Good for you! By landing here we guess you must be considering re-training to work in a different industry – that puts you way ahead of the crowd. Only one in ten of us are content with our jobs, but most complain but just stay there. Why not be one of a small number who make a difference in their lives.
It’s advisable to get some help before you start – find someone who knows the industry; someone who’ll give you career advice based on what works best for you, and then show you the learning programs which are appropriate for you:
* Is working with other people your thing? Do you like to deal with the public? Or are you better with things that you can get on with on your own?
* Building and Banking are a little shaky today, so which sector would suit you best?
* Is this the last time you plan to retrain, and based on that, do you believe this career choice will allow you to do that?
* Do you have niggles about the possibility of getting another job, and staying employable to the end of your working life?
It would be an idea for you to really explore the computer industry – there are greater numbers of positions than workers to do them, and it’s a rare career choice where the market sector is on the grow. In contrast to what some people would have you think, it isn’t just geeks looking at screens all day long (if you like the sound of that though, they do exist.) The majority of jobs are taken by ordinary men and women who enjoy better than average salaries.
There is a tidal wave of change coming via technology in the near future – and it only gets more exciting every day. It’s a common misapprehension that the technological advancement we’ve had over recent years is slowing down. All indicators point in the opposite direction. We have yet to experience incredible advances, and the internet particularly will be the biggest thing to affect the way we live.
Should lifestyle be high on your scale of wants, you will be pleasantly surprised to hear that the income on average for a typical IT worker is noticeably greater than with much of the rest of industry. The good news is there is no easing up for IT industry increases in Great Britain as a whole. The market continues to develop enormously, and as we have a skills gap that means we only typically have three IT workers for every four jobs it’s not likely that there’ll be any kind of easing off for years to come.
For the most part, the typical student has no idea what way to go about starting in the IT industry, let alone what market to focus their retraining program on. How can we possibly grasp the day-to-day realities of any IT job if we’ve never been there? Maybe we haven’t met someone who performs the role either. Deliberation over these different factors is required when you want to reveal the right answers:
* Personalities play a starring part – what gives you a ‘kick’, and what are the activities that you really dislike.
* Are you looking to pull off a closely held objective – like becoming self-employed as quickly as possible?
* Does salary have a higher place on your list of priorities than other factors.
* Many students don’t properly consider the amount of work required to get fully certified.
* You need to understand what differentiates each individual training area.
In actuality, it’s obvious that the only real way to investigate these areas will be via a meeting with an experienced advisor who understands IT (and chiefly it’s commercial needs and requirements.)
Many training companies have a handy Job Placement Assistance program, to help you get your first job. Sometimes, people are too impressed with this facility, for it’s relatively easy for well qualified and focused men and women to land work in IT – as there is such a shortage of skilled employees.
Ideally you should have advice and support about your CV and interviews though; and we’d encourage everybody to bring their CV up to date the day they start training – don’t delay until you’ve graduated or passed any exams. You might not even have taken your exams when you will get your initial junior support role; however this won’t be the case unless your CV is with employers. The top companies to get you a new position are most often specialised and independent recruitment consultants. Because they get paid commission to place you, they have the necessary incentive to try that bit harder.
Do make sure you don’t put hundreds of hours of effort into your studies, just to give up and expect somebody else to secure your first position. Take responsibility for yourself and get on with the job. Channel the same resource into finding a good job as it took to get qualified.
Many students come unstuck over one area of their training very rarely considered: How the training is broken down and couriered to your address. Trainees may consider it sensible (when study may take one to three years for a full commercial certification,) that a training provider will issue a single section at a time, as you complete each part. However: What happens when you don’t complete each and every exam? And what if you find the order of the modules counter-intuitive? Because of nothing that’s your fault, you mightn’t complete everything fast enough and consequently not get all your materials.
Put simply, the best option is to have a copy of their prescribed order of study, but get everything up-front. It’s then all yours if you don’t manage to finish quite as quick as they’d want.
Ask almost any capable consultant and they can normally tell you many awful tales of students who’ve been sold completely the wrong course for them. Ensure you only ever work with a skilled professional who asks lots of questions to discover the most appropriate thing for you – not for their retirement-fund! You must establish a starting-point that will suit you. If you’ve got any real-world experience or certification, it may be that your starting point of study is very different to someone completely new. Always consider starting with some basic Microsoft package and Windows skills first. This can set the scene for your on-going studies and make the transition to higher-level learning a a little easier.