Shade, Shutters & Blinds

Well Done! As you’re looking at this it’s likely you’re thinking about retraining for a new career - that means you’ve already taken one more step than the majority. Less of us than you’d think are content with our jobs, but most just moan and do nothing about it. You could be a member of the few who decide to make the change.

Prior to considering any career courses, look for an advisor who can talk you through which area will be right for you. Someone who can get to know your personality, and find out the best career for you to work towards:

* Do you like to work collaborating with people? Would you prefer to work with a small team or with a lot of new people? Perhaps working alone in a task-based situation would be more your thing?

* What do you need from the market sector you work in? (Things do change - look at the building trade, or banks for example.)

* Having completed your retraining, would you like this skill to serve you till you retire?

* Are you happy that retraining in your chosen sector will offer you employment opportunities, and offer the chance to allow you to work until retirement?

We ask you to find out more about the computer industry - there are more jobs than employees, and it’s one of the few choices of career where the sector is expanding. In contrast to what some people believe, it isn’t just geeks gazing at their computer screens the whole day (if you like the sound of that though, they do exist.) The vast majority of roles are done by ordinary men and women who want to earn a very good living.

One useful service that several companies offer is a Job Placement Assistance program. The service is put in place to steer you into your first IT role. The fact of the matter is it’s not as difficult as you may be led to believe to secure a job - as long as you’ve got the necessary skills and qualifications; the shortage of IT personnel in Britain looks after that.

Get your CV updated straight-away though - look to your training company for advice on how to do this. Don’t wait until you’ve qualified.

It’s possible that you won’t have even qualified when you land your first junior support job; but this won’t be the case if your CV isn’t in front of employers.

If you’d like to get employment in your home town, then you may well find that an independent and specialised local employment service may work much better for you than the trainer’s recruitment division, due to the fact that they are much more inclined to have insider knowledge of what’s available near you.

Many trainees, apparently, conscientiously work through their course materials (for years sometimes), only to give up at the first hurdle when looking for the right position. Promote yourself… Make an effort to put yourself out there. Good jobs don’t just knock on your door.

Being at the forefront of the cutting-edge of new technology is as thrilling as it comes. Your actions are instrumental in creating a future for us all.

We’re only just beginning to comprehend how this will truly impact our way of life. The way we interact with the world will be inordinately affected by computers and the web.

And don’t forget salaries moreover - the income on average in the UK for an average IT worker is a lot higher than in the rest of the economy. Odds are you’ll make a much better deal than you would in most other jobs.

Experts agree that there’s a substantial national demand for trained and qualified IT technicians. It follows that with the constant growth in the marketplace, it appears this will be the case for a good while yet.

Starting with the idea that we have to home-in on the employment that excites us first, before we can even weigh up which training course fulfils our needs, how are we supposed to find the way that suits us?

Therefore, if you’ve got no experience in the IT sector, what chance is there for you to know what a particular IT employee does each day? Let alone arrive at which certification program provides the best chances for a successful result.

Ultimately, the right answer will only come from a careful study of many changing key points:

* Our personalities play a significant role - what kind of areas spark your interest, and what are the areas that get you down.

* What sort of time-frame do you want for your training?

* Where do you stand on job satisfaction vs salary?

* Learning what typical career roles and sectors are - and what makes them different.

* You have to understand what differentiates each individual training area.

For the majority of us, considering all these ideas will require meeting with an experienced pro who can investigate each area with you. And we’re not only talking about the accreditations - but the commercial requirements and expectations also.

Make sure that all your certifications are what employers want - forget programs that lead to in-house certificates.

Only properly recognised examinations from the major players like Microsoft, Cisco, CompTIA and Adobe will have any meaning to employers.

Copyright Scott Edwards 2009. Pop to Click HERE or Comptia Certification.