Congratulations! By landing here you’re probably toying with the idea of retraining for a new career – that means you’ve already taken one more step than the majority. A small minority of us are happy and fulfilled in our work, but most just moan and do nothing about it. You could be a member of the few who decide to make the change.
Before we even think about specific training programs, find an expert who can help you sort out the right type of training for you. Someone who can ask questions about your likes and dislikes, and discover what job role you’ll be most comfortable with:
* Do you like to work collaborating with people? Would that be with a small ‘tightly-knit’ team or with a lot of new people? It could be working by yourself in isolation could suit you better?
* Banking and building are none too stable today, so which industry would suit you best?
* Is this the final time you plan to retrain, and based on that, will your chosen career path offer that choice?
* Do you think being qualified will give you the opportunity to discover new employment possibilities, and remain in employment until you wish to retire?
Pay attention to the IT industry, it will be well worth your time – it’s one of the only growing market sectors throughout Europe. Salaries are also more generous than most.
It would be wonderful to believe that our careers are safe and our future is protected, but the growing reality for most sectors in the UK at the moment is that security may be a thing of the past.
It’s possible though to reveal security at the market sector level, by looking for high demand areas, tied with a lack of qualified workers.
The 2006 United Kingdom e-Skills survey demonstrated that over 26 percent of all available IT positions remain unfilled due to an appallingly low number of trained staff. Put simply, we’re only able to fill three out of 4 positions in the computer industry.
This single notion alone is the backbone of why Great Britain urgently requires a lot more new trainees to join the IT sector.
Actually, retraining in Information Technology during the years to come is almost definitely the safest career choice you could ever make.
Commercial certification is now, undoubtedly, starting to replace the traditional routes into the IT sector – so why should this be?
Corporate based study (as it’s known in the industry) is far more effective and specialised. Industry has acknowledged that specialisation is necessary to service the demands of an increasingly more technical commercial environment. Adobe, Microsoft, CISCO and CompTIA are the big boys in this field.
In a nutshell, only that which is required is learned. It’s slightly more broad than that, but the principle remains that students need to cover the precise skills needed (with some necessary background) – without attempting to cover a bit about everything else (as academia often does).
The crux of the matter is this: Commercial IT certifications give employers exactly what they’re looking for – the title is a complete giveaway: as an example – I am a ‘Microsoft Certified Professional’ in ‘Managing and Maintaining Windows Server 2003′. Consequently companies can identify exactly what they need and which qualifications are required to fulfil that.
Looking around, we find a myriad of employment in Information Technology. Picking the right one out of this complexity is generally problematic.
Since without any solid background in Information Technology, how could any of us be expected to understand what a particular job actually consists of?
Getting to an informed answer will only come from a methodical analysis across many different key points:
* Your hobbies and interests – often these highlight what possibilities will provide a happy working life.
* Is your focus to re-train because of a precise reason – e.g. are you looking at working based at home (maybe self-employment?)?
* Where do you stand on salary vs job satisfaction?
* Often, trainees don’t consider the level of commitment expected to gain all the necessary accreditation.
* Taking a cold, hard look into the effort, commitment and time that you can put aside.
For most people, considering each of these concepts tends to require the help of someone who can investigate each area with you. And not just the qualifications – you also need to understand the commercial needs and expectations also.
The way a programme is physically sent to you is usually ignored by most students. How many stages do they break the program into? And in what sequence and at what speed is it delivered?
Delivery by courier of each element one stage at a time, according to your own speed is how things will normally arrive. Of course, this sounds sensible, but you should consider these factors:
Often, the staged breakdown offered by the provider doesn’t suit. You may find it a stretch to finalise all the elements inside of their particular timetable?
Put simply, the best option is to obtain their recommendation on the best possible order of study, but to receive all the materials up-front. You then have everything in the event you don’t complete everything as fast as they’d like.
(C) S. Edwards 2010. Visit Search Engine Training or www.Change-My-Career.co.uk/QCMC.html.
June 28, 2010 by Jason Kendall