If it weren\’t for a constant influx of knowledgeable network and PC support personnel, business in the UK (and around the world) would surely grind to a halt. There is an ever growing requirement for people to support both the systems and the users themselves. Because we become massively more dependent on advanced technology, we simultaneously find ourselves increasingly dependent on the skilled and qualified networking professionals, who keep the systems going.
A lot of training providers will only provide basic 9am till 6pm support (maybe a little earlier or later on certain days); not many go late into the evening (after 8-9pm) or cover weekends properly.
You\’ll be waiting ages for an answer with email based support, and phone support is often to a call-centre which will just take down the issue and email it over to their technical team – who\’ll call back sometime over the next 1-3 days, when it suits 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.
The most successful trainers utilise several support facilities around the globe in several time-zones. They use an online interactive interface to join them all seamlessly, any time of the day or night, help is just seconds away, without any contact issues or hassle.
If you accept anything less than support round-the-clock, you\’ll end up kicking yourself. It may be that you don\’t use it late at night, but you\’re bound to use weekends, late evenings or early mornings.
It\’s important to understand: the training program or a certification is not what you\’re looking for; the particular job you\’re training for is. Far too many training organisations put too much weight in the piece of paper.
You may train for one year and then end up doing the job for 20 years. Don\’t make the error of opting for what may seem to be an \’interesting\’ training program and then spend decades in an unrewarding career!
It\’s well worth a long chat to see what industry will expect from you. Which precise exams they\’ll want you to gain and in what way you can gain some industry experience. It\’s also worth spending time thinking about how far you think you\’ll want to progress your career as often it can force you to choose a particular set of exams.
Talk to an experienced industry professional who knows about the sector you\’re looking at, and could provide a detailed run-down of what you actually do in that role. Contemplating this long before commencement of any retraining course will prevent a lot of wasted time and effort.
Let\’s face it: There really is pretty much no individual job security anywhere now; there\’s only industry or business security – companies can just drop any single member of staff if it suits their business interests.
In times of increasing skills shortages coupled with high demand areas however, we often discover a newer brand of market-security; as fuelled by the constant growth conditions, companies just can\’t get the staff required.
The IT skills-gap in the United Kingdom is standing at approximately twenty six percent, according to the most recent e-Skills survey. That means for each four job positions existing across computing, we have only 3 certified professionals to fulfil that role.
This single reality on its own underpins why the United Kingdom urgently requires considerably more people to get into the industry.
In reality, acquiring professional IT skills as you progress through the next year or two is probably the greatest career choice you could ever make.
Commercial certification is now, very visibly, taking over from the more academic tracks into IT – why then has this come about?
With university education costs spiralling out of control, along with the industry\’s growing opinion that vendor-based training often has more relevance in the commercial field, there has been a great increase in Adobe, Microsoft, CISCO and CompTIA accredited training programmes that educate students at a much reduced cost in terms of money and time.
Obviously, a necessary amount of background information needs to be learned, but precise specialised knowledge in the required areas gives a vendor educated student a real head start.
Just as the old advertisement said: \’It does what it says on the tin\’. Employers simply need to know where they have gaps, and then match up the appropriate exam numbers as a requirement. They\’ll know then that all applicants can do what they need.
(C) 2009 S. Edwards. Pop to Web Design Training or www.Careers-Advisor.co.uk/caradvk.html.