Microsoft MCSA Certification (2003-2008)

Help with your CV and interview techniques may be available (if it isn't, consult one of our sites). Make sure you bring your CV right up to date straight away - don't leave it till you pass the exams! It can happen that you haven't even qualified when you will get your initial junior support position; although this won't be the case if interviewers don't get sight of your CV. If you'd like to get employment in your home town, then you'll probably find that a local IT focused recruitment consultancy can generally work much better for you than a national service, because they're going to have insider knowledge of local employment needs. Getting into your first IT role can be a little easier with a Job Placement Assistance facility. In reality it isn't so complicated as you might think to land a job - as long as you're correctly trained and certified; the growing UK skills shortage sees to that.

Many men and women conscientiously work through their course materials (for years sometimes), and then just stop - instead of finding the right job. Market yourself... Do everything you can to let employers know about you. Don't think a job's just going to jump out in front of you!

Let's face it: There's no such thing as personal job security now; there's only industry or business security - a company will remove anyone whenever it meets their business requirements. Whereas a sector experiencing fast growth, with huge staffing demands (as there is a massive shortage of trained staff), creates the conditions for real job security.

The Information Technology (IT) skills deficit in the United Kingdom currently stands at around 26 percent, as shown by the most recent e-Skills study. That means for each 4 job positions available throughout IT, we've only got three properly trained pro's to perform that task. Highly qualified and commercially grounded new staff are as a result at a total premium, and in all likelihood it will stay that way for a long time. Surely, now really is a fabulous time for retraining into IT.

Proper support should never be taken lightly - find a program offering 24x7 direct access to instructors, as anything less will frustrate you and could hold up your pace and restrict your intake. some companies only provide email support (slow), and telephone support is usually to a call-centre which will take the information and email an instructor - who will call back over the next day or so (assuming you're there), at a time suitable for them. This is not a lot of use if you're stuck with a particular problem and only have a specific time you can study.

The most successful trainers utilise several support facilities across multiple time-zones. By utilising an interactive interface to seamlessly link them all together, no matter what time you login, help is at hand, avoiding all the delays and problems. Seek out a training company that is worth purchasing from. As only true round-the-clock 24x7 support gives you the confidence to make it.

Why are qualifications from colleges and universities falling behind more commercial certifications? With university education costs spiralling out of control, alongside the IT sector's growing opinion that key company training is often far more commercially relevant, we have seen a large rise in Adobe, Microsoft, CISCO and CompTIA certified IT training routes that supply key solutions to a student for considerably less. Higher education courses, as a example, become confusing because of vast amounts of background study - with much too broad a syllabus. Students are then held back from getting enough specific knowledge about the core essentials. Assuming a company understands what work they need doing, then all they have to do is advertise for the particular skill-set required. Commercial syllabuses are set to meet an exact requirement and don't change between schools (in the way that degree courses can).

The area most overlooked by potential students considering a training program is that of 'training segmentation'. Basically, this means how the program is broken down into parts for drop-shipping to you, which completely controls the point you end up at. Typically, you will join a program staged over 2 or 3 years and receive a module at a time. This sounds logical on one level, until you consider this: It's not unusual for trainees to realise that their training company's usual training route doesn't suit. You may find that varying the order of study will be far more suitable.

Could it cause problems if you don't get everything done inside of the expected timescales? To avoid any potential future issues, it's not unusual for students to make sure that every element of their training is sent immediately, and not in a piecemeal fashion. It's then up to you how fast or slow and in what order you want to finish things.

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