by Jason Kendall
If it weren’t for a continuous flood of well educated network and PC support staff, business in the United Kingdom (and around the world) would inevitably be drawn to a standstill. We have a constantly increasing demand for technicians to support both users and the systems they work with. The world’s requirement for those members of the workforce is ever increasing, as everything becomes significantly more computer dependent.
Making the most suitable career option is hard enough – so which sectors are important to investigate and what questions do we need to be raising?
A fatal Faux-Pas that we encounter all too often is to concentrate on the course itself, and not focus on the end result they want to achieve. Universities are stacked to the hilt with students who chose a course based on what sounded good – rather than what would get them an enjoyable career or job. It’s a sad fact, but a large percentage of students kick-off study that often sounds fabulous from the prospectus, but which delivers a career that doesn’t satisfy. Talk to many university graduates and you’ll see where we’re coming from.
Get to grips with the income level you aspire to and whether you’re an ambitious person or not. This can often control what particular accreditations will be expected and what industry will expect from you in return. We advise all students to talk with a professional advisor before they embark on a training program. This gives some measure of assurance that it contains the commercially required skills for the career that is sought.
Be careful that the certifications you’re considering doing are commercially relevant and are current. ‘In-house’ certificates are often meaningless. To an employer, only top businesses such as Microsoft, CompTIA, Cisco or Adobe (for instance) will get you short-listed. Nothing else makes the grade.
One of the most important things to insist on has to be 24×7 round-the-clock support through trained professional instructors and mentors. Too many companies only provide office hours (or extended office hours) support. You’ll be waiting ages for an answer with email based support, and so-called telephone support is normally just routed to a call-centre that will just take down the issue and email it over to their technical team – who will attempt to call you within 24-48 hrs, when it’s convenient to them. This isn’t a lot of good if you’re stuck with a particular problem and have a one hour time-slot in which to study.
Keep your eyes open for training programs that utilise many support facilities from around the world. Each one should be integrated to offer a simple interface and also round-the-clock access, when it’s convenient for you, without any problems. You can’t afford to accept less than this. 24×7 support is the only kind that ever makes the grade with technical courses. Maybe late-evening study is not your thing; but for the majority of us however, we’re at work when traditional support if offered.
If you’re like many of the students we talk to then you’ve always enjoyed practical work – the ‘hands-on’ person. If you’re like us, the unfortunate chore of reading reference guides is something you’ll make yourself do if you have to, but it’s not really your thing. So look for on-screen interactive learning packages if you’d really rather not use books. Memory is vastly improved with an involvement of all our senses – this has been an accepted fact in expert circles for years now.
Search for a course where you’ll receive a selection of DVD-ROM’s – you’ll start with videos of instructor demonstrations, and then have the opportunity to fine-tune your skills in fully interactive practice sessions. It’s wise to view a small selection of training examples before you sign the purchase order. Always insist on videoed instructor demonstrations and interactive audio-visual sections with practice modules.
It’s usually bad advice to opt for on-line only training. Connection quality and reliability varies hugely across the ISP (internet service provider) market, you should always obtain physical media such as CD or DVD ROM’s.
Considering how a program is ‘delivered’ to you can often be overlooked. How many parts is the training broken down into? And in what sequence and how fast does each element come? Usually, you’ll join a programme staged over 2 or 3 years and get sent one module each time you pass an exam. This may seem sensible until you think about these factors: Sometimes the steps or stages prescribed by the provider doesn’t suit you. What if you find it hard to complete every element inside their defined time-scales?
In a perfect world, you’d get ALL the training materials right at the beginning – so you’ll have them all to come back to in the future – as and when you want. You can also vary the order in which you move through the program if another more intuitive route presents itself.
Think about the points below and pay great regard to them if you’ve been persuaded that that over-used sales technique about ‘guaranteeing’ exams sounds like a benefit to the student:
It’s very clear we’re ultimately paying for it – obviously it has been inserted into the gross price invoiced by the college. It’s absolutely not free (it’s just marketing companies think we’ll fall for anything they say!) Evidence shows that when students fund their relevant examinations, at the time of taking them, they’ll be in a better position to pass first time – because they’re aware of their payment and their application will be greater.
Don’t pay up-front, but seek out the best deal for you when you take the exam, and hang on to your cash. In addition, it’s then your choice where to do the examinations – which means you can stay local. A lot of extra profit is secured by many training colleges who incorporate exam fees into the cost of the course. Many students don’t take them for one reason or another but no refunds are given. Surprising as it sounds, providers exist who actually rely on students not sitting all the exams – as that’s very profitable for them. Most companies will insist that you take mock exams first and with-hold subsequent exam entries from you until you’ve completely proven that you’re likely to pass – making an ‘exam guarantee’ just about worthless.
Spending hundreds or even thousands extra on ‘Exam Guarantees’ is short-sighted – when study, commitment and preparing with good quality mock and practice exams is what will really see you through.
Being a part of the information technology industry is amongst the most stimulating and innovative industries that you can get into right now. To be working on the cutting-edge of technology puts you at the fore-front of developments affecting everyone who lives in the 21st century. Society largely thinks that the technological advancement we have experienced is slowing down. All indicators point in the opposite direction. Massive changes are on the horizon, and most especially the internet is going to dominate how we conduct our lives.
The typical IT employee across the UK will also receive considerably more money than fellow workers in other market sectors. Average remuneration packages are amongst the highest in the country. It’s evident that we have a significant nationwide requirement for certified IT specialists. And with the marketplace continuing to expand, it is likely this will be the case for the significant future.
