subject: IT Career Training And Study In The UK Examined [print this page] Congratulate yourself that you've already got this far! A fraction of the population claim contentment with their job, but most of us simply moan about it and that's it. By looking for this we can guess that you've a personal interest in re-training, so well done to you. What comes next is get busy to find your direction.
For those thinking of re-training, it's crucial to first define your requirements from the job you're looking to get into. Be sure that the grass actually is greener before your energies are focused on changing the direction of your life. It's good sense to regard the end goal first, to make the right judgements:
* Do you like to work collaborating with people? Would you prefer to work with a small team or with many new people? Possibly operating on your own with your own methodology would give you pleasure?
* 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 will the market sector give you the confidence that will happen?
* Would it be useful for your training course to be in an industry where you believe you'll have a job up to the time you want to stop?
We would advise that one of your key sectors is the IT industry - it's common knowledge that it's developing all the time. It's not all nerdy people gazing at their PC's all day - naturally some IT jobs demand that, but the majority of roles are carried out by ordinary men and women who earn considerably more than most.
Speak with almost any proficient advisor and they'll entertain you with many terrible tales of students who've been sold completely the wrong course for them. Make sure you deal with a skilled professional that asks lots of questions to find out what's right for you - not for their retirement-fund! You must establish the very best place to start for you. It's worth remembering, if you've got any accreditation or direct-experience, then it's not unreasonable to expect to commence studying further along than a trainee with no history to speak of. If you're a new trainee commencing IT study anew, it's often a good idea to start out slowly, starting with user-skills and software training first. This can be built into most training packages.
Don't accept anything less than an authorised exam preparation system as part of your training package. Steer clear of relying on unofficial exam preparation questions. Their phraseology can be completely unlike authorised versions - and sometimes this can be a real headache once in the actual exam. Simulations and practice exams will prove very useful as a resource to you - so when it comes to taking the proper exam, you don't get uptight.
A fatal Faux-Pas that potential students often succumb to is to concentrate on the course itself, and not focus on where they want to get to. Universities are full of students that chose an 'interesting' course - instead of what would yield an enjoyable career or job. It's possible, in some situations, to get a great deal of enjoyment from a year of study and then spend 20 miserable years in a tiresome job role, as a consequence of not performing some quality research at the outset.
Spend some time thinking about earning potential and the level of your ambition. This can often control which particular qualifications you'll need to attain and how much effort you'll have to give in return. Have a conversation with an experienced professional that understands the work you're contemplating, and is able to give you a detailed run-down of what tasks are going to make up a typical day for you. Establishing this well before commencement of any study programme will prevent a lot of wasted time and effort.
Being a part of the cutting-edge of new technology gives you the best job satisfaction ever. Your actions are instrumental in impacting progress around the world. Technology, computers and communication via the internet will radically affect the direction of our lives over future years; incredibly so.
If money is way up on your goal sheet, then you will be pleasantly surprised to hear that the usual remuneration of most men and women in IT is significantly more than salaries in much of the rest of industry. The requirement for appropriately qualified IT professionals is guaranteed for quite some time to come, thanks to the continuous growth in the technology industry and the vast deficiency still present.
