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Network and computer support workers are constantly sought after in Great Britain, as companies are becoming more reliant upon their knowledge and capacity to solve problems. The world’s need for those people is constantly growing, as everything becomes significantly more computer dependent.

Many companies are all about the certification, and completely miss what you actually need - which is a commercial career or job. Your focus should start with the final destination in mind - don’t make the journey more important than where you want to get to.

Never let yourself become part of the group who choose a training program that seems ‘fun’ or ‘interesting’ - and end up with a plaque on the wall for an unrewarding career path.

It’s essential to keep your focus on what it is you’re trying to achieve, and create a learning-plan from that - don’t do it back-to-front. Keep on track and study for something you’ll enjoy for years to come.

We’d recommend you take advice from an experienced advisor before embarking on a particular study programme, so there’s no doubt that the specific package will give the appropriate skill-set.

With so much choice, there’s no surprise that nearly all career changers don’t really understand the best career path they will follow.

Because in the absence of any commercial skills in IT, how should we possibly know what a particular job actually consists of?

Getting to an informed conclusion really only appears via a careful investigation across many varying areas:

* Personality plays a significant role - what things get your juices flowing, and what are the things that you really dislike.

* Are you driven to obtain training for a specific raison d’etre - i.e. is it your goal to work at home (self-employment?)?

* Is your income higher on your priority-scale than some other areas.

* Considering all that Information Technology encompasses, it’s important to be able to absorb how they differ.

* You have to appreciate the differences between each area of training.

To bypass all the jargon and confusion, and reveal the most viable option for your success, have a good talk with an industry-experienced advisor; an individual that will cover the commercial realities and truth as well as all the qualifications.

Qualifications from the commercial sector are now, very visibly, already replacing the traditional academic paths into IT - but why should this be?

As demand increases for knowledge about more and more complex technology, the IT sector has been required to move to the specialised core-skills learning only available through the vendors themselves - that is companies such as Adobe, Microsoft, CISCO and CompTIA. This usually turns out to involve less time and financial outlay.

The training is effectively done through concentrating on the actual skills required (together with a relevant amount of related knowledge,) rather than covering masses of the background detail and ‘fluff’ that academic courses can often find themselves doing - to fill a three or four year course.

When it comes down to the nitty-gritty: Recognised IT certifications tell an employer precisely what skills you have - the title is a complete giveaway: as an example - I am a ‘Microsoft Certified Professional’ in ‘Managing and Maintaining Windows Server 2003′. Therefore an employer can look at the particular needs they have and which qualifications are required to fulfil that.

Students will sometimes miss checking on a painfully important area - how their training provider divides up the training materials, and into how many separate packages.

By and large, you will join a program that takes between and 1 and 3 years and receive one element at a time until graduation. While this may sound logical on one level, consider this:

Students often discover that their providers standard order of study isn’t ideal for them. They might find it’s more expedient to use an alternative order of study. And what happens if they don’t finish inside of the expected timescales?

To avoid any potential future issues, many trainees now want to insist that all study materials are delivered immediately, and not in stages. It’s then your own choice in what order and how fast or slow you want to work.

(C) Scott Edwards 2010. Visit Cisco Training or www.MCSE2003-4PC.co.uk.