by Jason Kendall
Congratulate yourself that you’ve already got this far! A small number of workers enjoy their work and find it stimulating, but vast numbers complain to each other and take no action. The fact that you’re here means it’s probable that you’ve a personal interest in re-training, so even now you’re ahead of the game. What comes next is find out more and then take action.
On the subject of training, it’s important to first define what you want and don’t want from the job you would like to get. Ensure that the grass actually is greener before you put a lot of energy into taking a new turn. So much better to look at the destination you’re hoping for, to avoid disappointment:
* Do you see yourself dealing with people? Would that be with the same people or with many new people? Maybe working on your own in a task-based situation would give you pleasure?
* Are you thinking carefully about which market sector you maybe could work in? (Post credit crunch, it’s more important than ever to choose carefully.)
* Is this the last time you plan to retrain, and if so, will this new career offer that choice?
* Do you have the assurance that your industry training course will make you employable, and offer the chance to allow you to work until your pension kicks in?
A predominant industry in this country that fulfils the above criteria is the IT industry. There’s a need for more knowledgeable workers in this market, just search any job site and you’ll discover what we mean. But don’t think it’s full of techie geeks sitting in front ofscreens the whole time - there are many more roles than that. The majority of workers in the industry are ordinary people, but they enjoy their work and get well paid.
How are we supposed to make an educated choice then? With such prospects, it’s important to know where to search - and what we should be looking for.
An advisor that doesn’t ask you a lot of questions - it’s likely they’re just trying to sell you something. If they’re pushing towards a particular product before looking at your personality and whether you have any commercial experience, then you know it’s true. Don’t forget, if you’ve had any relevant qualifications that are related, then you can sometimes expect to begin at a different level to a student who’s starting from scratch. It’s usual to start with some basic user skills first. This can set the scene for your on-going studies and make your learning curve a bit more manageable.
The classroom style of learning we remember from school, utilising reference manuals and books, is usually pretty hard going. If you’re nodding as you read this, check out study materials that are multimedia based. If we can involve all our senses in the learning process, then we normally see dramatically better results.
Fully interactive motion videos involving demonstration and virtual lab’s will turn you off book-based study for ever more. And they’re a lot more fun to do. You’ll definitely want a demonstration of the study materials from any training college. The package should contain expert-led demonstrations, slideshows and interactive labs where you get to practice.
Avoid training that is purely online. Always choose CD or DVD based study materials where possible, as you need to be able to use them whenever it’s convenient for you - it’s not wise to be held hostage to your internet connection always being ‘up’ and available.
One of the most important things to insist on has to be 24×7 round-the-clock support with expert mentors and instructors. Far too often we see trainers who only provide support to you inside of office hours (typically 9am-6pm) and sometimes a little earlier or later (but not weekends usually). Look for training with proper support available at any time of the day or night (no matter if it’s in the middle of the night on a weekend!) You’ll need access directly to professional tutors, and not simply some messaging service that means you’re constantly waiting for a call-back during office hours.
As long as you look hard, you will find professional companies which give students online support around the clock - at any time of day or night. Never settle for less than this. Direct-access round-the-clock support is the only kind that ever makes the grade with IT study. Perhaps you don’t intend to study during the evenings; but for most of us, we’re out at work at the time when most support is available.
Workshops can be portrayed as a big positive benefit by some trainers. After talking to most IT hopefuls who have used them, you’ll likely realise that they’ve now become a mistake mainly due to the following:
* All the travelling required - lots of visits and often hundreds of miles each time.
* Monday to Friday access with classes is the norm, and getting two to three days out of work causes a lot of problems for most working students.
* And let’s not ignore lost vacation time. Usually we’re lucky to have 20 days holiday per year. If at least half is sacrificed to learning, then we aren’t going to be doing much vacationing.
* Training workshops often become quickly full, so we end up having to take a less-than-ideal slot.
* Some trainees are trying to maintain a quick pace, but some need a more gentle learning curve and be allowed to set their own speed. This causes tension in most cases.
* The growing costs associated with travel - travelling to the training college and of course over-night bed and breakfast can mount up over several visits. If you only assumed 5-10 centre-days at a cost of 35 pounds for one night’s accommodation, plus forty pounds for petrol and 15.00 for food, that becomes a minimum of four to nine hundred pounds of hidden costs that we now have to fund.
* All of us want some privacy. We don’t want to risk giving up any potential advancement that we’re owed because of our studies.
* Asking questions in a class full of students sometimes makes us feel awkward. Ever avoided asking a question just because you were worried it might make you look silly?
* Usually, days in-centre are virtually impossible to attend, when you work away for part of your week or month.
Surely it makes so much more sense to study when it’s convenient for you - not the company - and exploit videos of instructors with interactive virtual-lab’s. Study from home on your PC or out in the garden on your laptop. If you’ve got questions, then use the provided 24×7 live support (that you should have insisted on for any technical study.) Irrespective of how often you would like to re-take a quiz or test, filmed teachers are never going to run out of patience! Also, with this method, you don’t have to worry about any note-taking. Everything’s laid out there for you to use. The final upshot: Reduced hassle, money saved, and no travelling or long journeys.
There are colossal changes about to hit technology in the near future - and the industry becomes more ground-breaking every year. We’ve barely started to scrape the surface of how technology will affect our lives in the future. The internet will significantly revolutionise the way we regard and interact with the rest of the world over the coming decades.
The money in IT isn’t to be sniffed at either - the income on average in the UK for the usual IT professional is noticeably better than average salaries nationally. Chances are that you’ll receive quite a bit more than you’d expect to earn doing other work. Because the IT market sector is still increasing at an unprecedented rate, it’s looking good that the need for professionally qualified and skilled IT workers will continue actively for years to come.
About the Author:
Author Jason Kendall divides his time between consulting and promoting quality training and UK Support. To investigate
Computer Training, visit LearningLolly
IT Training.
Originally posted 2009-05-29 08:03:45. Republished by Old Post Promoter