Politics and Government News

Without a regular deluge of qualified PC and network support personnel, commercial enterprise throughout the country (and around the world) would be likely to be drawn to a standstill. We have an on-going requirement for people to support both the systems and the users themselves. Our requirement for the above mentioned members of the workforce is consistently on the grow, as commercial enterprise becomes more and more reliant on computers.

Every program under consideration has to build towards a properly recognised exam at the end - and not a worthless ‘in-house’ piece of paper. From a commercial standpoint, only top businesses like Microsoft, Cisco, CompTIA or Adobe (to give some examples) will get you into the interview seat. Nothing else hits the mark.

A so-called advisor who doesn’t dig around with lots of question - chances are they’re really a salesperson. If they wade straight in with a specific product before looking at your personality and current experience level, then it’s definitely the case. In some circumstances, the starting point of study for a trainee with some experience is hugely different to the student with no experience. If you’re a new trainee starting IT studies and exams anew, it’s often a good idea to ease in gradually, starting with some basic Microsoft package and Windows skills first. Usually this is packaged with any educational course.

Locating job security in this economic down-turn is very rare. Businesses often remove us from the workforce with very little notice - as long as it fits their needs. But a sector experiencing fast growth, where there just aren’t enough staff to go round (as there is a massive shortage of properly qualified staff), provides a market for true job security.

Looking at the computing sector, a key e-Skills investigation brought to light an over 26 percent skills deficit. Meaning that for each 4 job positions available in IT, we have only 3 certified professionals to perform that task. Appropriately skilled and commercially accredited new staff are therefore at a resounding premium, and it looks like they will be for a long time. It would be hard to imagine if a better time or market state of affairs could exist for obtaining certification in this rapidly expanding and budding sector.

Many companies only concern themselves with gaining a certificate, and completely avoid the reasons for getting there - getting yourself a new job or career. Always begin with the end in mind - don’t make the journey more important than where you want to get to. Never let yourself become part of the group who set off on a track that seems ‘fun’ or ‘interesting’ - and end up with a certification for an unrewarding career path.

Never let your focus stray from where you want to go, and create a learning-plan from that - avoid getting them back-to-front. Keep your eyes on your goals and ensure that you’re training for a career that will keep you happy for many years. Have a conversation with an experienced industry advisor that has a commercial understanding of the realities faced in the industry, and could provide a detailed run-down of the kind of things you’ll be doing on a daily basis. Contemplating this before starting out on a retraining path will prevent a lot of wasted time and effort.

Your training program should always include the current Microsoft (or relevant organisation’s) authorised simulation materials and exam preparation packages. Avoid depending on unofficial exam preparation systems. The type of questions asked is often somewhat different - and this leads to huge confusion when the proper exam time arrives. Why don’t you verify your knowledge by doing tests and practice in simulated exam environments before you take the real deal.