internet access or you only get very a very slow connection sometimes. A safer solution is the provision of physical CD or DVD discs that removes the issue entirely.

Considering how a program is 'delivered' to you can often be overlooked. How many stages do they break the program into? And in what sequence and how fast does each element come? Typically, you'll join a programme staged over 2 or 3 years and get posted one section at a time - from one exam to the next. This sounds logical on one level, until you consider this: It's not unusual for trainees to realise that the trainer's standard order of study is not what they would prefer. Sometimes, it's more expedient to use an alternative order of study. And what happens if they don't finish in the allotted time? Put simply, the perfect answer is to obtain their recommendation on the best possible order of study, but get all the study materials at the start. You're then in possession of everything if you don't manage to finish within their ideal time-table.

The right sort of package of training will undoubtedly have accredited exam simulation and preparation packages. As the majority of IT examination boards are American, you must be prepared for the way exams are phrased. It's not sufficient simply going through the right questions - they must be in an exam format that exactly replicates the real thing. Be sure to have some simulated exam questions so you can check your knowledge at all times. Practice or 'mock' exams will help to boost your attitude - then you won't be quite so nervous at the actual exam.

Many training companies offer a Job Placement Assistance service, to help you get your first job. Having said that, occasionally people are too impressed with this facility, for it's really not that difficult for well qualified and focused men and women to find a job in the IT industry - as employers are keen to find appropriately skilled employees. You would ideally have CV and Interview advice and support though; additionally, we would recommend everyone to update their CV as soon as training commences - don't delay till you've finished your exams. A good number of junior support jobs have been offered to students who are still studying and haven't even passed a single exam yet. At the very least this will get your CV into the 'possible' pile and not the 'no' pile. If you don't want to travel too far to work, then you'll often find that a specialist independent regional recruitment consultant or service might serve you better than a national service, for they're going to have insider knowledge of the jobs that are going locally. Do ensure you don't conscientiously work through your course materials, then call a halt and imagine someone else is miraculously going to secure your first position. Stand up for yourself and start looking for yourself. Invest the same time and energy into getting a good job as you did to gain the skills.

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