A fraction of the working population in the United Kingdom are claiming to be happy in their job. Inevitably, huge numbers will just stay there. The fact that you’re reading this at least suggests that you’re considering or may be ready for a change.

We’d strongly advise that before you start any individual training program, you discuss your plans with a person who is familiar with the working environment and can give you advice. They can look at aspects of your personality and help you find your ideal job to train for:

* Is it your preference to work in isolation or perhaps being around others is an essential criteria for you?

* What do you require from the market sector you work in? – We all know that things have changed, look at building and banking for instance.

* Once your training has been completed, are you hoping your new skills will give you the ability to take you through to retirement?

* Do you believe that retraining in your chosen sector can help you find employment, and will provide the facility to be employed up to the time you want to stop?

The biggest industry in the United Kingdom that fulfils the above criteria is the IT sector. There’s a demand for more qualified people in the industry, simply have a look at a local jobsite and there’ll be a long list. Don’t let people tell you it’s full of techie geeks gazing towards theirscreens all day – there are loads more jobs than that. The majority of employees in the computer industry are just like the rest of us, with jobs they enjoy and better than average salaries.

The market provides a plethora of employment in IT. Arriving at the correct choice out of this complexity often proves challenging.

What are the chances of us grasping the many facets of a particular career when it’s an alien environment to us? Most likely we have never met anyone who does that actual job anyway.

To get through to the essence of this, we need to discuss many unique issues:

* What nature of person you reckon you are – what kind of jobs you get enjoyment from, and conversely – what you hate to do.

* What time-frame are you looking at for retraining?

* What scale of importance is the salary – is it very important, or is enjoying your job a lot higher on the scale of your priorities?

* Always think in-depth about the energy required to achieve their goals.

* What effort, commitment and time you will put into the training program.

For the majority of us, sifting through so much data requires a good chat with an experienced pro that can investigate each area with you. And we’re not only talking about the accreditations – you also need to understand the commercial requirements and expectations of the market as well.

Adding in the cost of examination fees upfront and offering an ‘Exam Guarantee’ is popular with a number of training colleges. However, let’s consider what’s really going on:

They’ve allowed costings for it by some means. You can be assured it’s not a freebie – they’ve simply charged more for the whole training package.

We all want to pass first time. Going for exams in order and funding them one at a time sees you much better placed to get through first time – you revise thoroughly and are aware of the costs involved.

Why pay the training course provider early for examinations? Find the best deal you can when you’re ready, don’t pay mark-ups – and take it closer to home – rather than possibly hours away from your area.

Why tie up your cash (or borrow more than you need) for examination fees when there was no need to? Big margins are secured by training companies getting money in early for exam fees – and banking on the fact that many won’t be taken.

Remember, with the majority of Exam Guarantees – you are not in control of when you can do your re-takes. You will have to demonstrate an excellent pass-rate before they’ll approve a re-take.

On average, exams cost approximately 112 pounds in the last 12 months when taken at VUE or Pro-metric centres in the UK. Therefore, why splash out often many hundreds of pounds extra to have ‘Exam Guarantees’, when common sense dictates that the responsible approach is consistent and systematic learning, coupled with quality exam simulation software.

One thing you must always insist on is comprehensive 24×7 direct-access support with expert mentors and instructors. It’s an all too common story to find providers that only provide support to you inside of office hours (typically 9am-6pm) and sometimes a little earlier or later (but not weekends usually).

Avoid, like the plague, any organisations who use ‘out-of-hours’ call-centres – where you’ll get called back during typical office hours. It’s no use when you’re stuck on a problem and need an answer now.

The very best programs offer an online round-the-clock service pulling in several support offices throughout multiple time-zones. You’re offered an interface which seamlessly accesses whichever office is appropriate at any time of day or night: Support when you need it.

If you opt for less than support round-the-clock, you’ll very quickly realise that you’ve made a mistake. You may avoid using the support in the middle of the night, but you may need weekends, late evenings or early mornings.

Finding your first job in the industry can feel more straightforward with the help of a Job Placement Assistance service. Because of the great skills shortage in Great Britain at the moment, it’s not too important to get too caught up in this feature though. It’s not as difficult as you may be led to believe to find the right work once you’re properly qualified.

Help and assistance with preparing a CV and getting interviews might be provided (alternatively, check out one of our sites for help). It’s essential that you update that dusty old CV right away – don’t leave it till you pass the exams!

It’s possible that you won’t have even got to the exam time when you will be offered your first junior support position; but this can’t and won’t happen unless your CV is with employers.

Actually, a specialist independent regional recruitment consultant or service (who will get paid commission to place you) is going to give you a better service than a division of a training company. Also of course they should be familiar with the area and local employers better.

A slight aggravation of many training course providers is how hard people are focused on studying to become certified, but how un-prepared they are to work on getting the position they’re qualified for. Don’t give up when the best is yet to come.