A fraction of the working population in the UK today are pleased and contented with their working life. Inevitably, huge numbers will take no action. The fact that you’ve got this far surely tells us that you’ve realised change must come.
We’d strongly advise that in advance of taking a training course, you have a conversation with someone who can see the bigger picture and can point you in the right direction. Such a person will go through personality profiling with you and help you sort out a role to fit you:
* Is collaborating with others important to you? Would you prefer to work with a small team or with many new people? Maybe working on your own in a task-based situation would give you pleasure?
* Which criteria’s are fundamental when considering the market sector you’ll be employed in?
* Once you’ve qualified, are you hoping your new skills will give you the ability to serve you till you retire?
* Do you believe that your chosen retraining will make you employable, and offer the chance to keep you in work until retirement?
A predominant industry in this country to tick all of the above boxes is the computer industry, particularly IT. There’s a need for more skilled technicians in the industry, just search any jobs website and you’ll see for yourself. But don’t think it’s only geeky nerds looking at their computerscreens all the time – there are many more roles than that. Most of workers in IT are people of average intelligence, and they have very interesting and well paid jobs.
Make sure you don’t get caught-up, as can often be the case, on the certification itself. You’re not training for the sake of training; you’re training to become commercially employable. Stay focused on what it is you want to achieve.
Imagine training for just one year and then end up doing a job for a lifetime. Don’t make the error of finding what seems like an ‘interesting’ training program only to spend 20 years doing a job you don’t like!
Prioritise understanding what expectations industry may have of you. What accreditations you’ll be required to have and in what way you can gain some industry experience. Spend some time considering how far you wish to go as it will often force you to choose a particular set of certifications.
It’s good advice for all students to chat with highly experienced advisors before they make a decision on a particular study programme. This helps to ensure it contains the relevant skills for the chosen career path.
It can be a nerve-racking task, but finding your first IT job can be made easier by some training providers because they offer a Job Placement Assistance service. The need for this feature can be bigged up out of proportion though – it’s quite easy for eager sales people to make it sound harder than it is. At the end of the day, the massive skills shortage in Britain is what will make you attractive to employers.
Help with your CV and interview techniques is sometimes offered (if not, see one of our sites for help). It’s essential that you polish up your CV today – not after you’ve qualified!
A good number of junior support roles have been offered to trainees who are still studying and have yet to take their exams. This will at the very least get you into the ‘maybe’ pile of CV’s – rather than the ‘No’ pile.
If you’d like to keep travelling time and costs to a minimum, then it’s quite likely that an independent and specialised local employment service may serve you better than a centralised service, due to the fact that they are much more inclined to be familiar with the jobs that are going locally.
In a nutshell, if you put as much hard work into landing your first IT position as into studying, you won’t find it too challenging. A number of students curiously conscientiously work through their training and studies and then call a halt once certified and seem to suppose that interviewers know they’re there.
Frequently, your normal student doesn’t have a clue what way to go about starting in a computing career, let alone what market they should be considering getting trained in.
As without any commercial background in Information Technology, how should we possibly understand what someone in a particular job does?
Often, the key to unlocking this issue properly lies in a deep conversation around several different topics:
* Personality plays a significant part – what gets you ‘up and running’, and what are the areas that put a frown on your face.
* Are you hoping to get qualified due to a specific raison d’etre – for example, do you aim to work at home (working for yourself?)?
* Where is the salary on a scale of importance – is an increase your main motivator, or is job satisfaction a little higher on the scale of your priorities?
* There are many markets to choose from in the IT industry – there’s a need to gain a basic understanding of what sets them apart.
* The level of commitment and effort you will set aside for getting qualified.
In these situations, you’ll find the only real way to investigate these issues is through a chat with an advisor or professional who has experience of Information Technology (and more importantly the commercial requirements.)
One thing you must always insist on is comprehensive 24×7 direct-access support through trained professional instructors and mentors. 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).
Don’t buy certification programs which can only support you through a message system after office-staff have gone home. Trainers will always try to hide the importance of this issue. Essentially – you want support at the appropriate time – not as-and-when it’s suitable for their staff.
The best trainers utilise several support facilities active in different time-zones. By utilising an interactive interface to seamlessly link them all together, at any time you choose, help is just seconds away, without any problems or delays.
Don’t under any circumstances take anything less. Support round-the-clock is the only way to go when it comes to IT training. Maybe late-evening study is not your thing; usually though, we’re working when traditional support if offered.
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