What kind of things do you expect the finest Microsoft certified training providers to offer a student in Britain in this day and age? Patently, the finest Microsoft certified training tracks, offering a selection of courses to lead you to a variety of careers in the IT workplace. Maybe you’d choose to talk through what you’re looking to do with a person who’s got industry experience – and if you haven’t come to a decision, then have some guidance on whereabouts in industry would be right for you, dependent on your abilities and personality. Once you’ve decided on your career path, you must find an appropriate course tailored to be right for your current level of knowledge and ability. Your course material should leave no room for complaints.
Bearing in mind the sheer volume of discussion covering computer technology nowadays, how do we understand what in particular to look for?
Of course: the course itself or an accreditation is not what you’re looking for; the job or career that you’re getting the training for is. Too many training companies over-emphasise the actual accreditation. It’s a sad testimony to the sales skills of many companies, but the majority of trainees kick-off study that often sounds magnificent in the sales literature, but which delivers a career that doesn’t satisfy. Try talking to typical university students and you’ll see where we’re coming from.
Make sure you investigate your feelings on earning potential, career development, and if you’re ambitious or not. It makes sense to understand what the role will demand of you, which particular qualifications will be required and in what way you can develop commercial experience. Talk to an experienced industry advisor that understands the work you’re contemplating, and who’ll explain to you an in-depth explanation of what you’re going to be doing in that job. Researching these areas well before beginning a learning course makes a lot of sense, doesn’t it?
Each programme of learning has to build towards a properly recognised certification as an end-result – and not some unimportant ‘in-house’ diploma – fit only for filing away and forgetting. To an employer, only top businesses like Microsoft, CompTIA, Cisco or Adobe (for example) give enough bang for your buck. Nothing else will cut the mustard.
If you forget everything else – then just remember this: You absolutely must have proper 24×7 support from professional instructors. You will have so many problems later if you don’t heed this. Avoid, like the plague, any organisations that use call-centres ‘out-of-hours’ – where an advisor will call back during office hours. This is no use if you’re stuck and need help now.
Be on the lookout for training schools that have multiple support offices from around the world. Every one of them needs to be seamlessly combined to provide a single interface as well as round-the-clock access, when it suits you, with no fuss. Always choose a trainer that cares. Only true 24×7 round-the-clock live support provides the necessary backup.
The old fashioned style of teaching, with books and manuals, is often a huge slog for most of us. If all this is ringing some familiar bells, dig around for more practical courses which feature interactive and multimedia modules. Research into the way we learn shows that memory is aided when all our senses are involved, and we put into practice what we’ve been studying.
Search for a course where you’ll receive a selection of CD and DVD based materials – you’ll start with videos of instructor demonstrations, with the facility to practice your skills in interactive lab’s. You really need to look at courseware examples from the company you’re considering. They have to utilise video demo’s and interactive elements such as practice lab’s.
It’s folly to select online only courseware. Connection quality and reliability varies hugely across the ISP (internet service provider) market, you should always obtain disc based courseware (On CD or DVD).
Most people don’t even think to ask about something of absolutely vital importance – how their company segments the courseware, and into how many bits. Trainees may consider it sensible (with training often lasting 2 or 3 years for a full commercial certification,) that a training provider will issue the training stage by stage, until you’ve passed all the exams. But: How would they react if you didn’t complete everything within the time limits imposed? And maybe you’ll find their order of completion won’t be as easy as some other structure would for you.
The ideal solution is to have all your study materials delivered to your address right at the beginning; the entire package! This way, nothing can happen down the line which could affect your capacity to get everything done.
You’ll come across courses which guarantee examination passes – this always means exams have to be paid for upfront, at the very beginning of your studies. But before you get taken in by the chance of a guarantee, think about this:
Everybody’s aware that they’re still being charged for it – it’s obviously been inserted into the full cost of the package supplied by the training company. It’s absolutely not free (although some people will believe anything the marketing companies think up these days!) It’s well known in the industry that when students fund their own exams, one by one, they’ll be in a better position to get through on the first attempt – as they’ll think of their investment in themselves and therefore will put more effort into their preparation.
Hold on to your money and pay for the exam when you’re ready, and keep hold of your own money. In addition, it’s then your choice where to sit the exam – which means you can stay local. What’s the point in paying early for exam fees when you don’t need to? A lot of profit is made because training colleges are charging all their exam fees up-front – and then hoping that you won’t take them all. Also, ‘Exam Guarantees’ often aren’t worth the paper they’re written on. Many training companies won’t be prepared to pay for you to re-take until you can prove to them you’re ready to pass.
Prometric and VUE exams are in the region of 112 pounds in the United Kingdom today. What’s the point of paying huge charges for ‘Exam Guarantees’ (usually wrapped up in the course package price) – when the best course materials, the right level of support and study, commitment and preparing with good quality mock and practice exams is what will really guarantee success.
Huge changes are flooding technology in the near future – and this means greater innovations all the time. It’s a common misapprehension that the increase in technology we’ve been going through is easing off. All indicators point in the opposite direction. There are huge changes to come, and the internet in particular will be the most effective tool in our lives.
Wages in the IT sector aren’t to be ignored either – the income on average across the UK for an average man or woman in IT is significantly higher than in the rest of the economy. It’s likely you’ll bring in a much better deal than you would in most other jobs. It seems there is no easing up for IT increases throughout this country. The market sector is continuing to expand enormously, and as we have a significant shortage of skilled professionals, it’s not likely that things will be any different for a good while yet.
