Training For PC User Skills – An Analysis

It’s really great that you’ve made it this far! Just ten percent of people say they enjoy their work, but the majority just bitch about it and nothing happens. By looking for this we have a hunch that you’re giving retraining some thought, so you’ve already stood out from the crowd. Now you just need to research and follow-through.

When considering retraining, it’s crucial that you have in mind your requirements from the position you’d like to train for. You need to know that you would be more satisfied before your energies are focused on changing the direction of your life. It’s good sense to regard the end goal first, to avoid disappointment:

* Do you operate better working alone or is being part of a team an essential criteria for you?

* What’s important that you get from your chosen industry? (If it’s stability you’re after, you might think twice about banks or the building industry right now.)

* And how many years do you want to get out of your retraining, and can your chosen industry offer you that opportunity?

* Will this new qualification make it easier to get a good job, and stay employable until you wish to retire?

We would advise you to have a good look at the IT industry – there are increasingly more roles than people to do them, because it’s one of the few choices of career where the industry is expanding. Despite what some people believe, it isn’t a bunch of techie geeks looking at screens every day (though those jobs exist.) The majority of jobs are occupied by people like you and me who want to earn a very good living.

One useful service offered by some training providers is a Job Placement Assistance program. This is designed to help you find your first job in the industry. Because of the massive need for more IT skills in Great Britain right now, there’s no need to place too much emphasis on this feature however. It isn’t so complicated as you might think to land the right work once you’re trained and certified.

CV and Interview advice and support may be available (if it isn’t, consult one of our sites). Be sure to you polish up your CV right away – not after you’ve qualified!

Many junior support jobs have been bagged by students who are still learning and have yet to take their exams. At least this will get your CV into the ‘possible’ pile and not the ‘no’ pile.

Most often, an independent and specialised local recruitment consultant or service – who make their money when they’ve found you a job – will be more pro-active than a sector of a centralised training facility. It also stands to reason that they’ll be familiar with the local industry and employment needs.

Various students, it seems, spend evenings and weekends on their training and studies (sometimes for years), and then just stop instead of attempting to secure their first job. Market yourself… Work hard to get in front of employers. A job isn’t just going to bump into you.

You should look for an authorised exam preparation system as part of your training package.

Because the majority of examining boards for IT are American, it’s essential to understand how exam questions will be phrased and formatted. It’s not sufficient simply answering any old technical questions – it’s essential that you can cope with them in the proper exam format.

Be sure to ask for testing modules that will allow you to test your understanding along the way. Simulated or practice exams help to build your confidence – so you’re much more at ease with the real thing.

Make sure you don’t get caught-up, as many people do, on the certification itself. Your training isn’t about getting a plaque on your wall; you should be geared towards the actual job at the end of it. Stay focused on what it is you want to achieve.

It’s not unheard of, in some situations, to thoroughly enjoy one year of training only to end up putting 20 long years into a tiresome job role, as an upshot of not doing the correct research at the outset.

You also need to know how you feel about career development, earning potential, and whether you intend to be quite ambitious. It’s vital to know what (if any) sacrifices you’ll need to make for a particular role, which particular exams are needed and in what way you can develop commercial experience.

We’d recommend you take advice from a professional advisor before embarking on some particular learning program, so there’s no doubt that the specific package will give the skills for the job being sought.

If you’re like many of the students we talk to then you probably enjoy fairly practical work – a ‘hands-on’ personality type. Usually, the world of book-reading and classrooms would be considered as a last resort, but it’s not ideal. So look for on-screen interactive learning packages if learning from books is not your thing.

Many studies have proved that memory is aided when all our senses are involved, and we get physically involved with the study process.

The latest audio-visual interactive programs featuring instructor demo’s and practice lab’s beat books hands-down. And you’ll actually enjoy doing them.

Always insist on a demonstration of the study materials from the school that you’re considering. The package should contain expert-led demonstrations, slideshows and interactive labs where you get to practice.

Often, companies will only use just online versions of their training packages; while you can get away with this much of the time, consider what happens when you don’t have access to the internet or you get a slow connection speed. A safer solution is the provision of DVD or CD discs that don’t suffer from these broadband issues.

Copyright Scott Edwards 2010. Go to Dreamweaver Training or www.CareerProgression.co.uk/pcaprog.html.