If it weren’t for a regular deluge of trained PC and network support staff, commerce in the United Kingdom (as elsewhere) would inevitably run into problems. There is a huge demand for men and women with technical ability to support both the users themselves and their networks. Our hunger for such skilled and qualified individuals is ever increasing, as commercial enterprise becomes significantly more dependent upon technology.
There is a tidal wave of change washing over technology over the next few decades – and it only gets more exciting every day.
We’ve barely started to get a feel for how technology will affect our lives in the future. The internet will profoundly change how we regard and interact with the world around us over the coming decades.
Always remember that income in IT in Great Britain is much more than in the rest of the economy, which means you will probably gain considerably more with professional IT knowledge, than you’d expect to earn elsewhere.
It would appear there’s no easing up for IT industry increases in Great Britain as a whole. The sector is continuing to expand hugely, and we don’t have anywhere near enough qualified skilled IT professionals to fill current job vacancies, so it’s not likely that it will even slow down for the significant future.
Quite often, students have issues with one area of their training usually not even thought about: The method used to ‘segment’ the courseware before being sent out to you.
Many companies enrol you into a 2 or 3 year study programme, and deliver each piece one-by-one as you finish each section. Sounds reasonable? Well consider these facts:
What if there are reasons why you can’t finish every single section? Maybe the prescribed order won’t suit you? Through no fault of your own, you may not meet the required timescales and consequently not get all your materials.
To be honest, the perfect answer is to have a copy of their prescribed order of study, but to receive all the materials up-front. Everything is then in your possession should you not complete it at their required pace.
It only makes sense to consider training programmes that’ll lead to commercially acknowledged exams. There’s an endless list of trainers promoting minor ‘in-house’ certificates which will prove unusable in today’s commercial market.
Only fully recognised qualifications from the top companies like Microsoft, CompTIA, Cisco and Adobe will mean anything to employers.
At the top of your shopping list for a training program should be 24×7 round-the-clock support through professional mentors and instructors. So many companies we come across will only offer a basic 9am till 6pm support period (maybe later on certain days) with very little availability over the weekend.
Locate training schools with help available at any time of the day or night (even 1am on Sunday morning!) You’ll need direct access to tutors, and not access to a call-in service which takes messages – so you’re consistently being held in a queue for a call-back during office hours.
Keep your eyes open for colleges that have multiple support offices around the globe in several time-zones. Each one should be integrated to provide a single interface and 24 hours-a-day access, when it’s convenient for you, without any problems.
Don’t ever make the mistake of taking second best when it comes to your support. The vast majority of students who fall by the wayside, would have had a different experience if they’d got the right support package in the first place.
Copyright Scott Edwards 2009. Navigate to comptia-a-training.co.uk or CLICK HERE.